Basic Beef Stew

• 1 cup flour
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs stew meat
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup carrot (cubed)
• 1 cup celery (cubed)
• 1 cup onion (cubed)
• 2 cups russet potatoes (cubed)
• 2 cups chicken broth (or 1/2 cup red wine 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth)
• 2 teaspoons thyme

1. Season flour with salt and pepper. Dredge the meat in flour.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Brown meat in two batches. Place browned meat in slow cooker.
3. Add remaining oil (1 tbsp) to the heated skillet and cook carrots, celery, onion & potatoes for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place sauteed vegetables in crock pot on top of meat.
4. Pour broth (and wine if using) into skillet and stir to deglaze the pan. Pour mixture over meat and vegetables.
5. Add thyme, cover and cook on the high setting for 2 hours. Drop the temperature to the low setting and continue cooking for an additional 3-4 hours, or until meat is fork tender. (The recipe stated that you could also do the entire cooking process on low for 6-8 hours -- I did the entire cooking process in 3 hours on high, which is why I listed the cooking time as 3 hours).

flour, salt, stew meat, extra virgin olive oil, carrot, celery, onion, russet potatoes, chicken broth, thyme

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/basic-beef-stew-471562 (may not work)