Ingredients

For The Red Wine Beef Stew:

• 2 pounds beef chuck, shank or ranch steak cut into about 1 ¼-inch cubes (any stewing or braising beef will work)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon black pepper, coarsely ground or crushed w mortar and pestle
• 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 3 - 4 juniper berries
• 1 1.5-ounce container of veal demi glace or a cornstarch slurry of 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with a splash of water
• 1 bottle Sangiovese grape Tuscan wine such as Rosso di Montalcino
• 1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
• Fat handful of parsley, chopped

For The Polenta: 

• 6 cups stock or water
• 1 ½ cups polenta or polenta with buckwheat
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup grated pecorino or Parmigiano or combine them together

Directions

For The Red Wine Beef Stew:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Season the meat with salt and black pepper. Brown meat in batches in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat in a thin layer of olive oil for each batch. Transfer browned meat to a platter as you cook in batches then return all meat to the dutch oven.

Add in rosemary, juniper berries, veal demi glace or cornstarch slurry, the bottle of wine and garlic. Bring to a bubble, cover and cook for about 90 minutes in the oven, remove from the oven and let rest while you cook the polenta.

When beef is done, remove rosemary sprigs and transfer to a large serving bowl. Garnish with parsley.

For The Polenta: 

Heat stock over medium in a medium pot, stir in polenta.  Stir at a low steady simmer for 40-45 minutes until smooth yet pourable.  Add butter and stir in cheese. Transfer to a serving bowl.