Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I have several beef stew recipes. This particular recipe I tried for the first time this week and I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I made the recipe as it was stated except I shredded the meat once it was cooked. I really liked this recipe because I didn't have to brown the meat first ~ tasted great without having to do that extra step!

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions:
Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture.



Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

So, here is where the recipe and I differ. I saw this in the crockpot and it just did not look appetizing to me. I didn't want to have to eat my stew with a fork.



I took out as much meat as I could and placed it on my cutting board.



At this point the meat is so tender you barely have to pull at it with a fork for it to shred. Once the meat is shredded, put it back into the crockpot for another 20 minutes to warm back up.



At this point I tasted the stew and decided to add some seasoned salt.



Serve with toasted bread, garlic bread - some sort of bread is a must!