Crockpot Garlic Beef Stew

Winter has arrived here in NH as of last week when we had a couple inches of snow that has managed to stay around because of the cold temps that followed. And, colder nights are forecast for several days this week. It's  hard to beef a stew for comfort food in winter.

This new (to me) recipe was tried a couple of weeks ago after we bought this Cuisinart programmable crockpot. We an older one which this one replaced as that one only had a control settings of high/low. This one can be set for a specified number of hours and then turns to Warm.  

Whoops, I prepared and served this recipe without photos. Trust me, it was delicious and will be served again — there's a lot more winter a'coming!

The original recipe was adapted from an original on BudgetBytes. There's some prep time needed, but the result is well worth it. And, once it's in the slow cooker, the work is all done, so go and r-e-l-a-x. (Hint: cutting veggies the night before saves time.)

Crockpot Garlic Beef Stew

• ½ lb (4 medium) carrots
• 3-4 celery pieces, sliced
• 1 medium onion
• 2 lbs red potatoes or sweet potatoes
• 2 TBSP olive oil 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ lbs. beef stew meat
•  Salt and pepper
• ¼ C all-purpose flour
• 2 C beef broth
• 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• ½ TBSP brown sugar
• ½ TBSP dried rosemary
• ½ tsp thyme

1. Dice onion; slice carrots and celery. Wash potatoes well and cut them 1-inch cubes. Place onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes into a large slow cooker. Place stew meat in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add flour and toss meat until it is coated, then set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic in hot oil for about a minute, or until soft and fragrant. Add floured meat and all the flour from the bottom of the bowl to skillet. Let beef cook without stirring for a few minutes to allow it to brown on one side. Stir and repeat until most or all sides of beef pieces are browned. Add browned beef to slow cooker and stir to combine with vegetables.
3. Return skillet to burner and turn heat to low. Add beef broth, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme to the skillet. Stir to combine the ingredients and dissolve browned bits from bottom of skillet. Once everything is dissolved off the skillet bottom, pour sauce over ingredients in the crock pot. The sauce will not cover the contents of the slow cooker as moisture is released when it cooks.
4. Cook on high 4 hours, then remove lid and stir, breaking beef into smaller pieces as you stir. Adjust salt, if needed. Serve hot as is with bread or salad or over rice or pasta.