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Savory Beef Stew
by Jes Mostek
serves: 8
  This recipe calls for beef, but you can easily substitute any red meat in this recipe. Veal, lamp, mutton, venison, buffalo, etc. would all work well. If you are dealing with wild game or a particularly tough cut of meat, be sure to go with the longer cooking time to ensure tender meat.
Ingredients:
  1 lb.   beef stew meat
  1/2 c.   flour
  1 1/2 tsp.   seasoned salt
  1 tsp.   pepper
  1/2 c.   olive oil
  3 1/2 c.   water
  1 tsp.   garlic
  1 tsp.   oregano
  1 tsp.   thyme
  1/2 tsp.   marjoram
  1/2 tsp.   dill
  1/2 tsp.   paprika
  3   bay leaves
  1 T.   Balsemic Vinegar
  1/2 c.   red wine
  2 T.   Worchestershire
  3 med.   potatoes, peeled & cubed
  3 med.   carrots, peeled & sliced
  1 (15 oz.) can   corn
  1 (15 oz.) can   peas
  1 jar or pkg   pearl onions (available fresh or as a jar of cocktail onions)
  1 (15 oz.) can   diced tomatoes
Directions:
  In a large, heavy bottomed frying pan, heat about 2 T. oil over medium to high heat.

In a small mixing bowl (or plastic zipper-style bag), combine flour, salt and pepper. Add meat cubes a few at a time and cover each piece of meat completely with the flour mixute.

Place a handful of the meat cubes in the preheated pan and brown meat, being sure to get all sides. The better you brown your meat, the more flavorful the sauce for the stew will be. Repeat for the remaining meat, adding more oil to the pan as necessary.

Transfer the meat to the crock pot and turn it on. Pour the water in the pan and turn on the burner. Stir and scrape sides to get all of that great meat-browning flavor out of the pan and into the crock pot. Transfer water to the crock pot.

Add the spices, vinegar, wine, potatoes and carrots to the crock pot.

If you got fresh pearl onions, skin them and add them to the crock pot at this point; if you have a jar of cocktail pearl onions, save it and add it later, with the rest of the canned vegetables.

Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 3-5 hours, or until all meat and vegetables are tender.

About 10 minutes before serving, add the corn, peas, tomatoes, and onions (if you didn't already add them earlier). I don't drain my vegetable before adding them to soups and stews as it adds more great flavor. Only drain the vegetables if you're worried that the sauce will be too thin or if you need to watch you salt intake closely.

Note: if you have a wheat allergy, you can still make this recipe by substituting half the amount of corn starch for the flour.