Crock Pot Guinness Stew

Ingredients

• 8-10 Red Potatoes, skin on, quartered
  
• 6 Carrots, peeled and sliced into think chunks
  
• 2 Stalks Celery, cut into chunks
  
• 3 Bay Leaves
  
• 3 pounds Stew Meat, cubed (I use Bison but chuck is ok)
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
  
• 1 dash Salt
  
• 1 dash Garlic Powder
  
• 2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil
  
• 1 Medium Onion, diced
  
• 4 Large Garlic Cloves, minced
  
• 8 ounces Baby Portabella Mushrooms, halved
  
• 16 ounces Tomato Sauce
  
• 10 3/4 ounces Beef Broth
  
• 1 (13g) Lipton Beef Onion Soup Mix (or just Onion soup mix is fine)
  
• 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
  
• Black Pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
  
• 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning
  
• 1 teaspoon Italian Herb Seasoning (Mrs Dash)
  
• 12 ounces Guinness Beer
  
• 1 cup Frozen Peas
  

Directions

1. Put potato, carrot, and celery chunks in the bottom of crock pot. Top with 2 bay leaves.
2. Season flour with a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the beef with the flour mixture. Heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet and add 1 bay leaf. Saute beef in batches, just until browned.(It took me about 3 batches in a 12" skillet). Add more oil to pan as necessary for each batch. Remove and set aside.
3. Add onion and garlic to the same pan and saute over med heat for a few minutes, then add about half the can of beef broth to deglaze, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. (That's Flavor!).
4. Add meat and onions to crock pot, top with mushrooms.
5. Mix remaining beef broth with tomato sauce, onion soup mix, remaining seasonings, and add to crock pot. Pour in most of bottle of beer
6. Cook 8 hours on low heat. Stir in frozen peas when done, they'll heat up on their own.
7. Serve with crusty French bread!