SLOW COOKER BEEF STEW

This is the best beef stew I have ever made/tasted.  I do not typically make pronouncements like this, but this is REALLY good beef stew!   I scoured the internet for beef stew recipes but none sounded like what I was looking for.  So I created my own recipe, with a few ideas borrowed from a couple recipes online.

While we do not eat a lot of beef, when we do I like to make it special.  This stew has lean beef, red wine, smoked paprika, a rich sauce and lots of good veggies.  I reduced the amount of white flour to 1/4 cup for the whole recipe, and if you want to cut carbs even more you can leave out or reduce the amount of potatoes.  Make this hearty stew in the morning and your house will smell wonderful all day, and by the time dinner rolls around all you have to do is dig in.

INGREDIENTS – Serves 6

• 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 -inch cubes

• 1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup almond flour

• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil

• 3/4 lb small white, red, or purple potatoes, halved

• 1/2 pound mushrooms, halved

• 4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks

• 4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch chunks

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 cup red wine

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 14 oz can low-sodium beef broth

• 3 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaf

• 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Trim fat from beef.

2. In a gallon zippered bag, shake the beef with the paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add in 1/4 cup almond flour and shake until beef is well-coated.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Shaking off excess flour, add the beef to the hot pan, adding more oil if needed. Spread beef out so that all pieces touch the bottom of the pan.

Cook undisturbed until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Turn the meat and continue to cook until browned, about 4 minutes more.

4. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the beef to large (6 quart) slow cooker; add the onion, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery and garlic to slow cooker and stir to combine. (I used a slow cooker liner – makes clean up easy!)

5. Return skillet to medium heat (do not clean out the pan). Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil until hot but not smoking. Add the tomato paste and stir well; heat through, about 1 minute. Stir in the all purpose flour until it clumps together into a paste.

With a whisk, slowly stir in wine, continuing to stir over medium heat until thick (it’s OK if there are some lumps).

Whisk in the beef broth, Worcestershire, thyme, and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a simmer, whisking; continue simmering and whisking until the gravy is smooth and thick, about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and add bay leaves.

6. Pour the gravy into the slow cooker, mix ingredients well, cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours; meat and veggies should be tender.

Midway through cooking, stir and taste, adding salt and pepper to taste if needed.

7. Sprinkle with parsley when ready to serve.