Some stew recipes tell you to toss your meat in seasoned flour, then brown it. The trouble is, some of the flour comes off the meat and starts burning — and burning flour tastes terrible. Even if the recipe doesn’t call for flour, and you’re just trying to brown meat by itself, the meat starts sticking to your pan.
Solution: Brown some onions first! When the onions start getting soft, throw in the meat! It browns, doesn’t burn, and doesn’t stick!
First, fry some onions until soft.
Add the meat.
Fry until both are brown.
Wahlah! Browned onions and meat for your stew, with much less sticking and burning.