Potato Patch Recipes
Beef Stew Recipe for the Slow Cooker | Crock Pot

This Beef Stew Recipe has a slight ethnic twist to it.  The beef stew is actually Greek Food.  It is Greek Braised Beef Stew.

Don’t let the Greek Food component of this beef stew recipe turn you off.  You need to try new recipes from different countries.  This Greek dish is very good, an easy beef stew recipe, and simple to make.  You will enjoy it.

And Crock Pot Beef Stew fits right in with all the other slow cooker | crock pot recipes on this site.  We try and bring you the best recipes that are available.

 

How To Make Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons Greek seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 pounds of boneless beef stew meat or beef chuck roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 large onions, each cut into 8 wedges
• 1 (10 ounce) container of grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1 jar (8 ounce) pitted kalamata olives, drained
• 8 sprigs fresh oregano, divided
• 1 lemon, divided
• 2 cups of fat free, reduced sodium beef broth

Directions

1. Mix the flour, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic food storage bag.  Add the beef then shake to coat.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat until hot.  Add beef in single layer (use 2 batches if you need to) and brown on both sides, will take about 5 minutes.  Transfer to your slow cooker | crock pot.
3. Add onions, tomatoes, olives, 4 sprigs oregano, juice of 1/2 of the lemon and the broth.  Cover and cook on high for 6-7 hours or until beef is tender.
4. Cut remaining 1/2 lemon into wedges and serve with stew. 
5. You can garnish with the remaining  oregano.

Greek Food

Let’s talk a bit about Greek Food.  When most of us think about Greek a Greek Dish we tend to think about Gyros.  Let’s face it, most Greek Dishes are, well Greek to us.

Greek food recipes have been around way longer than the gourmet hamburger that we all crave.  Traditional Greek Food was around in ancient times.  Ancient Greek Food really was not all that much different than the Greek Dishes that we enjoy today.

Greek Cuisine is what you can expect to eat when you visit Greece.  It is the traditional food of Greece.  Greek food is considered Mediterranean food.  Most Mediterranean food will be related to food from Italy, The Balkans, Anatolia, and Levant.

You can expect modern Greek dishes to use olive oil, vegetables, grains and bread, wine, fish, and various meats including rabbit, pork and lamb.  Let’s not forget the popular ingredients of olives, cheese, eggplant and zucchini.

The reason you won’t find much beef in Greek Food is because the land of Greece favors raising sheep over cows.

A good Greek Salad will go well with the Beef Stew.

How To Make Greek Salad

Ingredients

• 5 ripe tomatoes
• 1 large red onion
• 1 cucumber
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/4 pound Greek feta cheese, crumbled
• dried Greek Oregano
• sea salt
• extra virgin olive oil
• 12 Greek olives

Directions

1. Wash the tomatoes, cucumber, and green pepper
2. Cut the tomatoes into bite size chunks
3. Salt the chunks
4. Cut the cucumber in half length wise then cut into 1/2 inch slices
5. Slice the pepper into rings, salt lightly
6. Slice the onion into thin rings and salt lightly
7. Now mix the tomatoes, cucumbers, green pepper, and onion in a large bowl
8. Sprinkle oregano onto the contents of the bowl.  Pour olive oil over the salad, and toss
9. Before serving, place the feta on top of the salad
10. Toss in some of the olives
11. Mix the oil with 1 tablespoon of water and drizzle over the top of the salad

Greek salads and Greek salad recipes are plentiful.  It really depends on your taste.  Many people enjoy a Greek Pasta Salad Recipe.  We don’t have time to add that here and now.  But Greek Salads are always enjoyed with Greek Food.

Crockpot recipes have a soft spot for beef stew.  It is the perfect dish to make in a crock pot or slow cooker. 

I am of the firm belief that a good potato recipe should always be served with crock pot beef stew.  Here is a fast, easy, and quick Oven Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe.  It should go well with the stew.

Dinner

I once made beef stew and potatoes for a girlfriend of mine.  The one great thing about slow cooker | crock pot cooking is that just about anybody can do it well.

I can still remember a dinner date as if it was yesterday…

It took place late in the year.  Lets say it was during the waning days of October.  The Las Vegas air was still warm during the day but certainly cooled off considerably once the sun went down.

