CrockPot Beef Stew
Ingredients
Beef Stew:
2 pounds Beef Stew Meat
2 cups Diced Potatoes
2 cups Diced Carrots
1 cup Diced Celery
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
1 cup Low Sodium Beef Broth
½ cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
¼ teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 envelope French Onion Soup Mix
Thickening Slurry:
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour (or cornstarch)
¼ cup Water
Directions
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the olive oil and then spread the beef stew meat in the hot pan in a single layer and let it brown for 4 to 5 minutes. Using tongs flip the meat over and brown on the other side.
Place the browned beef in a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
Add the minced garlic and the red wine vinegar to the hot pan and deglaze the pan quickly scraping up the browned bits from the pan. And pour the deglazing liquid and garlic over the meat in the slow cooker.
Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker (vegetables, beef broth, tomato paste, pepper and French onion soup mix) and stir everything together.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
During the last half of cooking create a thickening slurry by stirring together the flour (or cornstarch) and water in a small bowl or cup until there are no lumps in your slurry. Stir slurry into simmering beef stew and let it cook the final half hour before serving.
