Prepare Ingredients

• If using a beef roast or a thick steak instead of pre-cut beef, cut into 1 inch square pieces. Slice any excess fat to make a fond. (Buying the roast or steak on sale can safe a fortune compared to pre-cut stew beef.)
• Rough chop the onion, garlic and mushrooms if you bought them whole.

Cooking Instructions

• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, brown a few slices of beef fat or stew beef in 1/4 cup olive oil on medium high heat. You want to build a brown coating on the bottom of the pan that will enhance the flavor. That coating is called the fond. Stir often, you don't want the meat to burn.
• Remove meat/fat from the oil and add the garlic and yellow onion. Sauté until onion is translucent.
• Add dried herbs to the onion and garlic and mix in.
• Add 1 cup of water to the pan to deglaze the fond. Basically deglazing means to dissolve the brown crust into the water. This will ensure you are getting all the flavor from the fond and it will incorporate easily.
• Add beef, mushrooms, dried beans, bay leaves, salt and the remaining 11 cups of water to the pan. Do not add the spinach yet.
• Bring water to a boil and then turn down to simmer and cover. Simmer, covered for 2 to 2½ hours until beans and beef are tender.

Make a slurry

• While the stew is simmering make a slurry. Add ¼ cup cold or room temperature soy sauce to a jar with a cover, add 2 tablespoons cornstarch, cover and shake until the cornstarch is emulsified (fully combined) into the soy sauce.

Finish the stew after the beef and beans are done

• Bring the stew back up to a boil, add the slurry and the spinach and stir for 10 minutes until the spinach is cooked and the slurry has thickened the gravy.

Serve