Awesome Beef Stew for Beef Stew Haters - Slow Cooker

I will begin with this:

I HATE BEEF STEW

I don't know what it is. I don't really like beef unless it's steak that has been grilled (mouth watering at the thought). So beef in beef broth with potatoes and carrots and onion soup mix doesn't appeal to me. Of course, it's one of my husband's favorite things since it includes beef and potatoes. Anyway, on a Saturday afternoon he has a vision of having our friends over after church for beef stew with tiny potatoes. (BTW - If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they sell teeny tiny potatoes and it's SO worth the trip to the store to get them... sold in a 1 lb bag and no cutting of potatoes required - leave skins on... awesome!). Of course, I think to myself, gross. Beef stew. Maybe I'll just eat a little of it and eat a lot of salad or something. Then I decide to search for beef stew on the ever-handy allrecipes.com and came across this:

Kyle's Favorite Beef Stew
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kyles-favorite-beef-stew/detail.aspx

The recipe had a lot of reviews with a lot of stars, so I read through the ingredients and saw Worcestershire sauce and wine. I think to myself: Yes. This will make it all better. And the inclusion of mushrooms. Cooked in the wine. Then it goes in the crock pot. Yes. This is the one.

I did a few things differently right off the bat: I used whatever red wine we had in the house and open (it may have actually been a bottle of 2 buck Chuck Merlot :). I used 3 cups of beef broth instead of 2 cups of water and only 1 packet of onion soup mix. I used baby carrots and teeny tiny potatoes with the skins on for ease of preparation. I cooked all the beef, onions, garlic and mushrooms as directed the night before and put them in a container together and refrigerated them overnight. I don't believe this had any adverse affects, but I haven't had it any other way, so I can't comment at this time. The next morning I put all the refrigerated ingredients in the crock pot along with the carrots, potatoes, parsley and pepper and cooked it on high for 4 hours. Then came the cornstarch thickening thing at the end, which I did as directed.

The result: AWESOME

The use of Worcestershire sauce and wine makes all the difference in this recipe. When I was preparing the beef, my house smelled like we had sat down to a steak dinner with red wine flowing. When we got home from church the house smelled awesome again. Everyone seemed to enjoy the stew and the extra punch of flavor. My husband had leftovers the next day and the stew was still awesome. I believe he called it the best thing ever put on a plate. I don't know about that, but I can tell this recipe will be made over and over again.

NEXT TIME: I'll probably cut the onions a little smaller. They're just too big to eat when only quartered. I'd like to try it when I have time to cook it the full 8 hours and not prepare and refrigerate ingredients overnight to see if there is a difference.