Carne con Papa (Cuban Beef Stew)

This is my oldest daughter's favorite dish. The other day she saw me getting ready to cook and told me she loved my big blue pot because her mommy makes yummy things in it. The beef softens until it can be easily cut with a fork and the potatoes soak up the flavor of the beef, wine and tomatoes.

2 lbs beef stew meat (I use chuck)

1/4 cup Olive Oil

Sofrito (1 onion, 1 green pepper and 4 cloves of garlic)

1 cup White Wine

1 can Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 can Beef Broth

2 Goya Seasoning Packets

1 Bay Leaf

Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Take beef out of refrigerator half an hour before you cook to get it to room temperature. Dry off the beef and salt and pepper generously. Warm olive oil over medium heat and pan sear the beef over medium high heat in batches as to not overcrowd the pan and create a nice brown crust.

Transfer beef to a plate in batches and cut up an onion, green pepper and 4 cloves of garlic to create sofrito. Lower heat to medium and add sofrito scraping up brown bits of beef as you cook.

Once onion is soft, add back beef to pot and add that rest of the ingredients except the potato to create the broth. Once simmering, lower heat to low and cook beef in liquids for an hour. If you are running low on liquid, add equal parts of wine and beef broth to cover beef. After an hour, taste for salt and pepper and add peeled and cut potatoes. Cook for another hour to hour and half until beef very tender. Serve over white rice.