I modified my recipe from Cooking Light's Italian Beef Stew from Jan/Feb 2011. I used dry thyme since I didn't have fresh, and I substituted potatoes for mushrooms for two reasons: 1) I had potatoes and not mushrooms, and 2) my fiance doesn't like intact mushrooms. I reserved the potatoes with the carrots so they didn't get soggy. I also modified it for the crock pot by not adding the water and changing the cooking time, of course.
Here's my recipe!
Awesome Italian Beef Stew:Olive oil to coat pan
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup flour2 lbs. boneless chuck roast, trimmed of fat, cut into cubes
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup dry red wine (I used Yellow Tail Shiraz/Cabernet blend)
28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp. dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup cubed potatoes
3/4 cup sliced carrot (separate from chopped carrot above)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Place tomatoes, beef stock, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf in the crock pot. Sautee chopped carrot and chopped onion in olive oil. Add garlic for 45 seconds. Remove to crock pot. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to beef, then dredge beef in flour. Add more oil to pan and brown beef. You'll have to do this in batches, and it'll take a while, but it's worth it. Remove beef to crock pot. Add wine to pan and scrape off all the little pieces of beef sticking to it, reduce to ~1/3 volume. Move to crock pot.
At this point, I moved the entire crock pot to the fridge overnight and took it out to cook the next day. You could start cooking immediately, though.
Cook on low ~6-8 hours. Add potatoes and sliced carrots. Cook another 1-2 hours, removing lid if you need to thicken your stew. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in basil and parsley, and enjoy! Make sure you remove the bay leaf before eating.
this looks really good and easy. a must have combination for a not so good cook :-) i will definitely try it soon! thanks for all of the tips!
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