I Haz Crockpot ~ Beef Stew

To break in my brand new crockpot, I made a humongous batch of hearty beef stew. I based my recipe off of Emeril Lagasse's and made some changes and additions. Mostly I added a whole bunch more vegetables. I had fully intended to add frozen peas and pearl onions at the end but the pot was overflowing with stew and there wasn't enough room. Maybe next time.

Beef Stew

2-3 pounds of Chuck Beef for Stew
Seasoning for Beef (to taste):
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Dried Thyme
Dried Oregano

Whole Small Red Potatoes
2 large carrots peeled and cut into chunks
4 celeries, roughly chopped (use the hearts and the leaves please!)
Handful of green beans with ends cut off
Handful of wax beans with ends cut off
2 cups of mushrooms halved
4-5 garlic cloves smashed
4 springs of Thyme

2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1 small can of tomato sauce
3 cups of beef stock
1 cup of Pinot Grigio or another white wine
1 cup of water

For the first time ever in my life, I bought a "Family Pak" of beef. Holy moly! Look at this monstrosity. It makes enough beef stew for 5-7 servings.

Season the beef and set aside. You can also get Emeril Lagasse's Essence seasoning blend. I have all of the seasonings on hand so I just use them individually instead.

Rinse your potatoes!



And your green and wax beans! Sorry. These are just some beauty shots I wanted to take. I love taking pictures of produce.

Here's another sexy shot. These are all the vegetables I'm cramming into this beef stew.

And here are the mushrooms. Mmmm...

Heat a skillet with some olive oil. Sear the meat in batches, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside the meat and cover it with foil while you are cooking the different batches.

Add Beef, stock, pinot grigio, water mushrooms, flour, butter, tomato sauce and thyme sprigs to crockpot. Set to 8 hour setting.

After an hour of cooking, add all the vegetables for the last 7 hours. You can speed this up by doing the 6 hour setting and adding the vegetables after 45 minutes instead.

Add some salt and pepper to the stew before serving. Voila! A bowl of piping hot beef stew is perfect for a snow day. Even if it is October!