Bean Pot Beef Stew (recipe)

Slightly adapted from "Old Boston Fare" by Jerome Rubin; my improvements and notes are [bracketed].

Cut the meat into 3-cm cubes; coat with flour. Melt the fat in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the meat in small batches and sear brown on all sides; remove the meat as it browns and place it in a bean pot.

Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F)

Add sliced onion [and a couple chopped ribs of celery, including the leaves] to the fat remaining in the frying pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden. Add onions to the beanpot.

[Use water to deglaze the frying pan, pouring the sauce into the beanpot and adding enough additional water to just barely cover the meat and onions. Incredibly enough, the book's recipe made no mention of deglazing the pan, saying to pour "hot water" into the pot.] Add salt and pepper, [a couple of bay leaves, a dried cepe or two, and a sprig of thyme, ] cover the beanpot and bake 2 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven; add vegetables and water if necessary. Cover and return beanpot to the oven and bake 2 to 3 hours more or until meat and vegetables are tender. [Adjust seasonings as required and enrich broth with some tomato sauce and/or sour cream. Thicken broth if desired and serve.]