Gloria replied:

>>> When we experienced blizzard warnings earlier this week I
>>> thought it sounded like beef stew weather.
>>>
>>> I browned 2 lb. of beef in a little olive oil and added it
>>> to 2 cups beef broth and a generous cup or two of red wine
>>> in a heavy kettle. Next I browned a large chopped onion
>>> (maybe 1 1/2 cups) and about half of a bunch of chopped
>>> celery and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. That was
>>> added to the kettle with the drained contents of a can of
>>> chopped tomatoes. I added salt, fresh ground black pepper, a
>>> bay leaf, and various pinches of thyme, marjoram and basil.
>>>
>>> After a few hours of simmering it tasted good but needed
>>> something. I added a few more herbs, tasted, than added a
>>> glug (maybe 1 or 2 Tbsp) of balsamic vinegar. Wow, what a
>>> difference that made. It perked up the flavor tremendously
>>> while not adding any particular flavor if its own.
>>>
>>> I served it with home made corn muffins and it must have
>>> been good because my husband had two servings and our son
>>> who was staying overnight had three. It was even better at
>>> lunch the next day.
>>>
>>> gloria p
>>
>> I would have tossed in some potatoes and carrots.
>
>
> I did. Forgot to include them in the post.

I'd have left the potatoes out of the stew, but served the stew over mashed
potatoes. Then the leftover potatoes can go on top of the stew to make
cottage pie the next day. I'd probably add some frozen peas to the stew
before putting the cottage pie in the oven.

Ever since I made lamb stew on St. Patrick's Day, I've become a convert to
the method I used to make that stew: Brown in batches, deglazing with the
same liquid over and over again, so that the browned stuff doesn't burn and
it all ends up in the final stew, rather than as residue on the pan used to
do the browning.

Balsamic vinegar is great stuff, isn't it? It's got a great flavor, and it's
*so* versatile. I've gained an interest in Vietnamese cooking recently (at
least partly due to sqwertz's contributions here), and I'm thinking that a
tablespoon of Vietnamese caramel sauce would have been an interesting thing
to add instead of the balsamic vinegar. (I mention that in case you ever
find yourself out of balsamic vinegar but you happen to have nuoc mau on
hand.)

Bob