Beef Stew for Recipe Friday

Last week I posted a new recipe for Moroccan Beef Stew. Today it’s back to one of my old standards – regular Beef Stew. I made this on Halloween and a friend dropped by with her son, who was going trick-or-treating with my son. She asked for just a little taste, and ended up eating a whole bowl!

This is a recipe my family never complains about and is good leftover, too. It can be served with crackers, biscuits, or toasted garlic bread, but it is quite filling all by itself. My dog is always quite certain he should get his own bowl of stew, too.

 Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs beef stew meat
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cans V-8 juice (12 oz size)
2 cans beef broth (14 oz size)
Water
3 large carrots, sliced
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup green beans, cut in small pieces
1 can corn (optional)
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp steak seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp basil
salt
pepper

Directions:

Cut each piece of beef stew meat into small, bite-sized pieces. Put beef pieces into a plastic bag with 1/4 cup flour, steak seasoning, and garlic salt, and shake to coat the beef pieces. Heat olive oil in a 8 qt. or 12 qt. pot. Add beef and brown. Add onion and celery and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are slightly tender. Add V-8 juice and beef broth. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water equal to the amount of V-8 and broth. I actually use the cans to measure it so that I can get all the good residue out of the cans, too. Add carrots, potatoes, green beans, and remaining spices. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until vegetables are fork-tender. [If adding corn, add it about 5 minutes before thickening.] In a 1 cup measuring cup, mix 1/4 cup flour with a small amount of cold water until well blended. Slowly add flour mixture to stew while stirring stew. Let simmer for 5 minutes more to thicken gravy. Taste test to determine whether additional salt or pepper is needed.

Note: I like to put French Fried Onions on top of my stew in the bowl. But then again, I like French Fried Onions on my potato soup and lots of other things, too. They aren’t necessary, but just a suggestion.