I’ve been told that the best beef stew should really only include one item. Beef. No potatoes, no carrots and for heaven sakes no peas! Unfortunately, stew such as that would be sorely missing in a myriad of ways.

Once again I cracked open the Cook’s Illustrated cook book and found a recipe for Modern Beef Stew. It had some unusual ingredients in it and I was intrigued. It called for a paste comprised of garlic, tomato paste and of all things … anchovies. So, this a.m. I whipped it together with a few modifications. I don’t keep salt pork on hand and no packets of gelatin. I used flour and a bone in pork chop instead. I had to have mushrooms and potatoes but I did leave out the peas. I like peas in my stew but I didn’t have any on hand, they won’t be missed. You can’t make beef stew without red wine. Thank God for Charles Shaw’s Merlot. Two buck Chuck I love you!

Here is what the result looked like.  

We shall see if D approves. I think it’s AMAZING!

I’m going to serve this with a garnish of parsley, horseradish in sour cream.

I can’t wait to eat it!