There is nothing like a steaming hot bowl of beef stew on a cold day! I especially loved it with a chunk of crusty bread slathered with butter to soak up all of that tasty liquid! Mmmmmmm-mmmmmm! lol

I usually used my slow cooker to make my stew because once you have everything in it, you can leave it to do its thing while you do yours. Occasionally, I used my big pot on the stove and cooked it on low while I kept an eye on it. I hate to say it in case I offend my stove top lovers BUT there is something about throwing a bunch of stuff into a slow cooker and coming home hours later to a delicious meal. Walking into your place and smelling that yummy-ness! Ohhhh, it’s like magic!

For my beef stew, there is a little prep time that I always took the time to do with the beef. Stewing beef is almost always a tough cut of beef which is why you need to cook it low and slow. You CAN just throw the beef into the slow cooker or pot with everything and put the lid on and it will turn out fine. BUT if you take the time to prep the beef before you throw it in, I promise you will lovelovelove me for telling you to take the time!

What you’re going to do is roll your beef in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper and partially cook it over high heat. Why you ask? What you’re doing is sealing the moisture in the beef by creating a carmelized side. You are NOT cooking the beef all of the way through, just browning the sides. You have to quickly brown all of the sides and then you will have the moist, tender beef in your stew! Plus the flour will help thicken your stew.

Ingredients

• 1 package of stewing beef
• 1/4 cup of flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 to 4 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can of whole or diced tomatoes
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp. of dried Parsley
• 2 tsp. of dried Rosemary
• 2 Tbsp. of flour
• 3 – 4 cups of beef broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• oil and/or butter

Instructions

1. Place flour, salt and pepper into a shallow bowl or ziplock bag and add stewing beef. Shake or roll to coat. Shake off excess flour and set beef aside.
2. Heat oil and/or butter in a large skillet (or large pot if using stove top for stew) on medium high heat until oil shimmers. Working in small batches, brown coated beef on all sides. This will happen quickly, ~1 – 2 minutes per side. Once browned remove beef from pan.
3. When all of beef is browned, reduce heat to medium and add more oil and/or butter. Add onion and garlic. Cook for ~3 – 5 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp. of flour and cook until nutty, ~3 minutes
4. Add dried herbs and whisk in ~1 cup of broth. Sometimes I used a nice red wine and let it simmer for ~5 minutes.
5. If using slow cooker, add all of the veggies, browned beef, canned tomatoes including juices, skillet contents and top with remaining broth. If using stove top simply add everything to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

I hope you enjoy my creation and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy sloooooooow cooking!