Rustic Turkey Stew

Tonight I made Rustic Turkey Stew from my new "Company's Company Tonight" cookbook:

 

I will write the recipe as it is, but I did omit and change a few things:

Ingredients

3 Bacon slices, diced (omited)

1/2cup all purpose flour

1/2tsp salt

1/2tsp pepper

1lb Boneless, skinless turkey thighs cut into 2 inch pieces (I used 2 large turkey breasts)

1tbsp cooking oil (i just sprayed olive oil)

2tsp cooking oil (again, a spritz of olive oil)

2cups sliced fresh white mushrooms

1cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2cup white wine (i didn't put any of this in, for no particular reason)

2 1/2cups chicken broth (i used 3 cups veggie broth to make up for lack of wine)

1lb Baby potatoes (just normal size potatoes)

1cup sliced carrot

1cup sliced celery

1 Bay leaf

Directions

Cook bacon in large frying pan on medium until crisp. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towel-lined plate to drain. Discard drippings. Transfer bacon to 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker (I skipped this step completely of course).

Combine next 3 ingredients in large resealable freezer bag. Add half of turkey. Seal bag. Toss until coated. Remove turkey to plate. Repeat with remaining turkey and reserve remaining flour mixture.

Heat first amount of cooking oil in same frying pan on medium-high. Add turkey. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionaly, until browned. Transfer to slow cooker using slotted spoon. Reduce heat to medium.

Add next 4 ingredients to same frying pan. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until onion is softened. Sprinkle with reserved flour mixture. Heat and stir for 1 minute.

Slowly add wine, stirring constantly and scraping any brown bits from bottom of pan. Add broth. Stir. Add to slow cooker. (I, of course, did not add wine. My frying pan would not accommodate 3 cups of liquid either so I just put the broth directly into the crock pot)

Add next 3 ingredients. Stir. Add bay leaf. Cook, covered, on Low for 6-7 hours or on High for 3 - 3 1/2 hours (mine was in there for closer to 9 hours and it was still great). Discard bay leaf

It doesn't say it in this recipe, but often slow cooker recipes will say to add cornstarch at the end to thicken up the sauce. I took a little bit of the liquid out, whisked it with cornstarch and put it back in the crock pot for about 10 minutes. I would recommend doing this at the end.

MY REVIEW: This was so good! Normally dishes taste pretty similar when they come from the crock pot but this one was unique. It really didn't have much in the form of seasoning, but the flavor was excellent and the turkey nice and tender. As it does require a little more time for the browning of the meat and sauteing the mushrooms/onions, I did all my prep work last night. It took about 20 minutes in the morning to get everything in the crock pot.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was scrumptious and very filling. The turkey was extremely tender and surprisingly better than anything that's ever come out of an oven.  (bold statement)