Beef Stew - slow cooker

This was another slow cooker recipe. The best part about those is that you just make it in the morning and then don't worry about dinner the rest of the day. We made some slight modifications, such as adding a splash of red wine to the dish. We also used a lot more water/broth (enough to cover all ingredients in the soup). We also doubled the potatoes from the original recipes. The modified recipe is below.

Here is the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14685/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 bay leafs
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
6 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced or 8 oz baby carrots
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions:

1. Place meat in slow cooker.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, wine,  potatoes, carrots, and celery. Add water to cover all ingredients
2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

What we liked:

It was really great! The paprika and Worcestershire sauce really added to the soup. 

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was not so keen on the soup, he preferred mac and cheese that night. 

Next time:

No changes needed. 

Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Stew

We have made this recipe, but we did not actually get to try it. Alona's parents were watching the children for the weekend, and we wanted to make them something easy that they wouldn't have to worry about and it would be ready whenever they felt like it. Also, Alona thought her dad wanted barley as he inquired about it a few days prior, but apparently the inquiry was because he wanted to feed the fish barley. Oh well! Apparently, it turned out really and good and it was great to just throw together in the morning to be ready for the evening. The original recipe had mushrooms which we of course omitted. 

Here is the original recipe: http://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/slow-cooker-beef-and-barley-stew-recipe/

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil
2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1" cubes
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
8 oz. mushrooms, cut into thin slices
8 large carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2" pieces
6 large cloves garlic, minced
4 medium-large yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 c. low sodium beef broth
1 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 c. pearl barley
1 bay leaf
chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1, Combine all ingredients together and cook on high for 4-6 hours depending on your slow cooker.

What we liked:

EASY

What we didn't like:

We can't quite be experts on this recipe as we only made it but did not try it. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He dismissed it. However, Astrid loved all the fun things in the stew. 

Next time:

No change. 

Green Chile Stew ala Manny with Guiness Beer Bread

We are back! We have been gone last week to a wonderful vacation in Cabo. Now we are back to the New Mexico desert, just in time to find fresh roasted green chile at the grower's market at a park around the corner from our house! We decided to make green chile stew. Alona got this recipe from a coworker, years ago. It is a great way to make the stew and turns out great! Be careful to not make your stew too spicy. Make sure to test your chile prior to adding it to the soup. We got a mixed baggie of green and red peppers. Seems like the green ones are very spicy while the red ones are just mildly so. Also, removing the seeds will help to reduce the spiciness a lot. We also made beer bread to go along with the soup. The sweetness of the bread really went well with the spiciness of the soup!

Green Chile Stew

Guinness Beer Bread

Stew in Dutch Oven 

Bread!!!

Ingredients:

Stew:
1.5 lb beef, cubed
1 can stewed tomatoes
3-4 potatoes, cubed
2-3 carrots, sliced into circles
4 sticks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
3-4 chopped fresh roasted green chiles
5 cloves garlic, sliced or chopped
salt
pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground corriander
cilantro for garnish, optional
beef broth, optional (could use water instead)

Bread:
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 bottle Guinness
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Heat up the dutch oven and pour oil. When heated, add in the meat. Add salt and pepper and add garlic. Cook until the meat is browned.
2. Add in onions, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, green chile and celery. Add in ground corriander
3. Add beef broth to fill the dutch oven. You can vary your broth depending on how much liquid you like in your soup.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Cover and cook for about an hour. Garnish with cilantro (optional)

Bread:
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Spray bread pan with cooking spray
3. combine 3 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 bottle Guinness beer. Mix well.
4. Pour batter into the bread pan.
5. Pour melted butter over the bread.
6. Bake for 55 minutes. 

What we liked:

The green chile stew was great, not too spicy. The beer bread came out perfect with a crispy outer side - great served with butter.

What we didn't like:

Nick thought the soup was a litttttle spicy - but that's because he avoided all the chile until the end and ended up with a bowl of chile pieces! 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the bread and butter! Astrid liked it all - nom nom nom. 

Next time:

No change- perfect!

Slow Cooker Hungarian Beef Stew

Alona likes broth-ier soups, while Nick enjoys a more hearty, thicker stew like soup. We usually try to make a soup in the middle that makes everyone happy. Kaspian is not yet into soups; he just picks out potatoes and carrots out of them. This recipe looked really good, but we did not have the time to make it in the dutch oven as Kaspian has swimming lessons on Wednesdays this month. So, we converted the recipe from Cooking Light into a slow cooker recipe. We also used more beef broth and water. Here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-beef-stew. It was very enticing with paprika and the whole house smelled like delicious paprika all day long. The baby potatoes turned out perfect. We couldn't really taste the caraway seeds in the recipe.

Hungarian Beef Stew with Sour Cream

Almost ready to eat!

Ready to serve!

Finished after 8 hours of cooking!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 garlic cloves
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups water
32 oz beef stock
1 pound baby potatoes
1 pound baby carrots
8 mini bell peppers, chopped into circles
Sour Cream for serving

Directions:

1. Set the slow cooker to High
2. Put oil in the slow cooker. Add chopped onions and garlic.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together wine, flour, paprika and caraway seeds. Add to the slow cooker.
4. Add the meat, potatoes, carrots and peppers. Add salt and pepper.
5. Add in the beef stock and another 2 cups water.
6. Cover and cook on HIGH for 8 hours.
7. Serve with sour cream 

What we liked:

Paprika! The potatoes were perfectly done to the point of being buttery and flaky. The meat was also very tender and delicious. The peppers complimented the soup.

What we didn't like:

It needed the sour cream. The stew was not complete without it. Couldn't taste the caraway seeds.

What Kaspian thought about it:

It didn't really warrant his attention. 

Next time:

Use pearl onions instead of onions. Add more flour. Perhaps add more caraway seeds as their flavor was unnoticed in this recipe.