What's for Dinner? Homestyle Beef Stew

By Caitlin Klein in Food on Oct 26, 2011 6:00PM

Have you noticed how cold your bathroom floor is in the morning? Have you noticed that it's dark when you leave for work and as good as dark when you're coming home? Come on, you live in Chicago. You know what this means. Ding ding ding! It is Fall, mothercussers, and it is high time to BUST OUT THE CROCKPOT.

There's an 11th commandment that only applies to people who live in places that experience freezing rain: Thou Shalt Own a Crockpot. If you don't already have one, now is the perfect time to head out and invest $30 in your warm, meaty future.

Here is our recipe for Homestyle Beef Stew, which is a solid way to fire up the ol' slow cooker and find yourself at home with a hot meal ready and waiting.

Chicagoist's Homestyle Beef Stew for the Crockpot

Ingredients (makes one big crockpot - serves 6-8 plus possible leftovers)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef roast, cut into cubes
3 16-ounce cans of beef broth
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 Tablespoons flour
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
3-4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 ½ teaspoons paprika
1 garlic clove
Salt and pepper

Instructions
The secret to making good beef stew (lean in for the whisper) is to brown the meat before you put it in the crockpot. Get a nice sear going on the sides of the meat and it will have a richer, meatier flavor and less mush.

In this recipe, we used huge chunks (at least 2 inch cubes) of beef roast. You can cut it into smaller pieces if that’s your preference, or if you’re cooking for the elderly or something.

Day 1:
Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a flat-bottomed pan and brown the meat cubes on all sides. Try to get a nice, dark brown crust. Use a high to medium-high heat; it is unimportant whether the inside of the meat is cooked, and in fact if it’s not, you’ll end up with more tender results.

While the meat browns add beef broth to the crockpot insert (that’s the pot). Mix in paprika and garlic powder and stir. Add the carrots and potatoes. Once the meat is browned, add it to the crockpot. In the same pan, cook the onions for 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add them to the crockpot. Lastly, add the singular garlic clove. Whoever finds it in their bowl the next day is the winner. In our house, winners get to loaf around and tell bad jokes while losers clean the dishes.

Put the lid on the crockpot insert and set in the fridge while you sleep.

Day 2:
Wake up. Put the crockpot insert into the crockpot sleeve. Set on low. Go to work. 8ish hours later, come home. Your house, it smells so good!

Place the flour in a small bowl. Slowly add 1 Tablespoon of water at a time to the flour and stir. Stop when the mixture becomes a paste. One spoonful at a time, add flour paste to the stew and stir. This will thicken the stew. It works quickly, so be careful to stop and evaluate after each spoonful of added paste.

Serve in deep bowls with crusty bread and warm apple cider. Are those burning leaves I smell? Are we having ghost-shaped Peeps for dessert? Happy Fall.