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Beef Stew In Crock Pot
While I use my Hamilton Beach crock pot all throughout the year, with the cooler temperatures of fall and winter all around us, I thought I would share my favorite recipe for beef stew in crock pot. One of the coolest and most useful appliances ever invented for kitchen cooking is the crock pot. Its simplicity of use, low energy consumption, convenience and time saving features make it well worth the small investment in price.
In today's busy world it is sometimes difficult to find the time or energy to come in after a hard day of work or a hectic schedule of taking care of children and school activities and then spend a couple of hours in the kitchen preparing, cooking, serving and then cleaning up after dinner. One thing I love about crock pot cooking in general and this recipe in particular is that you can throw it all together in the course of about thirty minutes in the morning, set the crock pot on simmer and let it cook to perfection as you go about your daily routine. Then when you come home in the evening all you have to do is pull out a few bowls and enjoy a hot, tasty and delicious stew that will warm your insides on a cold winter evening.
Cleanup is also a snap as you can imagine since everything was cooked in one pot.
Tip: For even easier cleanup, line your crock pot using an oven bag, (turkey size) placing all ingredients in the bag. Cooking time doesn't vary but cleaning consists of simply removing the contents from the bag and you're done...your pot remains clean!
Cooked enough for two meals? Just put the lid on the crock pot and place the pot in the refrigerator till you are ready for the leftovers. Then simply put the pot back into the crock and let it warm to perfection in just a short time while you are doing other things.
Okay, enough jabbering for now! I'm sure you are well aware of all the benefits of crock pot cooking. Here is my recipe for beef stew in crock pot.
Beef Stew In Crock Pot Recipe
Ingredients:
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. Stew meat (Hint: you can buy a cheaper cut of meat or a roast on sale and cut it up to save quite a bit of money if you prefer.)
1 – stick butter or margarine
1 – large onion (diced)
1- 2 lbs carrots (I prefer to cut mine into bite size penny slices)
4 – 6 medium to large potatoes (diced into 1 inch or larger cubes)
4 – 5 regular 15 oz. cans chicken broth
1 – can whole kernel corn (white preferred but yellow works too!)
8 – 10 oz. Small shell macaroni
salt
pepper
garlic powder or fresh garlic cloves (2 -3 pods chopped)
½ – 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Directions:
Season stew meat to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder
Melt butter in large skillet and brown stew meat with onions (and garlic cloves if using fresh garlic) about 10 minutes over medium-high heat
Place carrots, potatoes chicken broth and Italian seasoning into crock pot and set to low heat
Add browned stew meat and onions (use ½ cup water in skillet at end to get all the tasty drippings)
Stir well and cover crock pot
Simmer on low for a minimum of 5 hours (longer is fine)
During the last 15 minutes, add macaroni and corn
Stir well and cover for 15 minutes.
Check macaroni for tenderness (al-dente!)
Serve and enjoy! ( I love crackers with mine)
That's it! I know it may seem a little strange to use chicken broth for a beef stew in crock pot recipe, but trust me, you will the love the taste of this beef stew as the flavors meld together. And my Hamilton Beach crock pot cooks it to perfection every time!