Guinness Beef Stew In A Crock Pot

Total Time: 8 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 8 -10 red potatoes, skin on, quartered
• 6 carrots, peeled, sliced into thick chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut in chunks
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 lbs stew meat, cubed (i used chuck)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, halved
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 10 3/4 ounces beef broth (i used consomme)
• 1 (13 g) envelope lipton onion soup mix
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon creole seasoning (tony chachere's)
• 1 teaspoon italian herb seasoning (mrs. dash)
• 12 ounces beer (guinness, draught or stout)
• 1 cup frozen peas, if desired

Recipe

• 1 put potato, carrot, and celery chunks in the bottom of crock pot. top with 2 bay leaves.
• 2 season flour with a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the beef with the flour mixture. heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet and add 1 bay leaf. sauté beef in batches, just until browned.(it took me about 3 batches in a 12" skillet). add more oil to pan as necessary for each batch. remove and set aside.
• 3 add onion and garlic to the same pan and sauté over med heat for a few minutes, then add about half the can of beef broth to deglaze, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. (that's flavor!).
• 4 add meat and onions to crock pot, top with mushrooms.
• 5 mix remaining beef broth with tomato sauce, onion soup mix, remaining seasonings, and add to crock pot. pour in most of bottle of beer (whatever fits, i had a few sips left for me).
• 6 cook 8 hours on low heat. stir in frozen peas when done, they'll heat up on their own.
• 7 serve with crusty french bread!
• 8 *tony chachere's and mrs. dash are my "go-to" seasonings for everything. you can use your favorite if these are not available.