Beef Stew ~ by Sarah

I love stew.  I got this recipe from Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskate.  It's easy and delicious!  The meat will shred itself and be so, so tender after cooking so long!  I added peas to the recipe, but you could add green beans, instead.

Ingredients:
3 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup red wine
4 cups beef stock
1 can diced tomatoes
4 tablespoons tomato paste
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
3 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together
2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
zest of 1/2 an orange
8 small red potatoes
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut
1 small bag frozen peas
salt and pepper

Directions:
Marinate beef in red wine overnight.  Place meat, wine, beef stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, cloves, peppercorns, thyme, garlic, and orange zest in a covered casserole dish or crock pot.  Cook for 12 hours in a 250 degree oven, or on medium in a slow cooker for 10-12 hours.  Add carrots and potatoes in the last two hours.  Add peas in last 20 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

*One thing I will probably do next time is, after marinating the beef, take it out of the wine and dredge it in flour before adding it to the crock pot.  I like my stew really thick and this was a little more runny than I prefer.