Oven Baked Beef Stew

I absolutely LOVE this stew. I've made it dozens of times. The original recipe ran in Parade or one of those Sunday newspaper insert things. I've tweaked it over the years to suit my family, but it's a sure hit every time!

No pic, since I'm making it tonight, but if I remember, I'll upload a pic later.

Oven-Baked Beef Stew

1 pound round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cups red wine (I use a Shiraz, or a Merlot, something we would normally drink)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound baby carrots
2 small onions, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups red wine (same wine; the recipe says to use the marinade wine; I think that's gross, so I use the rest in the bottle for the recipe)
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup cold water
3 tablespoons corn starch

Marinate the beef for 1 to 3 hours, depending on when you remember to start this ;-). Remove from marinade, then heat olive oil and cook beef until browned. Remove from pan. Cook garlic and vegetables until browned, remove from pan. Melt butter, add flour and make a roux (the base for a sauce, if you don't know what this is, you can go here for the basics). Add the wine gradually, stirring with a whisk. Then the chicken stock and tomato paste. Put the beef, vegetables and liquid into an oven-safe Dutch Oven or other large pot/pan and bake at 375 for two hours (you can also put this in the Crock-pot).

Just before you're ready to serve, you can thicken the stew. I like a really thick stew, so I mix the water and the corn starch, then stir this into the hot stew. It makes it nice and thick, really yummy . I serve it with biscuits and that's enough for a mega meal. Okay, this is totally not Weight Watchers friendly but when it's 25 below outside, I really don't care ;-)