Recipe: Red Wine Beef Stew

*Warning: Boring pictureless recipe post ahead. *
I was trying to type out how I make my beef stew on Facebook.  I despise writing lengthy posts on BF because I have to remember to hit the shift key when I hit return, or it'll keep making a new post. I just can't seem to get the hang of that. So, I decided to just write it here, since friends have asked me in the past about how I make this stew, so now it'll be written down and I can just send this link to people! Now, a word about this stew. It does not have potatoes in it. I'm sure you can add potatoes to it, but I don't because I try to limit my carbs (very) generally speaking. You could easily add potatoes to this recipe though. The first time I had red wine beef stew was at my mother-in-law's house. It was good, and Matthew actually ate it. LOL He's picky about mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc. So I asked her for the recipe... and it promptly got buried in my email inbox. LOL  Stew is easy though, so I just made this up myself based on what I remembered was in her stew.  Again, I hope this turns out alright for you, because I really don't measure...So here we go!
Ingredients:
1 TBSP butter
3 TBSP olive oil, divided
2lbs stew meat, cut into stew size pieces (for me, the size depends on how soon I need dinner ready, LOL)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1tbsp Worcester sauce 
1tsp baking soda
salt and pepper (however much you like. I use no salt and a good hearty shakes or turns of pepper)
1tbsp Italian seasoning (like McCormicks, not the dressing mix)
1 onion chopped
 2tsp minced garlic
1 package (I think it's 8oz) sliced mini portabella mushrooms. (I can't remember the fancy name for these.)
1/2-3/4 lb carrots chopped into chunky pieces
~2 cups beef broth (I use Better than Bouillon usually)
1 1/2 cups red cooking wine
1-2 cups water
~ 2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine 1 TBSP olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, Worcester sauce, salt, pepper, baking powder (yes it will fizz) and stew meat. Coat stew meat well.
2) Heat up 1 TBSP butter and 2 TBSP olive oil in a dutch oven (or heavy gauge pot) on medium high heat. Throw in chopped onions and cook until clear, then add garlic, then the mushrooms and carrots.
3)  Then add the beef, and brown the outsides of the stew pieces. Get a good sear on them, but don't obsess about getting all the sides brown... it'll be ok. Sometimes I will remove some of the vegetables from the pot to sear the beef more easily... but you don't have to.
4) Add 2 cups beef broth, red wine, and 1 cup water or enough water to cover the beef/vegetables.
5) Bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer about 30minutes to an hour and a half. I know, huge range. What I mean by this is, that you can eat the stew after 30minutes. The beef should be cooked through. The longer you simmer though, the more tender the meat will be and the better the flavor.
6) The last step is simply thickening the juices/broth. Take a cup and put 1 TBSP of cornstarch in it and add a little bit of water to it. Just enough to dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Pour that into the stew, stir and see if it thickens up to your liking. If it's not thick enough, repeat this step. Remember to use as little water as possible as the more water you add the more dilute the flavor of the stew will be. :)

This is great served over egg noodles, rice (brown or white), quinoa, or riced cauliflower.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. I love to make this stew, especially during cool weather!