Red Wine Beef with Onions & Mushrooms over Rice – $1.37

This meal was ridiculous. The flavor was out of this world. It’s like beef stew on crack. It took quite a while to cook so if you’re in a hurry to get in and out of the kitchen, this is not the meal for you. However, perfect for sticking it in the oven before church or while you clean your house on a Saturday like I did!

I just happened to find some “stew beef” on sale. Honestly, the beef doesn’t need to be the best quality because it’s going to be cooking forever so you won’t even be able to tell by the end. Get some stew beef or cut some up from a chunk, and throw it in a very hot, greased pot. (Note! If you have an oven-safe/stovetop-safe pot, like a Le Creuset, use that. Otherwise, you’ll just pour this into an oven-safe dish later).

After a few minutes, add a large chopped onion. Your onion pieces don’t need to be small or pretty, so just chop and throw it in.

After a few minutes, add a whole lot of chopped garlic. However much you want! Cook this right until the garlic starts to brown a bit. (Note! If you want other veggies in here like peppers or carrots, you may put them in now. Honestly, I don’t like the flavor of those kinds of veggies after they cook for hours, so I kept it really simple).

Now, I had 1/2 bottle of wine that was open for about a week, which for me is past it’s freshness. Why didn’t I drink it, you may ask? I had wicked allergies and my throat was all scratchy and wine kinda hurt going down. There, that’s my story. The end!

So while your meat and onions are cooking on high heat, you’re going to throw in your 1/2 bottle of red wine and deglaze the pan. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be expensive. Mine was $3.29 a bottle at Aldi.

Then add a can of beef broth and stir. After a few minutes, pour the mixture into an oven-safe dish and put it in the oven at 400* F or so, uncovered!

After an hour or two, you’ll start to see the liquid evaporating. This is exactly what is should be doing. Keep it cooking.

After about 2.5 to three hours, add a bunch of mushrooms. If you have little baby mushrooms just throw them in there whole and stir.

A little while after putting the mushrooms in, you should start to see your beef look like this. Don’t be deceived; the dark stuff around the edges of the pan may look burned but you won’t be eating that part. What’s in the middle of the dish is the beefy, winey, oniony, mushroomy goodness we’re focusing on. A lot of the liquid has evaporated, leaving an extremely rich and thick gravy around the beef. The beef while literally fall apart when you touch it.

Spoon a serving on top of rice or pasta. This is what I consider a “home-cooked meal”. You’re going to love it!

Stew beef – $2.78

1 Onion – $.74

Handful of mushrooms – ~$.80

1/2 Bottle cheap red wine – $1.65

1 Can beef broth – $.79

1 Serving rice – $.10

5 Servings: $6.86

1 Serving: $1.37