St. Patrick's Day must have inspired me to whip up this hearty beef stew. That, and the fact that I had a massive package of stew meat in my freezer that I needed to use. Yes, both of those reasons, and I had to make some sort of soup for a potluck at our church, and I needed to work with what I had on hand.

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

I don't know who said that, but I firmly believe it.

And sometimes, as in the case of this beef stew, it results in a beautiful thing.

I ate this for -- literally -- four meals in a row after I made it. Well, I guess technically not for breakfast (me and Multigrain Cheerios continue our morning love affair) but I had it for lunch and dinner.

Just thought I'd clear that up. I'll never lie to you.

I actually made two batches in two crock pots -- one for us and one for church -- and it was quite the extravaganza. Combine me being immersed elbow deep in beef stew preparation, limited counter space, Mr. Blue Eyes at work and Little Blue Eyes emptying the cupboards in the background... When it was all said and done, it looked like a hurricane had hit our house.

Who knew that beef stew came with collateral damage?

If you make this, I pray it goes a little more smoothly at your house.

Soup's on!

Hearty Beef Stew 4x6 Recipe Card - Coming Soon!

Ingredient List...

• 1/4 Medium Sized Onion
• 3 Ribs Celery
• 4 Carrots, upeeled
• 1/2 Shallot
• 3 Potatoes, peeled
• 1 Cup Flour
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp. Seasoned Salt
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
• 4 Tbsp. Butter
• 2 # Beef Stew Meat
• 4 Cups Beef Stock
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Milk
• 2 tsp. Beef Bouillon Granules
• 1 tsp. Dried Chives
• 1 tsp. Dried Parsley
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp. Salt

Wash vegetables thoroughly, peel the potatoes, then coarsely chop all and set aside...

Sorry, I forgot to photograph the potatoes, but you'll see those a bit later on anyway.

We want to dredge the stew meat in a seasoned flour mixture, and then brown in butter before we put it in the crock pot. Both of these steps give it MUCH added flavor, and the flour also helps thicken the stew as it cooks. You'll probably want to divide the meat up into two batches to dredge and brown.

Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a 8x8 baking dish. Put stew meat into the mixture and toss to coat (again, you'll probably want to do this in two batches)...

Next, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and just starting to brown, place the stew meat in the pan and brown on each side...

    

Again, two batches, but the butter should carry you through for both. If not, just melt a little more butter in your pan for the second batch. 

Make sure that you pick the stew meat out of the flour mixture before you put it in the pan... We don't need all that excess flour, just what sticks to the meat. We don't need to worry about cooking the meat completely here, just enough to brown the outside. The crock pot will finish the cooking process.

Once your meat is browned, put it in the crock pot. Cover meat with the chopped veggies...

I apologize for the lack of focus in that first photo. Also, like I said above, I used two different crock pots, which is why one photo is in a black pot and the other is in a white pot. You don't need to use two crock pots (unless you double the recipe).

Just in case you thought there was somethin' fishy going on, I thought you needed to know. We're all about full disclosure here.

All that's left to do it put together our broth, and the crock pot will do the rest!

For the broth, combine 4 cups beef stock, 1 cup chicken stock, 1 cup milk, 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules, 1 teaspoon dried chives, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a pot over high heat. Bring mixture just to a boil, then pour over your beef and vegetables...

I suppose you could just pour this into the crock pot without bringing to a boil first, but I like to do this step so that I can taste the broth first and make any little tweaks in flavor here if desired.

Turn your crock pot on high and allow the stew to do it's magic there in the pot for about 6-8 hours, depending on your individual crock. You'll know it's done when the stew meat is tender and falling apart and the vegetables are tender.

Serve with a toasty piece of garlic bread and be sure to take a picture of it outside on your deck, like I did, because the light is better out there and all food photographs beautifully when there's a pine tree in the background. ;)