Let's just start by saying that the words beef, beer and barbecue in a recipe title don't make my husband sad.
When browning beef for a stew (whether you're making it in a slow cooker, or a regular old pot or Dutch oven), it's less important to get all the sides of the cubes of beef barely browned than it is to get a couple of sides nicely caramelized. Getting all six sides of a cube-ish piece of meat is a bit painstaking, and I'm absolving you from the task.
If you didn't have time to brown the beef at all, you would still end up with a flavorful beef stew, but it's really worth it.
Slow Cooker Barbecue Beer Beef Stew
3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 ½ cups chopped onion
1 cup any barbecue sauce
1 cup beef broth
3/4 cup beer
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 cup chopped peeled parsnips (1/2 inch pieces)
1 cup chopped peeled carrots (1/2 inch pieces)
1 pound egg noodles
Season the beef evenly with salt, pepper and the garlic powder.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Working in batches, brown the meat until it is browned, about 8 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the beef cubes in the pan. Set the meat aside.
Pour off all but 2 teaspoons of fat from the pan and add the onions. Saute them for 3 minutes, until lightly browned, and add them to the slow cooker. In the slow cooker, mix together the barbecue sauce, beef broth, beer, honey and mustard. Add the parsnips, carrots and browned beef to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat is tender. When the stew is ready, prepare the egg noodles according to package directions. Serve the stew hot with noodles.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Food on 03/21/2018