Basic Beef Stew

It amazes me how many people I've talked with that love beef stew but don't have the slightest idea of how to make it.  I've had folks say they looked up directions but it looked too complicated.

"Dredge in flour? Brown in oil?  How do I do that?"

I am here to the rescue with a basic recipe that requires no dredging, digging, oiling, browning or even stirring (if you don't want to stir it, that is).

Basic items:

1 to 1.5 pounds beef stew meat
1# package of baby carrots
3-4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into eighths
1 medium onion chopped (or 1 cup of frozen chopped onions)
1 clove of garlic chopped (or 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic from the jar)
Beef stock (about 2 quarts)
Salt
Pepper

Optional items:
1/2 cup or so of diced bell peppers (any color)
1 - 8oz can of corn, drained
1 - 15oz can of black beans, undrained

Take the beef out of the package and rinse it off, place it in a 6 quart Dutch Oven and add beef stock to cover.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for about an hour, a little longer is ok if you're busy.

Then add the baby carrots (after taking them out of the package), potatoes, onion, garlic, a pinch of salt and a couple of ground pepper. Also add the bell peppers if you're using them. Add enough beef stock to cover and return to a boil.  Turn down heat to a simmer again, and let it cook for about an hour, or until the potatoes and carrots are done.

Add the cans of corn and beans at this point, if you are using them, and if needed more beef stock to keep everything covered.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes and then it is ready to eat!

If you're using a Slow Cooker, it's even easier.  Remove everything from the packages, put it in the slow cooker, pour in enough beef stock to cover everything, put the lid on it and turn the heat on the low setting for 6 - 8 hours.  How hard is that?