Slow Cooker Beef Zucchini Stew
Sunday, February 17, 2019Ingredients
Directions
- Prep: 30 Minutes
- Cook: 6 Hours
- Total: 7 Hours
1. Cut beef into 1" cubes & dry with paper towel.
2. This step is optional, but recommended. Add olive oil to frying pan, set to medium to medium high until shimmering. Salt and Pepper beef, then brown beef on several sides. You don't want to crowd the pan and "boil" the meat, so you'll want to do this in batches, maybe 8 or or so at a time. Once browned, move to crock pot. The pan will probably have a lot of browned bits or may be completely brown by the time you're done with the beef - keep that, it's awesome.
3. Add butter to pan. When melted, add onions and fry until golden brown.
4. Add garlic and tomato paste. Fry quickly, just 30 seconds or so.
5. Add flour. This will be a little dry, that's good. Fry for another 30 seconds or so.
6. Add wine to pan, and scrap all browned bits from pan. If the wine becomes too syrupy, add broth.
7. Add onions and liquid to crock pot, including any remaining broth, then add the diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and carrots. Add lots of salt and pepper.
8. Let cook on high for 4 hours.
9. After 3-4 hours check on meat, it should be done and easy to bite into, but not falling apart.
10. Add sliced zuccini and cook for another 1-2 hours.
11. When beef is done completely, using a slotted spoon, remove all the solids from crock pot, leaving sauce.
12. Add 3 tablespoons (or so) of Flour. 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with whisk until gravy is pretty thick. (You'll most likely still have a little left over sauce in with the vegetables, so making the gravy thicker than normal is best.)
Nutrition Info
Notes
The cut of beef matters to a point -- you don't want something delicate or too fatty, so I usually go with something a little leaner but with at least some fat.
When preparing the meat, I usually place 1 whole sheet of paper towel on a plate, then cut & place beef cubes in one layer, cover with a paper towel. Then add next plate on top of it, adding a paper towel, beef, then another paper towel...and so on. I usually end up with 3 plates, stacked, between the paper and the weight of the plates helps pull moisture from beef without extra work.
Frying the meat ahead of time is optional but it really helps add a great color to the beef and an excellent base for the sauce/gravy -- so it's worth the extra 20 mins or so. We've wasted several paper towels here, but it helps keep the meat from sticking to the pan too much, it'll try to stick anyway, so just move it around a lot after initially adding to the pan.
It can be a little tricky adding the zucchini, because it really does cook fast, so you def want to add it to the pot when the beef is almost done. If in doubt just wait until the beef is done and let it cook an extra 30-60 mins.
Serve with pasta (macaroni), potatoes, or buckwheat. -- Yup I said buckwheat, not everyone likes it but if you haven't tried it you should! This grain's texture and flavor compliments the stew's rich meaty taste nicely.
Source
Myself.
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