Slow Cooking Thursday---Beef Stew

I LOVE doing daily themes. I saw a reference to Slow Cooking Thursday on this weeks Menu Plan Menu & was sooo excited to join in.

The crockpot is one of my best friends in the kitchen. I don't always use it to cook entire meals. This recipe is cooked in stages, but eventually it does all end up in the crockpot.

Ingredients
2 lbs stew meat or 2 lb roast cut into cubes (whichever is cheaper)
2 cups frozen carrots
6-8 medium potatoes
2 T vegetable oil or shortening
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup minced garlic
32 oz Beef Broth (I like Swanson's, but cheapest is fine)
26 oz Swanson Beef Cooking Stock
salt & pepper
flour or corn starch for thickening

Heat 2 T oil in large frying pan, add 1/4 cup minced garlic. Let the garlic start to brown, then add meat. Brown meat on all sides, season with salt & pepper, transfer to crockpot. Add chopped celery to frying pan & brown in any remaining oil, add 2 cups Beef Broth & bring to a boil, boil for 3 minutes, then pour into crockpot. Add 2 cups frozen carrots and all of Cooking Stock.....put the remaining 2cups of beef broth in the refrigerator for later. Turn crockpot on low. Peel & cube potatoes, rinse in cold water then add to crockpot. Switch crockpot to High & cook for at least 4 hrs without removing lid. Can also be cooked on low for 7-8 hours.

In a saucepan, heat remaining beef broth to a boil. Mix together 1 cup water & 1/4 cup flour or corn starch in a cup. Slowly add the flour mixture to the boiling broth, stir continuously. Boil at least one minute, add thickened broth to crockpot & stir thoroughly. Turn crockpot to low & cook an additional 30 minutes before serving.