There’s nothing quite like a beef stew on a cold winter day.  This is a wonderfully easy crock pot recipe but it does require a little prep work.  Well worth it once you taste this dish!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of flour
Salt
Pepper
2 lbs or so of lean stew meat
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 sweet potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 carrots, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 large onion, diced
2 bottles of Guinness Beer (or whatever dark beer you have on hand)
Salt/Pepper
Parsley, garnishing

Directions:

Into a large ziploc baggie, add the flour and some salt and pepper.  Then add the rinsed off beef and seal the bag.  Give a good shake until all of the beef is covered properly.  In your Dutch oven, add the olive oil and let it get nice and hot.  Cooking in batches to avoid overcrowding, add several pieces of the beef to brown on each side then promptly remove.  Set aside on a paper towel lined plate.  Repeat.  Once all of the meat is cooked, discard the bag and add the potatoes, carrots, garlic and onions and cook for about 4-6 minutes.  Add additional oil if necessary.  In the meantime, add the meat to your crock pot on the low setting (if cooking for 6+ hours) if less than that turn the heat to high.  Once the veggies have softened a bit, remove them and top the beef in the crock pot.  Turn your flame to medium and gently (very cautiously) add one bottle of beer and deglaze the pan (scraping up the bits of meat and veggies that have stuck to the bottom of the pan).  Once this is complete, pour on top of the meat and veggies.  Add the additional beer to the mixture.  Cover and cook.

I serve with pasta but you can with other noodles, quinoa etc.  Season the gravy prior to serving.

— Knead to Cook

I know it’s Meatless Monday but with all of the work and painting I’ve been doing in my house, I needed a good crock pot recipe for dinner that I could fix and forget about until I needed it.  This is a wonderful recipe that you can prepare for a big crowd by adapting the ingredient amounts or for an intimate family dinner. Perfect fall, chill-in-the-air kind of meal that warms  you right up.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoon of olive oil
2.5 lbs of ground chuck (cut into chunks)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions:

Place the flour, salt and pepper into a deep dish or ziploc baggie.  Add the meat and toss to coat.

In a pan over medium heat, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Once hot, add the meat and let brown on each side for about 5 minutes.  Remove and place in your crock pot, turned to low.  Then add your wine, broth and paste and deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom bits.  Boil this mixture for about 3 minutes then pour over your meat in the crock pot.  Add your carrots, garlic and onions on top of the meat.  Cover and cook on low for 6- 8 hours or high for 4 -6 hours.  Season with salt and pepper before serving.

— Knead to Cook