Liz's Mom's Stew
rec.food.cooking/Liz Neely/1991

This is my mom's recipe for stew. I tried making it for the first time last night, and it's very easy to make, and delicious!

The amount of each ingredient can vary depending on how much stew you want to make.

Brown some stew meat (I used 1.5 lbs) in a cast iron pan with a little bit of oil. (NOTE: I don't have a cast iron pan, and just used a regular one which worked fine.)

After it is browned, add enough water to cover the meat. Add spices to taste. I used what mom recommended, 1 bay leaf, some pepper, and a little garlic powder. It needs salt when it's done, but I'd rather let people salt their own food. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.

Add cut up potatoes, about bite size. (Mom peels them, but I was too lazy and they were just fine with the peels on.) Simmer 5 minutes.

Add carrots cut up the same size as the potatoes. Add 1 can (or more if your making a lot of stew) of whole tomatoes, with the juice. Add fresh string beans, I broke each one in half. NOTE: at this point, I had to switch everything into a large pot, because my pan was too small. And I had to add some more water to cover everything. (Just barely cover it). Simmer 10 minutes.

Add onions, cut in fairly large pieces. Simmer 5-10 minutes, until the onions are done, depending on how you like your onions.

Mix some cornstarch with some cold water in a bowl, then put that in the stew. (NOTE: DO NOT put cornstarch without water in the stew, it turns into lumps (I did this the first time.) All the cornstarch does is make the liquid thicker, so if you don't care, you can leave it out. Mom says flour will also do the same thing. Simmer 10 minutes.

Poke the potatoes with a fork to make sure they're done (I'm sure they will be); if they're not I guess you should simmer it a while longer.

You're done!!!

This stew is even better on the 2nd or 3rd day! And I always like to have bread and butter with it to sop up the gravy.