Please may I have your best beef stew recipes

[LazySusan11]

I need to perfect my stew, usually I just chuck beef, onion, butternut squash, carrots and potatoes in the slow cooker. Mix a Swartz stew packet with Guinness some tinned tomatoes and purée.

I want to make a really tasty one without the packet. We have family coming to stay and I want to throw a stew together in the slow cooker so we can go out enjoy our day and not worry about cooking later.

Good beef is the key, shin by preference, and from a butcher, farm shop, farmers market (supermarket stuff costs the same but doesn't taste half as good).

No idea about slow cooker times but I would cook a beef stew for around 3 hours at a low temp on the hob or in the oven.

Also tastes best if cooked the day before and reheated IMHO.

Mine are never as good in the slow cooker. So I use a Le cruset type pot.

1. Brown seasoned steak in a frying pan. Put in le creuset. May need to do in batches, don't overload pan
2. Sauté onion, maybe a leek and 2 cloves garlic in frying pan. Smoked lardons/ bacon bits. Possibly a few carrots. Put in le creuset.
3. Add a tbsp plain flour to meat and veg.
4. Add wine / beef stock. About a pint or so in total. Plus herbs, bay leave, thyme, cook slowly for couple hours.
5. Sometimes I add additional veg...at stage 4. Squash, turnip...also shallots and mushrooms.

Yum.

Beef in Beer

tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/beef-in-beer.html

Chilli Beef Stew

tyne-teas.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/chilli-beef-stew_24.html

Don't know about slow cooker times but I would make day before and reheat if you can't put it in the oven on timed

Star anise is fab with beef. Just a small bit popped in.

Beef skirt (awful name) is aa good cut, not pricey but so tender and tasty

Beef brisket is my preference. Buy a rolled piece, brown in a pan. Deglaze the pan with red wine and mix with cornflour until you have a paste. Put the brisket in a casserole dish, add shallots, chunky cut carrots, whole mushrooms, tomato paste, bovril and lots of garlic and seasoning. Mix your cornflour paste with the rest of the wine and cover the brisket, adding water if necessary. Cook at 150 for 3 hours. Can be served with pasta or mash. Is also great if you add some smoked bacon lardons but I add bovril instead as I never remember to buy them.

There was a very good thread on here about this :)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/2221840-Right-I-need-your-best-beef-stew-recipe

1. I firstly fry onion, celery, carrot (either cut very very finely or I use if rushed I use the frozen version from sainsburys) and lardons (or any good quality back bacon) in a little oil until softened and browned (I do this first as I find that it flavours the oil). Then transfer into the slow cooker.

1. Cut good quality Brisket/stewing steak into one/toe inch sized pieces. Then season, add herbs (thyme is good) and flour. Make sure that all the pieces are covered with this mix.

1. Add more oil to the pan and make sure the pan is very hot (this will sear the meat as opposed to stewing it at this stage). Fry the beef (you may have to do this in stages) and then transfer to the slow cooker.

1. Lower the heat and then deglaze the pan with either stock or red wine (I use a wooden/plastic spoon to lossen any dried on pieces, which adds to the flavour of the stew) and transfer to the slow cooker.

1. Add more wine/stock to cover the meat etc, seasoning and any other veg that you wish to use (I usually use spinach, leeks)

If using stock I would flavour with wholegrain mustard (teaspoon), or horseradish sauce and use parsley.

If using red wine you could combine this with garlic or redcurrent jelly.

I usually cook my stew for at least four hours and either serve with dumplings or roast potatoes (I hate mash!).....the next day I use the stew as a filling to make a pie (I use shop bought short crust pastry).

I've bought a nice piece of
brisket to try out, should I put it whole in the slow cooker or cut it up?