This cozy beef stew can easily be put together before leaving for the day, simmering slowly all day long and delivering an amazing meal by dinner time.
1 ½cups(355g)Yukon gold potatoescut into 1 inch cubes
2teaspoonsworcestershire sauce
1teaspoonsugar
1teaspoonground pepper
½teaspoondried thyme
1bay leaf
18ounces(510ml)dark beer like Guinness
1ounce(28g)bittersweet chocolatechopped
⅓cup(42g)flour
Instructions
Cut the beef into 1 ½ inch chunks. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and set it aside.
In a dutch oven, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove it from the pan, crumble and set aside but leave the bacon fat in the pan.
Brown the beef by putting a little in the dutch oven at a time. As the pieces brown, remove them to the insert of the slow cooker. Once done, add bacon to the slow cooker as well.
Whisk beef broth and tomato paste together and pour into the slow cooker.
Add remaining ingredients (carrots, celery, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf) into the insert of a 6-8 quart slow cooker. Finally, pour in the beer and add the chocolate. Stir once more.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Remove lid of slow cooker when finished and carefully remove 1 cup of liquid from the stew and place in a bowl with flour. Whisk together then pour back into the stew and stir to thicken. This will take about 5 minutes or so.
Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Notes
I'm not a huge fan of the thyme flavor so I added only 1/4 of tsp. of thyme instead of 1/2 tsp. You may go according to the recipe or you may add in a little at a time (HA!) and gradually increase it. I also prepared the veggies (scrubbed, peeled, cut) the night before and put them in a cold water bath overnight so they didn't turn color (especially the potatoes). This just made it easier for me in the morning. All I had to do was brown the beef and throw everything in the crock pot. Source: adapted from Blissfully Delicious