Slow Cooker Beef Stew

On Tuesday, we got a huge dumping of snow and I mean ginormous!! The roads were horrible and it continued overnight so almost nothing was open yesterday - my whole family was home from work and school! Well, lots of snow and chilly weather had me craving stew! Last month when my family went to Vermont, our friends made this stew for us and it was so hearty and perfect for winter! So when I woke up to school being cancelled, I called Vermont for the recipe and got started on the stew!

The original recipe is from Damn Delicious, you can find it HERE.

Start by heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add 2 pounds of stew meat to the skillet. The meat should be cut into 1 inch cubes and seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook the meat until it is evenly browned. Once the meat is cooked, transfer it to the crock pot. I drained the fat out of the meat once it was cooked.

Then, add 4-5 medium potatoes (peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes) to the crock pot along with 4 carrots sliced into circular pieces. Add 1 diced onion and 5 minced garlic cloves to the crock pot.

Pour 3 cups of beef broth into the crock pot along with 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of thyme, 1 teaspoon of rosemary, 1 teaspoon of paprika and 2 bay leaves. I chose to add about 1/4 cup of red wine to the stew, but you could leave this out. Use a wooden spoon to stir the stew together.

Then, cover the crock pot and let the stew cook for 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. After the cook time, whisk 1/4 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of broth from the stew together in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to the stew in the crock pot, and stir it in. Let the stew cook on high for about 30 minutes - until it has thickened. And then it's ready to serve! How easy is that? And so delicious!

SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW
ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds stew meat - cut into 1 inch cubes
Salt & Pepper
4-5 medium potatoes - peeled and diced
4 carrots, cut into circular slices
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups beef broth
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon paprika
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Season the meat with a little salt & pepper and brown it in the skillet. Once it is browned, add it to the crock pot.
2. Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, minced garlic, beef broth, red wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, paprika and bay leaves to the crock pot. Use a large wooden spoon to stir the contents of the crock pot.
3. Cover the crock pot and let it cook for 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
4. After the cook time, whisk 1/4 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of broth from the stew together in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to the stew in the crock pot, and stir it in. Let the stew cook on high for about 30 minutes - until it has thickened. Then, serve it!

Enjoy!