I had some celery, carrots, and mushrooms in the fridge I needed to use up, and had some stew beef in the freezer, so I came up with this tasty concoction. I was going to serve it over egg noodles, then decided I didn’t feel like dirtying up any more pots to wash, so I threw the egg noodles in with the stew and it came out great! This is one instance where laziness paid off! 😉

• 1 lb beef tenderloin or top sirloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 oz cremini (baby Portobello) mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 4 tbsp butter, divided
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 15 oz can lentils
• 1 cup Pinot Noir or Zinfandel
• 1 15 oz can beef broth
• 6 oz egg noodles
• salt
• pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large sauce pan or stock pot over medium-high heat, and sear beef, stirring constantly, for about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove beef from pan, and place in an oven safe bowl. Cover and keep warm in unheated oven.

Reduce heat to medium and melt remaining butter in the same pan. Add carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms, and cook about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, and cook until reduced by half. Stir in broth, thyme sprigs, rosemary, and oregano. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. ( I use grinders, so I used 3 turns of the salt, and 2 turns pepper.) Stir in lentils. Heat until mixture starts to bubble.

Return beef to the pot; cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs, and stir in egg noodles. Cook, covered 20 minutes more, until noodles are soft.

Enjoy!