Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

For years stew was a complete mystery to me, I remember my first couple of attempts at making it, although they weren’t total disasters, they certainly weren’t what I now call stew. My “stews” turned out to be bland, watery beef soups with a bunch of mushy veggies and chunks of tough flavourless meat.

Looking back, I now know where I went wrong – I tried to streamline the process, skipped steps to be “efficient” and rushed the process. It was only when I started using my slow cooker did I truly realize how important it is to follow the necessary steps, and actually let my stew… stew (hence the name).

To be honest I didn’t think the slow cooker was going to do anything too special, and I remember taking a peek after 6 hours and it was still pretty runny. Romeo reminded me to be patient and see what happens in the last two hours and not to get discouraged – wow so glad I  took his advice and waited – during those last 2 hours the stew thickened and became a nice, rich, brown (oh and filled our home with the most amazing aroma).

For anyone new to cooking I 100% recommend learning the fundamentals of making stew with a slow-cooker, since it’s low maintenance and you have a low controlled temperature for a set amount of time which will allow your stew to thicken over time, it’s really worth the wait!

Before we start anything it’s important that you season your beef with salt and pepper BEFORE anything. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that you need to temper your meat before cooking it. So take your meat out of the fridge, season it with a little salt and pepper, then dredge it in 1/4 cup of flour. Dredging your meat with flour will help thicken your stew, as well as help in the browning process which we’ll get to later. Set your meat aside and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes while you prepare your veggies.

Chop your onions, carrots, celery, red peppers and garlic and place them directly into the slow cooker and season with a little salt and pepper.

Warm your skillet on medium heat for a few minutes then add your bacon and fry it until it’s a nice golden colour, then transfer it to your slow cooker with a slotted spoon, making sure to leave the grease in the pan.

Now take your beef, sear it in the leftovoer bacon grease for a couple minutes until it’s browned evenly all over. Although searing your meat is not absolutely necessary and your meat will cook fine without this step, adding it significantly enhances the flavour and adds depth to the taste so if you’re really tight on time you can skip this step, but I highly recommend that you don’t.

Once all the beef has been seared transfer it to the slow cooker. You’ll notice that your pan has some brown gunky stuff left on the bottom. Although it might looked like a scary burned mess that may cause you to freak out thinking that you’ve ruined your pan – DON’T . This is the “fond” (which is the french word for base, or bottom) which contains a huge amount of flavour and will come right off once your you deglaze your pan.

To deglaze your pan, take a cup of red wine and pour it onto your warm pan and gently scrape the bottom of your pan while it is sizzling. Almost instantly all of the fond will come right off your pan. Once all the fond has lifted, add it to your beef stock which you will use to make your gravy.

Last but not least, you want to make a nice starter liquid for your stew.  So in the same skillet you’ve used for everything else, melt your butter then gradually whisk in your flour and cook together for 2-3 minutes until the flour is giving off a toasted aroma, then gradually stir in the beef stock .  Once the liquid starts to thicken, add your tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, sugar, and worcester sauce, and continue to stir until sauce has comepletely thickened.
Pour the liquid over your meat and vegetables in the slow cooker, salting as needed, then cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Add potatoes and mushrooms to your stew about an hour before serving (if you add the potatoes too soon they will just become mushy, and mushrooms take very little time to cook) then wait a little longer and you’re done!

Serve on it’s own, or with a thick slice of fresh bread, and ENJOY!