Crook Pot Beef Stew

                                                 

My assistant helping with the Apple Crisp

On Wednesday nights my parents have been joining us for dinner.  I am usually motivated to make some kind of comfort food, last week was lasagna, the week before was turkey meatloaf.  Now that the weather is getting cooler I have taken out the trusty crook pot.  I have made many beef stews in it, but tonight I came up with my own recipe rather than one from a cookbook.  I thought it was very good, it had some nice flavor and the meat was very tender.  I was trying to do a Bloody Mary flavored beef stew ( I know it sounds very Racheal Ray).  I was inspired by some mix I found in the fridge.  I added the the mix, it had great flavor and added some salt but it was still very good.  I think to go for the true Bloody Mary flavor I would need to add some horseradish and more tomato.  I have been making my own stalk about once a month and freezing it, I think it has made a big difference in my soups.  For this I used some beef and chicken I had froze. A good quality, low soduim would work as well.

The ratings were overall excellent.  Sara ate the whole thing!  T and my dad loved it and gave it a 10, my mom gave it an 8.  She felt it should be thicker and I have to agree with her.  Maybe if I added flour early in the recipe it may have helped, I added it at the end.  Overall this was an easy, great week night meal.  I just served it with some bread and Barefoot Contessa's apple crisp.  My friend Allison suggested the recipe and it was a hit: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/old-fashioned-apple-crisp-recipe/index.html.  It was great, but makes enough for 10 so I cut it in half.  The beef stew was pretty healthy with lots of veggies, but the apple crisp didn't help, but it was so worth it!

Crook Pot Beef Stew

Serves 4

2 lb cubed chuck stew beef

1/2 dry wine (red or white is fine. I used white because that was I happend to have in the fridge)

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups beef stock ( whatever you have works)

1 cup bloody mary mix ,V8, Spicy V8 or tomato sauce

2 carrots chopped

2 celery stocks chopped

1 med. onion

3 potatoes

A dash of Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

2 tbl flour

1. I browned the beef quickly on med-high heat in small batches in a stock pot and transferred to the crock pot. Then poured the wine in the pot to loosen any of the meat and flavor that stuck to the bottom.  I let the wine simmer for about 1 minute and scrapped the bottom with a wooden spoon.  If you are in a rush you can skip this step.

2.  I put wine into the crock pot along with stock, veggies, bloody mary mix, Worcestershire and bay leaf.  Then sprinkle with flour and wisk if lumpy.

3. Put the crook pot on low for 6 hours.