Mom's Beef Stew

My mom made some awesome beef stew for my birthday dinner, and I had to make some!

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
2 -3 pounds stewing beef, lean
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
mushrooms, optional - I left them out
2 lbs potatoes - I found a bag of very small yellow potatoes from Roche Brothers I used. I think they were mini yukon golds
1 can tomato paste
1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 14 ounce can of tomato sauce
4 cups of GF beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
Flour, I used GF flour Better Batter
Seasonings - whatever you prefer! My mom brought me back some great spices from her trip to Grenada. The seasonings she used in her stew, which I did as well, was a calypso chicken seasoning mix. The ingredients listed are salt, chilies, paprika, onion, garlic, oregano & ginger. So a combination of these spices (the onion and garlic being in powder form) would work great!

Take the meat out of the plastic and dry with paper towels.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then drudge in your flour.

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, such as a Dutch oven, and add your meat in one or two batches. Using tongs, turn the meat after a few minutes on each side. When done, transfer to a large plate.

Add the onion to the now empty pan, adding a little more olive oil if necessary. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits left behind by the meat. After a few minutes, when the onion is soft and beginning to turn translucent, add the carrots (and mushrooms if you're using them, plus any other veggies you'd like) and let cook for another few minutes. When the carrot is softening a bit, add the tomatoes, sauce, paste, broth, salt & potatoes. I added two tablespoons of my spice packet.

Bring to a boil, then add the meat. Cover, and either simmer on low heat or transfer to a 350 degree oven. Either way, cook for around an hour until the meat is nice and tender. I like to finish cooking it in the oven, especially this time because I was also cooking some bread I made from one of my new King Arthur Flour gluten free bread mixes. BTW, the bread was AWESOME! One of the best breads I've ever had, and not even "for being gluten free". Just fantastic!

Doug had a nice bowl waiting for him when he got home from work!