Step 1 of 4

Brown the beef in batches

Heat the oil in a heavy pot over a high heat. Season the beef with a teaspoon of the salt and the pepper and brown it hard in three batches, about 4 minutes a batch, setting each aside as it is done.

— Three batches, not one. Beef crowded into a full pan drops the temperature, releases its water and boils gray, and you lose the browning the whole soup is built on.