I decided to try making it a different way, including the crock pot, so I could leave it be and get on with the rest of my day (sleeping), but I ended up learning a few things.
The night before, I trimmed about 3 pounds of stew meat (that's how its marked in grocery store) that i paroosed over for a great length of time to make sure i was getting more beef than fat. I salted and peppered the meat, added a bit of garlic and onion powder and threw it in a gallon zippy bag. Mushing it around a bit to distribute the seasonings, and then adding about a cup of flour and shaking to coat it completely. Then I threw the bag in the fridge overnight.
In the morning, the meat was sticky with the flour, but I just went with it and I browned it off in two batches in a bit of veg oil, sauteed some onion (I cut them into about fingernail size) and had I mushrooms, here is where i would have cooked them a bit as well, quartered. I moved the meat into the crock pot with the deglazing stuff from the first batch of meat. To the hot pan, Trader Joe's house Merlot, delicious stuff, $3 a bottle, about 1/2 cup or so. Let that do its thing for a bit until the bubbles get a bit thicker and all the bit are up, adding a bit of beef and veggie broth to the pan to rinse all the goodies into the crotch-pot (i always call it that, cause I'm silly). I threw in a beef cube and a good splash of Gravy Master, set to high and DON'T TOUCH THE LID for at least 6 hours - or until about 2 hours before you want to eat.
The flour on the meat will easily thicken this all up eventually, that and the starch from the eventual potatoes and carrots.
So I let the meat cook for hours, and then got up and put the potatoes and carrots in about two hours before it was time to eat. FAIL. It was dinner time and the potatoes and carrots were still uncooked. I dumped the whole thing into normal pot and boiled the heck out of it for 15 minutes, and then it was ready for eating. The meat was overcooked and most of it had just disintegrated into meat pulp and was swimming in the gravy, next time this is a viable choice, but the meat needs to be in bigger chunks, or the potatoes in smaller bites... or both really. It shows that its been awhile since I've made stew, and trying new techniques doesn't always work perfectly the first time.
Usually, I just brown the meat, then add onions and broth and simmer until the meat is satisfactorily tender, then goes in the potatoes and carrots until they are done... peas being an afterthought. This was another way to over complicate things, and it didn't really save me any time at all.
on to the next!
Jen
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