Reviewed: May 1, 2013

I really liked this stew. Great flavor, very rich and thick. I had to make a few changes, however. First, 3 pounds of meat was too much. Maybe the recipe used a much larger slow cooker than mine. I used about 2 pounds of meat. Also, it was a little too thick and not enough sauce. When it was almost ready, I actually removed at least a 1/3 of the ingredients (meat, potatoes, and carrots), leaving 2/3 of the recipe and the sauce in the slow cooker. I then added the 1/4 cup water and 2 tbs flour so the sauce could thicken. At that point, it was a nearly perfect stew. I added a bit more salt (to taste) and just a bit more red wine, let it sit for about 5 minutes and then served. Everyone loved it! As to the 1/3 of the ingredients that were removed from the recipe, after our dinner, I just put them all back in the slow cooker, which of course left very little of the sauce, but it was still a great lunch the next day.

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Reviewer:

Tony

Home Town: Davenport, Iowa, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 30, 2013

This was really simply perfect, My family really enjoyed it,Only thing I didn't use was the wine, It still tasted Great.

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Reviewer:

simplekindagirl1988

Reviewed: Apr. 28, 2013

This makes an excellent stew. I followed the advice to use extra wine (I used Malbec) and probably could have used a bit more. I also added some fresh rosemary, as I had some on hand that I wanted to use up. It got rave reviews. It does require a lot of prep time (took me an hour to get it into the slow cooker), especially because browning 3 pounds of meat takes a lot of time. But I have to say that the meat came out very tender and juicy because of the browning process.

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Reviewer:

Ann

Home Town: Palo Alto, California, USA

Living In: Mcmurray, Pennsylvania, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 23, 2013

Loved this recipe!! I used celery instead of potatoes and I cooked it on high for 4 hours. It still came out delicious! Thank you.

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Reviewer:

m_furnari@hotmail.com

Reviewed: Apr. 21, 2013

I skipped the onions because I am not a huge fan but still used the onion soup mix which added good flavor. I took everyone's advice and used extra red wine but went a little overboard. Next time I'll still use extra but still not as much and the first time. The merlot definitely added a great flavor. The meat came out nice and moist and pulled apart. I used red potatoes because those are my favorite and they cooked great in this recipe.

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Reviewer:

mrsjhoag

Reviewed: Apr. 11, 2013

My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this dish. I did make a few alterations to suit our preferences. I added half of a package of ranch dip mix to give it a bit more flavor. I also added 3 stalks of celery and a seeded and halved habanero pepper to give it a bite; I removed each half when the stew was finished. We have culantro in our garden so we minced one leaf and added it to the last 20 minutes of cooking time (cilantro would also be good). This gave the stew a whole new flavor and really brought it all together. My slow cooker is powerful so I only cooked this on low for 5.5 hours and the meat and vegetables turned out tender and delicious without being soggy. Although I did make alterations, I still give this recipe a 5 as it was a great base to work from before adding our personal touches.

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Reviewer:

lissyk17

Reviewed: Mar. 31, 2013

This was an excellent stew! My whole family loved it. I cooked it for the most part of the day on low and the meat was super tender. I did have to add some water a couple of times. We will definitely have this again!

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Reviewer:

lydiezmom

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Bradford, Vermont, USA

Living In: Corinth, Vermont, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 26, 2013

Wow! We love, love, LOVE this beef stew! We made some modification based on what other reviewers had said, and the final product was amazing. We browned the flour and salt, plus 1/2tsp. paprika and garlic covered meat, then put it in the crockpot. In the same pan as the meat, I browned the onions until soft, then added 4 Tbsp. minced garlic, waited until it was fragrant, and then turned off the heat and added 3/4 of wine, making sure to scrape all the browned bits up. Then I put that mixture in the crockpot. I added the carrots, parsley, pepper, and onion soup like the recipe called for, and exchanged the water for beef broth, and added 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp. Paprika, 2 Bay leafs, 1 tsp. thyme and rosemary. I omitted the potatoes, and served it over egg noddles. This made for an amazing stew! Can't wait to make it again!

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Reviewer:

laurabora

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Farmingville, New York, USA

Living In: Geneseo, New York, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 25, 2013

Excellent for a cold winter night...I kinda changed it up a bit no used white wine instead of red, basil instead of parsley added scallons and mushrooms also before pre-cooking the meat I minced and sauteed 4 cloves of garlic then cooked the meat. Cant even describe how the flavor explodes it is YUMMY!!

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Reviewer:

Mili T.

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Brooklyn, New York, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 19, 2013

This was really good. I added a few more potatoes and carrots because it didn't seem to be enough for the amount of beef. I also added about a cup and half more water. I increased the Merlot to 3/4 cup. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I used cornstarch to thicken the gravy. My hubby loved it! Will make again. Oh and the prep time is more like 45 minutes minimum instead of the 15 listed. But it's worth it! I ran out of time so I cooked it on high for about 3 hours and turned it down to low for about 2 hours. The meat was very tender. Served with a good crusty bread for dipping in the gravy. Thanks for sharing.

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