Beef Stew with Red Wine

I'm not really a "stew" or "soup" person--unless it's beef stew. I'm usually an Irish stew gal, going straight for the Guinness and beef broth, but this time I thought I'd try something different. Vegetable broth and red wine = just as delicious as the Guinness!

I am in the middle of a love affair with my slow cooker. I bought it this last summer, and I've been using it religiously ever since. I've made pulled pork, briskets, whole chickens, chicken soup, potatoes, lentils, curry, you name it. But I hadn't made stew until this week. Which may or may not be a good thing, because if I'd made the stew sooner my slow cooker probably wouldn't have seen anything but stew. for. ev. er.

I slow cooked this baby for 15 hours, but if you like your carrots not so melt-in-your-mouth (weirdo), then you probably just want to keep it to 8-10 hours like a regular boring person might do. This will last me all week, with at least one big bowl each day for lunch. If I still have quite a bit by Sunday, I will probably throw the stew into a pre-made pie crust and make a beef pot pie!

Here is my recipe for The Best Beef Stew EVER. Or, just Beef Stew if you want an unbiased title.

Serves: 8 portions
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups baby carrots
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4-6 baby red potatoes
• 3 stalks of celery
• 4 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups red wine 
• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 3+ tablespoons flour 
• 1 pound stewing beef

Directions

1. Turn your slow cooker onto low heat and throw in everything but the flour and beef. 
2. After 4 hours of cooking time, put a heavy skillet on medium-high heat and once the pan is hot throw in a drizzle of oil and the pieces of beef. Sear the meat--total cooking time is around 5 minutes.
3. Throw the beef into the stew, mix, and add the flour. Check the stew again after the stew has been cooking for 6 hours total, and if you want it to thicken more add tablespoons of flour. 
4. Here is where you can either stop and turn off the slow cooker to let it stand and cool for about 45 minutes, or if you want your stew to melt in your mouth, leave it on medium for another 3-5 hours. When you are satisfied with the stew's meltiness, you can turn off the slow cooker and at that time add more flour if you still want to thicken the stew, and let it sit for 45 minutes. I don't like to add too much salt or pepper when it's still hot, so I usually add spices straight to the bowl I'm eating out of rather than the whole pot.

Enjoy!