Christmas Eve Beef Stew

"I made the following adjustments: - Floured and browned the beef first - Rinsed the browning pan with the wine and 1 cup water (only used half the water since using a crock pot) - Layered the veggies ..." See morein the bottom, meat on top, held the spices and bouillon back, cooked on low - crumbled the bouillon and spices into the pot 2 hours before serving. Crushed the spices between my fingers to release flavor, used 1/2 tsp of each. - Added 2 bay leaves and a lightly heaping tablespoon of cornstarch. Wound up a little thin but acceptably so to my tastes. Very flavorful. Keeping the bouillon back towards the end will help keep your meat moist; the sodium draws moisture out."

"I'm not a big stew fan, but this recipe is fantastic! I used my slow cooker for this recipe. At the suggestion of others, I also doubled the amount of seasoning. During the last hour of cooking, I a..." See moredded a package of Knorr brand brown gravy mix. The result was terrific."

"Extremely tasty! I did not change a thing except coat my meat in flour and brown before adding. I used the slow cooker and layered it as follows: tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, meat. I a..." See moredded 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup red wine and then cooked on high for 2 hours with no stirring. After 2 hours I began stirring about every 30 minutes and then 2 hours before serving, I added another 1/2 cup water and then the boullion and spices as another member said that the salt in the boullion draws moisture out of the meat if you add it at the beginning and she was right as the meat was nice and tender this way. Add peas 20 minutes before serving. This came out very thick and rich for me and I had to use no thickner, other than the flour coating on the meat. This is by far the best stew I have made. Oh, and I recommend pepper."