Sometimes with beef stew simpler is better.  There’s nothing in this one but onions, green peppers, mushrooms, garlic, red wine, salt and pepper, a bit of Worcestershire sauce and beef.  I didn’t even sear the beef beforehand.  The only real work involved was chopping the onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic, which takes about ten minutes — then six hours in the Crock Pot set on high, with the top off for one of those hours to thicken the liquor.

This is the second batch of it I’ve made in as many days — I need lots of extra for freezing.

It tastes wonderful, as good as any beef stew I’ve ever made.

Here are some tips for making beef stew in a slow cooker which may seem obvious but took me a while to learn.  Chop the onions, peppers and mushrooms in fairly big chunks, to preserve their texture and distinct flavors during the long cook.  Chop the garlic up as finely as possible, to better disperse its flavor in the stew.  Keep your beef in the refrigerator until the last moment and transfer it directly from there to the cooking pot, which will slow its cooking process and make for chunks that are less well done and dried out.