Browning beef for beef stew? I'm following this recipe.

When they say "brown it," are they saying to just brown the edges....or all the way through? Assuming I just sorta brown the outside (but it's not cooked all the way though), is this safe?

Like the inside of my stew meat won't be cooked, is simmering it for 2 hours or so enough to cook it all the way through? I'm concerned about E. coli and all that nasty stuff.

Thanks!
The idea is to brown the outside of the meat in order to develop the flavour via the Maillard Reaction. This flavour will add to the richness and meatiness of the stew as a whole. Go ahead and give it a good crust. Don't overcrowd the pan or you will just end up steaming the meat in its own juices and it will never brown up: fry it in small batches instead.

Two hours braising in the stewing liquid will easily be enough to cook one-inch cubes of beef all the way through and will easily see off most nasty stuff.