Beef with barley stew recipe

Ok ok ok...last post in my comfort food crazzzze for today. So the reason that I have this repertoire of cozy night recipes is because Eric would go hunting every night and I would imagine him sitting out in the cold in these trees and it would like telepathically make me feel cold. So I would make these soups and stews thinking that he would be cold when he got home and would want something hot and hearty like this. One day he was like "ohhh, soup again..." Turns out since he was driving over 1/2 hour home from his hunting spot in his heated car he was never actually cold when he got back haha. But whatever, either way he appreciated the thought and still loved the food!

What you'll need:
2 lbs beef chuck roast, 1 in cubes
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
2 cups water
1 cup dry red wine
4 baby red potatoes, 1 in cubes
4 carrots, 1 in chunks
1 cup barley

1. In a bowl combine flour with a pinch of salt and pepper. Put in beef cubes and toss to coat.
2. In a large dutch oven heat 2 tbsp olive oil over med-high heat. Add half the flour coated meat and cook until browned on the outside. Remove meat, add another tbsp of olive oil and the second half of the meat to brown, return the other half of meat back into the pot. Add the onion, garlic and thyme. Cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the can of beef broth and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add water and wine, bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
4. During simmer heat oven to 375 degrees. In a shallow roasting pan, sprayed with cooking spray, add carrots and potatoes and drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of salt pepper and thyme and toss to coat. Roast uncovered for about 45 minutes until veggies are tender, stirring once or twice.
5. Add barley to pot along with veggies and cook for another 1/2 hour until barley and veggies are completely cooked. For a more soupy consistency you may want to add more beef stock or water.

Beef and mushroom braised stew recipe

Can you tell I am feeling really cozy and in the mood for comfort food today? This is another recipe I found in Taste of Home and the thing that drew me to this was that it was beef and mushrooms rather than the normal beef, potatoes, and carrot stew. I tend to find potatoes to be dry when I am eating them in a stew and, as we all know, I HATE cooked carrots. So this recipe is perfect because I LOVE mushrooms, they are basically my favorite thing to eat and I want to add them to everything I make, and I try pretty hard to do so! I think this is a unique way to make stew and will be an amazing meal on a cold Saturday or Sunday night.

What you'll need:

1 boneless beef chuck roast (2-3 lbs), cut into 1 in cubes

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms (I would do baby bellas)

1 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carton beef broth (32 oz.)

1 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup brandy

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 tsp each dried parsley flakes, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper

3 tbsp flour

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. In an ovenproof dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat; brown beef in batches. Remove from pan.

2. In same pan, add mushrooms and onions; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Stir in beef broth, wine, brandy, tomato paste and herbs. Return beef to pan and bring to a boil. 

3. Bake covered for 1 hour. In a bowl, mix flour and water until smooth; gradually stir into stew. Bake covered for 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened and beef is tender. Skim fat and serve with mashed potatoes.