Crock Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef chuck or stew meat, cut in 1-inch chunks.
• ¼ cup flour
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1½ cups beef broth or reconstituted beef soup base made with red wine instead of water
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ teaspoon crushed garlic (about 1 clove)
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 potatoes, washed and cubed into 1-inch chunks
• 2 onions, peeled and cubed into 1-inch chunks
• 1 stalk celery, sliced into 1-inch chunks

Method

1. Remove as much fat and connecting tissue as possible if you are preparing the meat from a whole chuck roast.  Place meat in crock pot.
2. Sprinkle flour, salt, pepper, and paprika over meat.  Stir to coat meat with flour and spices.
3. Add all remaining ingredients and stir to mix well.
4. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours, or high 4-6 hours.
5. Stir stew throughly before serving

Notes:

• I like celery so I put in 2-3 stalks instead of the single stalk depending on my mood when I make this dish.
• Making the broth with a beef soup base using red wine is more flavorful than using plain canned base or bullion cubes.
• If you are using soup base, reduce the salt by ½ teaspoon; especially if you are using grocery store cooking wine as it has extra salt added.  If you are using a natural red wine use the full amount called for in the recipe.