Crock Pot Beef Stew

[lady_kishiria]

1 lb stew beef
3 carrots
1 large potato
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup red wine of choice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper (preferably fresh-ground)

Take all of the above and load it into a Crock-Pot. Simmer on low for 8 hours or high for 4 to 6. (I actually haven't used it on high, so experiment.)

This is a variant on the beef stew Steve used to cook for himself when I was away at Forts Jackson and Lee. He made it for me and my reaction was "Nice, but it needs something." This includes the critical "somethings" of dry onion soup mix, which should be a valuable weapon in any cooking arsenal, and the red wine.

Comments

[adeodatus.livejournal.com]

That's pretty close to one that I make in the winter. It looks awesome. In mine, I usually add some chopped cabbage and paprika toward the end of the process. Just thinking about it makes me crave it but its just a bit too hot out to want to cook.

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

Cabbage is really good for you but it gives me absolutely murderous gas, so I avoid it in most forms.

[adeodatus.livejournal.com]

Its pretty hard to do it so that it still tastes good and doesn't produce that effect. Given that I'm in the good company of German folk, no one seems to worry too much about that. I think thats why evenings were filled with a lot of beer. After a evening meal of brats, potato salad, and saurkraut ... you kind of need something to make you not care about the rapidly digesting chow producing the lighter-than-air stuff making its way south.

Still, the red wine alone makes it worth cooking. The smell in the house is just amazing.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

This one looks good, but I'm freaked about cooking lamb. It can be either really good, or really horrible, depending on how you trim it, etc.