PW's Beef Stew with Mushrooms

Have you ever seen a recipe on a website or a food blog that you could. not. wait. to make that very day for supper, second breakfast, lunch - whatever?  That was the case a couple weeks ago when I was on The Pioneer Woman's website and saw her recipe for Beef Stew with Mushrooms.  For once in my life, I actually had beef in the house - I had found some amazing steaks at Target when my husband and I were doing some post-rush Black Friday shopping - they were close to the expiration date, so they were reduced to $1.00 a lb and were a welcome addition to the freezer bags full of turkey stock that I had in the freezer. (Mi casa cannot live on turkey stock alone ...)  All I needed was beef consomme the mushrooms and voila!  This was one of the most amazing meals I've made in awhile.

The Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew with Mushrooms
Very loosely adapted from Ree Drummond

1 lb. beef stew meat (sirloin - cut into cubes - again, I just used a steak I happened to have in my freezer)

1 T. Flour
2 T. Butter
1 T. Olive Oil
1 shallot, minced
1 sm. onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cremini or white button mushrooms
½ c. red wine
1 can Beef Consomme
Salt And Pepper (to Taste)
Pasta - Cooked And Drained
2 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
2 T. Flour

Preparation Instructions:  Sprinkle flour over meat. Toss to coat.  Melt butter with olive oil in heavy pot. Sear meat over high heat in batches; remove to a plate when brown.  Add shallots, onion and garlic to pan (without cleaning); saute for 2 minutes over medium-low heat.  Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and consomme. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir.  Bring to a boil, then add browned meat. Reduce heat to low. Add rosemary sprigs to pot.

Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. After that time, mix 2 tablespoons flour with a little water and pour into the stew. Allow to cook and thicken for ten more minutes.  Turn off heat and allow stew to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Ree notes that this dish is also good over mashed potatoes.  I am fearful of trying this, because I think that I would make this dish for every day in a week to eat it over potatoes.  So yeah - pasta was a good start for this.  Rice would also be good ...

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Anyone who has spent a modicum of time talking cooking with me realizes that I pretty much adore Ree Drummond.  I am now grappling with whether or not I want to be Ree when I grow up or if I should be Tina Fey or Ina Garten. 

But since I am still me, I have a confession to make.  As much as I love Ree, I missed an opportunity to meet with her when she visited Minneapolis before Thanksgiving to sign copies of her cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks."  Or I should amend that statement - I actually went up to the Mall of America for her book signing, but silly me didn't realize that the rest of the people in love with Ree would start showing up at 7 a.m.!  So when I arrived 15 minutes after the 1 p.m. book signing began, the line was already two hours long.  So as much as I adore the Pioneer Woman, I am not known for patience and I had a 4 p.m. date with my friend Deb.  We needed to see Taylor Lautner shirtless.  Sorry Ree!