Beef Stew

Another great comfort food for our family is Beef Stew. It offers a great way to use some up veggies that might otherwise go in the compost around our house. Normally my recipe is never the same but here is some ideas for you to try out.

Beef Stew 

(photo credit) 

Ingredients:
1 lb diced stew meat
1/4 cup flour
3 TBS EVOO
1 cup dried sherry or a rich port wine
3 cups beef stock
Veggies - (carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onion, beets, parsnips, potatoes, squash, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
* Brown meat in a pan with flour and EVOO.
* Pour in dried sherry or rich port wine to soak up drippings from pan. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone - I like to leave about 3 TBS of liquid just to coat the veggies.
* Put mixture in slow cooker and add stock and chopped veggies.
* Salt and Pepper
* Cook on low 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Variations and Tips:
* Go crazy with veggies - we go for seasonal ones at our house but use anything you might have.
* The cheaper the meat the better it will be in your stew - seriously. It is gong to soak and slow cook all day long. It will be good - promise!
* Omit the sherry/wine - why would you miss an opportunity to not add this nice relaxing touch to your food? - but go ahead nobody is watching you....
* We love this served with homemade bread, butter and jam. I use my bread maker - life saver in my kitchen!

Freezer Meal It:
* Follow step 1 and 2 but instead of placing meat in slow cooker LET COOL and add to a freezer meal bag. Throw in your mixed diced veggies of choice.
* Seal and Label
* When ready to cook dump bag in slow cooker - add salt and pepper and cook.