Red Wine Beef Stew

Stew is a wonderful comfort food and in a slow cooker, stews can be not only a flavorful but also very easy dish to make. This is my favorite stew to make because the red wine adds that little extra punch of flavor. (Note: for those who don't drink alcohol, you can still enjoy this stew as the cooking process burns off all the alcohol). With the long cooking time for this stew, it is a great dish to start before you go to work. You'll come back home to the wonderful aroma of this dish and a hearty meal that everyone will enjoy!

- 2 lbs of stewing beef

- 4 medium red or yellow potatoes

- baby carrots (as many as you'd like)

- 3 celery ribs

- pearl onions (the equivalent of 2 medium onions)

- 1/4 cup all purpose flour

- paprika

- oregano

-seasoning salt

- 2 cups red wine

- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard

- pinch of brown or white sugar

Veggies are an important part of this stew so be sure you cut all your veggies well so that each helping of stew has plenty of them.

Cut your potatoes in 1/2 - 3/4 inch cubes and set aside in a large bowl

Add baby carrots to the same bowl (I used about half a package)

Cut the ends off the pearl onions, remove outer skin and then cut in half. Place in the same bowl.

Cut your celery into small slices, add to the same bowl and mix all of the veggies together.

Put your veggie mix in a 6 quart slow cooker

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups of red wine, 2 tablespoons of honey dijon mustard and a pinch of brown sugar.

Pour this mixture evenly over top of the veggie mixture in your slow cooker

Fill a large freezer bag with 1/4 all purpose flour as well as paprika and oregano (measurements to your own taste; I did a tablespoon of each).

Take your stewing beef, which should be cut into 1 inch cubes, empty it into the freezer bag and shake until all the meat is covered.

Pour the meat on top of the veggie mixture in your slow cooker & sprinkle with a little seasoning salt.

Cook on low for 7 hours, stirring up the mixture at the 5 hour mark if possible.

After the stew is done cooking, turn off the power and remove the lid. Allow the stew to sit for 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Enjoy!