Slow Cooker – Hearty Beef Stew

This is the perfect meal for a cold rainy or snowy Sunday,depending where you are. You can get it all ready in the morning, toss it in the slow cooker all day and do other things while dinner makes itself.  Things like eating cookie dough out of the freezer and watching reruns of Gilmore Girls!

I used a nice piece of white tale deer meat that my dad gave to me. If you aren't lucky enough have a dad that hunts and sends you a freezer full of meat you can use regular stewing beef.

Ingredients:

1 lb. cubed venison or stewing beef

¼ cup flour

Salt/pepper

1 tbsp paprika

2 cup beef broth

½ cup red wine (you can omit it just add more beef broth)

1 ½ tbsp teriyaki sauce

2 tbsp worchestire sauce

1 tbsp dry mustard

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

3 small red potatoes, cubed

1 small turnip, cubed

2 small parsnips, cubed

½ lb button mushrooms, quartered

Chop all the veggies into 1 inch pieces,

Cut up your meat into cubes as well,

Heat 2 tbsp canola oil in a large skillet.

Mix flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Dredge meat lightly in flour mix and fry until browned in a hot frying pan. Move browned meat into the slow cooker. Fry in batches if needed. Don’t overcrowd the pan.

Once all the meat is browned deglaze the pan with ½ cup of beef broth and wine. If you aren't using wine just use 1 cup of the beef broth. Pour over meat.

Layer veggies on top of meat.

Mix remaining spices into the rest of the beef broth and pour over veggies.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

You can thicken gravy if needed at the end with a little cornstarch slurry.

Mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Turn the slow cooker to high and stir in the slurry. Cook until thickened.

Watch your tongue, it is gonna be hot! Serve with fresh warm biscuits! I will post the recipe for my Cheddar cheese drop biscuits tomorrow. The perfect meal for a cold winter day.

Stay warm everybody.
Jen