Slow Cooker Grassfed Beef Stew
This recipe serves 6-8 people, depending on appetites. We like to make stew for a dinner gathering, then use the leftovers as an easy to heat, homemade meal for the family. Leftovers can also be frozen.
Ingredients:
3-4 pounds grassfed stew meat
(Chuck roast, rump roast, round roast, pretty much any of the tougher cuts. These cuts need slow cooking, but they boast great flavor. I like to cut the meat into big chunks—say 2” x 2”. Or you can use pre-cut packages of stew meat, which are a lot smaller, but equally delicious.)
4 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil or bacon grease
1 large or 2 medium onions, cut in large slices
4 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes with juice
2 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
(I sometimes add potatoes or carrots cut into chunks. I judge how may people are eating, and put in what I think they will eat.)
Directions:
Dredge the beef chunks in flour with ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Brown the chunks of beef in the oil or grease. Do them in 2 or 3 batches.
Remove the beef and put it into the slow cooker or crock-pot.
Brown the onions and garlic in the fat left in the pan. Add more fat as needed.
Add the can of tomatoes to the onions. Add the bay leaves, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper and mix. Put the mixture into the slow cooker with the beef.
Add the beef broth and wine to the pan, bring to a boil and scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to get all the yummy bits.
Add the liquid to the slow cooker. If it looks like you need more liquid, add more wine.
Optional: This is when you would add the carrots and/or potatoes to the mix.
Cook on the low setting of the slow cooker for 3-4 hours. Test the meat for doneness—it should be very tender. Let it cook a bit more if necessary. This stew can be cooked ahead of time, then reheated for serving.