baby it's cold outside

When temperatures drop, theres nothing I love more than lighting the fireplace and playing my favorite holiday jazz mix. With bing crosby and ella fitzgerald pumping through my speakers, I feel positively warm and fuzzy and to keep that delicious feeling going, I instantly think of making a huge pot of beef stew.

I found Tyler Florence's beef stew recipe a few years ago while watching his show on the Food Network and have made it a holiday staple ever since. I've actually referred to a cold front as "beef stew weather" quite a few times hehe.

After a trip to the grocery store to pick up all of my essentials, I get right to cooking. I will admit, I've made a few tweaks to his recipe because I'm not the biggest pearl onion fan and I absolutely loathe mushrooms (I mean, seriously, its a fungus!) but I my version is still off the charts good. 

After emptying the entire contents of the wine bottle (give or take a glass for the cook) into the pot and adding some garlic, thyme and bay comes the worst part of this, waiting! yep thats right, I have to hang around the house with the smell of that beefy goodness wafting all the way into my room for 2 HOURS! oh well, I guess its best to keep myself busy and share some pictures with you guys.

{browning the beef chunks. this is by far the most time consuming part but super important for adding flavor so dont even think about skipping it! }

{flavor weapons... wine, bay leaves, thyme, cloves and garlic make the perfect combo for beef stew}

{cant help but sneak a glass of wine for myself}

{and there goes the whole bottle, yummm}

{time to cover and wait (ugh), see you in 2 hours}

Two hours of that intoxicating beefy smell traveling through the house calling my name and its time to serve this beautiful baby over a steaming bowl of brown rice. I cant even describe the depth of flavors running through it, the hint of clove, the pinch of thyme all came together so perfectly that we inhaled our bowls faster than you can say "bon appetit" !

{cooked down to a thick sauce makes the wait well worth it}

{my beautiful bowl, can't wait to dig in}

{all smiles... beef stew is quino's favorite}

{empty bowls after less than 5 minutes, oh yea... that was amazing! }

before i go, ill leave you all with a little taste of my holiday jazz playlist:

it had to be you- harry connick jr

winter wonderland- bing crosby

crazy love- michael buble (or any michael buble for that matter, he makes my heart melt)

as time goes by- frank sinatra

dream a little dream of me- ella fitzgerald

goofing off.. as usual lol

bon appetit!