Her name was Joyce and I had met her at a home show.  We were both checking out the crock pots in the slow cooker booth.  I reached for the clear glass lid placed on top of the Rival Crock Pot.  Her hand reached the handle just as mine found its target.  We looked at each other and laughed.  Not just a chuckle but a friendly laugh full of understanding normally reserved for intimate acquaintances.

I remember being nervous as I tossed over the appropriateness of asking Joyce out on a date after just meeting her.

“I see you are also interested in the Rival Crock Pot”, I said in a low tone.

She lifted her head slightly up and to the right and nodded in agreement.

What did I have to lose?  It isn’t like in a city of this size I would just accidently run into a person again after just having a chance meeting.

“Joyce”, I spoke probably in too low of a voice, “Would you consider going to a dinner party with me on Saturday.”  I was relieved to finally pose the question.  I was also a little embarrassed.  It really didn’t seem appropriate.  But I couldn’t let this angel disappear into the vastness of the home show.  Would I ever be able to find her again?  Would she just melt into the booths filled with plumbing supplies or the ones hawking insulation?

Dinner parties have always been a horrible experience when I show up without a guest.  And the thought of showing up with my new found angel made my will strong and let me overcome my shyness.

“Yes” she said before I felt too awkward.

I had to think quick.  I didn’t expect her to just say yes to dinner without asking any questions of me.

I responded with all the confidence I could muster.  “Great, lets set up a time I can pick you up.  The dress will be formal, I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“No problem at all.”  She spoke as if formal dress or any dress at all did matter to her.  In all honesty it did not matter to me either.  I stared at her like an artist gazes at a model he is sculpting.  Her body, her hair, her clothes all seemed perfect. 

For some crazy reason delicious food was the last thing on my mind.  I wanted to hold my new found angel close.  I wanted to taste the love that I was sure she had and hoped she wanted to do the same. 

The beef stew recipe sure is easy cooking.  That is the one thing I look for in a slow cooker recipe:  quick and easy!!  And that is the exact attributes I was looking for in a dinner guest.  There would be no slow cooker | crock pot beef stew at the party.  No…The dinner food will be prepared by a chef.   Yes a first class cooking chef that understands how to prepare food.  If I remember correctly it was a French Dinner that was served that fateful October night.

When cooking dinner with a crock pot there is no worry about following strict time constraints.  You just set the slow cooker and be on your merry way.  If you start to get romantic with your spouse there is no worry that an hour or two later that your beef stew will be ruined.

Don’t kid yourself.  There are people that can make a gourmet dinner or a gourmet meal in a crock pot.  Nobody will every know that it was cooked in a slow cooker.  When the dinner plate is placed in front of your guests they will be dazzled by the aroma of the culinary delight that you and your Rival Crock Pot created.

I learned to cook from an easy cookbook.  When it comes to making moves in the kitchen, it is my belief that everything should be easy:

• Quick and Easy Recipes
• Simple and Easy Cooking
• Fresh and Easy Ingredients
• Homemade Easy Recipes

And on and on…

Easy cooking recipes is the specialty of the slow cooker chef.  But really the only thing on my mind was an easy dinner.

Make no mistake about it.  I never attended a cooking school.  That is because I never really wanted to become a chef.  I like to cook for fun.

Cooking foods is just not a survival tactic to me.  Cooking foods is a pleasure filled event.  I am not a food chef.  I buy food, order food, enjoy food, and cook food.

The kitchen food and dinner setting is all I need.  Well I also need my lovely date….If you know what I mean.  I like to buy food from a local food source.   A local food source can be the farm where the food is grown or it can be at a farmers market.

Gourmet cooking is really not for me.  The food depot is more my style. 

Do you ever notice how many people go to cooking school?  Do they all end up being high end chefs on foodtv?  Or do they all end up at a fast food joint?  McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell probably all have highly trained chefs slinging out the day’s menu.  I’m just not into going to a cooking school.

When it comes to cooking budget meals, crock pot | slow cooker recipes is the way to go.  It is not just  budget minded but also a unique way to create delicious cuisine.

And if you have to cook family meals, well then the slow cooker beef stew recipe is perfect for you.

Remember this Beef Stew Recipe is tasty and quick and easy to make in a crock pot or slow cooker. 

Come back to find more Crock Pot Recipes and Slow Cooker Recipes.

Ingredient tags: beef stew, cooking recipes, crock pot recipes, dinner, easy recipes, greek food, greek salad, recipes, slow cooker recipes