Some dishes are truly a one pot wonder and the slow cooker can be your best friend to get these right. This beef stew is a staple in our home ..... equally popular with the kids and adults. And my effort to get this going is just 10 minutes. The slow cooker will do rest of the work for you. It does need planning ahead and about 6-8 hours time. That is why I invariably end up serving this for dinner. The recipe has been inspired by this recipe from allrecipes. There are just a few things that you need to take care of and this will turn out perfect every time.

The beef in this case can be an inexpensive cut of meat and I like chuck because it is not very fatty also. The vegetables are cut into big chunks so they can withstand the hours of cooking and still hold their shape. The broth is where I use a couple of extra things to get it right. I use onion gravy granules and chicken gravy granules. I love the extra taste these 2 ingredients give to the sauce. The beef flavour will come out nicely form the meat when it is done so think about other flavour options to give it the extra taste.

There is enough flavour in the recipe from the herbs and spices and Worcestershire sauce. Whole wheat flour will help to get the desired thickness for the broth in this recipe. I avoid using all purpose flour wherever I can and this is one of those recipes where no one can notice the difference.

Ingredients

500 gms beef chuck

3-4 carrots (cut into chunks)

2-3 potatoes (cut into big pieces)

1 large onion (cut into big pieces)

frozen peas (to be added in the end)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp steak seasoning

1 tablespoon Chicken gravy granules

1 tablespoon onion gravy granules

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 tablespoons whole wheat flour (depending on the brand you use)

Method:

1. Cut the beef into 1 inch chunks. Place the beef in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. In a small bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, salt, pepper, steak seasoning. Sprinkle this mixture over the beef and coat the pieces nicely with the flour mixture. Add the Worcestershire sauce on this and mix well.

3. Place the vegetables (except peas) on top and add water to nicely cover the meat and vegetables. Add the gravy granules to this and stir once.

4. Put the lid on the slow cooker and turn it on to cook on low setting for 6-8 hours. In the last 30 minutes of the cooking, add the frozen peas to the stew.

5. When the stew is done, check for seasoning and adjust if needed. Sprinkle with dried/fresh parsley and serve.