Savory Crock Pot Stew

Stew is a favorite meal in our home. Over the years I have tried many recipes, one of which was posted on 1/7/2009, but getting a flavorful crock pot version has been a bit of a challenge. In this recipe, I combined the best of a few different crock pot and oven versions that we liked and made something a bit more to our liking. One of the most important steps to making a flavorful beef recipe in the crock pot is to brown the meat first. This step really enhances the final flavor of the dish and is worth the extra bit of time invested into the evening meal. Blessings...

Recipe:

3/4 pound cubed tri-tip steak, dried on paper towels to remove excess moisture
olive oil for browning
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1-1/2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
1 celery rib, sliced
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz.) beef broth
3 tbsp. quick-cooking tapioca
1 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1-1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 cup frozen peas

1. In a skillet brown the steak in oil. Remove the steak to the crock pot and fry the onion in the oil for a few minutes until softened. Scrape the onion and any brown bits into the crock pot. Add all remaining ingredients except the frozen peas. Stir well; cover and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours or on high setting for 5-6 hours.
2. Add peas during last hour of cooking.
3. Stir and check potatoes and carrots for tenderness before serving.

Yield: 4-5 servings
Note: Tri-tip steak is a wonderfully marbled and tender cut of beef for making stew and other casserole-type dishes. Stew meat tends to be very tough even after the slow cooking of the crock pot.