Beef Stew

So, this recipe was good, but not great.  I didn’t care for the tomato flavor, to me it tasted more like a vegetable beef soup rather than beef stew.  Nate, however, loved it, and he is not a soup kind of guy.  I got the recipe from For the Love of Cooking.

Ingredients:

1 lb. stew meat

1 yellow onion, chopped into large pieces

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

1-2 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

6 cups of beef broth

1 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 cup red potatoes, diced with the skin on

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (you can also use stove top or crock-pot). In large cast iron (or baking pot) heat olive oil. Add stew meat and onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding tomatoes, seasonings and stock. Cover and cook in the oven (on stove top or in crock-pot) for at least 4 hours. Remove pot from oven place on stove top over medium heat.
Add vegetables (carrots, celery, and onion)  to the stew and add more beef broth if low. Taste and add seasonings if needed. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

* I added a slurry of cornstarch and beef broth to thicken it the last little bit of cooking.