Herbes de Provence Beef Pot Pie

Here's another Round Two recipe.  I had purchased the ingredients to make a nice pot of beef stew this weekend.  But when I opened the spice pantry this morning, I saw the jar of Herbes de Provence and my mind started wandering toward a comforting pot pie instead.  Not to worry, there is enough of the base filling left that tomorrow, I will go to Round Two:  A beautiful pot of beef stew and a skillet of hot cornbread to serve alongside.

If you're not familiar with Herbes de Provence it's basically an herb mixture containing fennel, basil, savory and thyme.

Canola oil

1 lb. beef stew meat, small diced

3/4 cup self-rising flour

1/2 T. herbes de provence

1/2 cup sweet red wine

3 cups beef stock

1 can of Fiesta style corn

1 T. olive oil

1 medium white onion, small diced

2 medium carrots, peeled, small diced

2 ribs celery, small diced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 large potato, peeled, small diced

a few grinds of black pepper

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Pie crust for two crust pie

Over medium high heat, pour enough canola oil in a medium Dutch oven to cover bottom to a depth of 1/4 inch.  

The secret to this dish is to have the meat and veggies cut in as close to the same small dice size as possible.

On a small plate or shallow dish, combine flour and Herbes de Provence.  Coat about 1/2 cup of meat at a time.

Carefully drop the diced meat into the oil and brown, stirring occasionally.  Remove each batch to a small plate while repeating with remaining meat until meat is browned.  

When all the meat is browned, you will have a nice layer of "fond" on the bottom of the Dutch oven.

Next, you need to pour in the wine (or beef stock) and deglaze the fond from the bottom of the pot. My apologies for the flour mess all over the Dutch oven and stove top!  Oops!!

Now add the beef stock and bring to a gentle boil.

Add the browned beef and drained corn into the stock and reduce heat to simmer.

In a medium skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil and vegetables.  Let cook for 8 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften.  Add a few grinds of black pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

Add vegetables to the simmering beef and stock.  Let cook for at least an hour.  Add additional water if needed.  You want the consistency of a very, very thick stew.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place one pie crust in a pie plate and add enough of the filling to fill the crust. Save the remaining for our Round Two tomorrow night!

Carefully place second crust on top of filling and crimp edges together.  Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until crust is browned and filling is hot.  Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving.