Italian Beef Stew

Just because I know you all love to cook, I've encountered the best beef stew recipe and I made it the WORLD's best by changing the recipe ever so slightly.


Italian Beef Stew
Courtesy of Taste of Home
Serves 2

• 3/4 lb beef cube steak, cubed
• 1 c water
• 1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
• 1 small potato; peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c sliced fresh carrot (I just tossed in a handful of those baby carrots)
• 1/2 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 small sweet red pepper, chopped ( yah um, my world's greatest stew doesn't have bell peppers in it)
• 1 T onion Soup Mix
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning (I'd likely leave this out next time. I'm not a big fan of oregano and it was a bit overwhelming.
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 c frozen peas

In a large saucepan coated with nonstick cooking spray, brown the meat over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the water, tomato sauce, potato, carrot, onion, red pepper, soup mix, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir in peas; simmer 15 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Yield: 2 servings.

My variations:
I coated the beef with flour and then cooked it. Once it was browned I used about a half of cup of beef broth(in addition to the water that's already in the recipe) to deglaze the pan. I let that simmer down, then followed the remaining recipe. At the end, for seasoning, I added a dash of hot sauce, I like to spice it up a bit. And I added a dash of Worcestershire sauce