Food Feature on College Game Day

Beef Stew

This is a recipe that came with the purchase of my crock pot. I have refined it over the years to my liking. Other than taking your first bite, the best of part this recipe is being away from home all day then walking inside to the delicious smell of a fully cooked meal.


















Before I list the ingredients, I need to emphasize the importance of using extra lean beef stew meat. My idea of great beef stew is to cook the meat to the point where it falls apart. As you'll see in the picture above, the meat is not in chunks. I have used 2 forks to break apart all the meat pieces after the stew has fully cooked. Some people really like perfectly cubed meat in their stew and if that's you, I would still recommend extra lean.


















When I grocery shop for the ingredients, I go first to the meat section. If they don't have extra lean beef stew meat, I leave & go to the next grocery store. In all my shopping excursions, I walk out of many stores empty handed but rarely the grocery store. It kind of feels funny, but you'll be glad you did. For the LJ readers, I wouldn't start at Food King or Walmart.


















Ingredients:
2 lbs. extra lean beef stew
2 cans beef broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1 lb. carrots (chopped into small pieces)
2 potatoes (I use 2 medium sized baking style potatoes; chop into small pieces)
1 onion (chopped)
1/4 - 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Coat the meat with flour, salt & pepper. To do this, I put the meat, flour, salt & pepper in a freezer size ziploc bag and shake until the meat is coated.














Put the meat and all the remaining ingredients in the crock pot. Stir to mix well. The liquid level will be much lower than the ingredients but that's okay but the meat will produce juice during cooking. Chopping: I am a big fan of chopping the carrots, potatoes & onion into pretty small pieces. That's what my mom does so I have followed suit.

Turn the crock pot on high and cook for about 6 hours. Crock pot cooking times will vary. The stew is ready when the vegetables can easily be cut with the side of a fork and the meat crumbles/shreds easily by tugging at it with 2 forks.




As everyone is busy this week preparing for the Thanksgiving meal, this is a good, hassle-free recipe that can be prepared then left alone while you get many errands & "to do" list items done. It makes a lot, so you'll likely have left overs which is always a bonus!

I hope you like it!!