Reviewed: Aug. 17, 2004

Way too bland, but a great start. I added lots of crushed garlic, wine, soy sauce, bay leaf and rosemary. I cooked it in a slow cooker on low for hours, as the 2-hour boiling time provided would have ruined the potatoes. I also, near the end, left the lid off the cooker in order to reduce the amount of liquid. The flour/water mixture provided would make the stew taste just like flour especially since the flour to water ratio given would leave chunky bits of flour in your stew. Eventually, with lots of tinkering, my stew turned out great. Had to give this a one rating, since when I was finished, it was no where near "Angel's Old Fashioned Beef Stew".

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Bronte

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Reviewed: Aug. 3, 2004

I have made this recipe a ton of times and it is by far the best stew I have made. It is so similar to my grandfather's homemade beef stew, it is un-real. If it seems too bland, just add some extra salt and pepper and you are good to go. This recipe is super easy to follow and the only left overs we ever eat in my house!

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DEBMENESES

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Reviewed: Aug. 1, 2004

This made the most fantastic stew I have ever had! So easy and soooo delicious! It is almost impossible to mess up. I have made it with both the expensive beef that is cut and sold as stew meat as well as a cheap 2lb. cut of chuck steak that i cubed myself. Both times the meat was so tender and just fell apart. I was quite impressed! Also I didn't use boiler onions, I cut a large onion into about 1 inch pieces. Make them bigger if you like pieces of onion because in mine they cooked down to nearly nothing. As a student on a budget, I was very happy that this recipe made an entire dutch oven full of stew that kept for 2 weeks. Just as good 10 days later as the first night. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!!

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LINDSXLT4X4

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Reviewed: Jul. 17, 2004

Terrific recipe! I read through some of the comments and found one indicating the potatoes she used "broke down" while cooking. This is due to the variety of potato used. Make sure you use Russet Burbank potatoes - specifically Burbanks. Other varieties of potatoes such as Russet Norkotahs, have lower solids (potatoes are mostly water) which causes the potato to break down and turn mushy. Great recipe! It's a keeper!!

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Luv2Cook

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Santa Maria, California, USA

Living In: Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 9, 2004

My husband and I enjoyed this stew, although I did make some changes. I left out the onions and added 2 tbsp. Ragu tomato sauce, plus a dash each of parsley, basil, rosemary, and thyme. I will have to continue to experiment with the spices. Next time I will definitely put the celery in later as it became rather mushy. I might also try browning the meat in a separate pan to make clean-up easier. As others have said, this is a good base recipe and you can add your favorite ingredients and flavorings.

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BabySmiles

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Jul. 9, 2004

I'm not much of a cook so I tried this easy recipe! It was DELICIOUS!!! My 2 yr old son had 3, yes 3, bowls!! My picky daughter finished her entire bowl and started picking at mine!! I can't wait to have leftovers!! Thank you!

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FRANCES222

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Reviewed: Jun. 18, 2004

I look forward to winter so that I can make a big pot of this stew. I made it last winter and it lasted for a week, gets better with time.

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CWALTER

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Reviewed: May 23, 2004

This is simply wonderful i would change nothing.... I loved it an so did my family ....

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COOKINGFAIRY

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Reviewed: May 14, 2004

Great stew recipe. I added Lipton's dry Onion Roasted Garlic (soup) mix with water as I didn't have any beef broth. Yum! Browning meat well and deglazing is important. I followed others suggestions, half the pepper, added crushed tomatoes, etc.

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IMPRESSIONS

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Reviewed: May 11, 2004

The perfect beef stew recipe! This is the best recipe by far. I like to add garlic & mushrooms along w/onion sautee. I also used water (after boiling) & beef bouillion cubes since I did not have canned broth on hand. This recipe is great by itself, and also very versitile - you can add whatever you want according to your personal taste. I will never try another beef stew recipe again! Thank You!!

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PETRIE27

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Long Island, New York, USA

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Reviewed: May 9, 2004

My whole family really loved it! The only thing that I did different was I omited the onions. It was great.

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MOM32004

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Reviewed: Apr. 25, 2004

This was delicious. Everyone loved it, including my 1 and 3 year old. I will certainly make this over and over.

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JESSICADOMANGUE

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Reviewed: Apr. 24, 2004

Delicious! The pieces of steak were so good right out of the pan, after they'd been fried that i must have eatten one third of them before I was done. I think regular beef stew, broth, beef & some vegies thrown together is still the best choice.

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JasBradley

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ventura, California, USA

Living In: Chico, California, USA

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Reviewed: Apr. 20, 2004

It must be called Angel's because it's so comforting, it feels like heaven. I made it exactly like the recipe called for, even though other folks advised it was bland. It was FANTASTIC! Also, I'm not sure why someone found it a lot of work---I browned all the beef in one big batch (making half the recipe, though), and chopped up the veggies while it was browning. My 13-month-old, who is picky, gobbled this up faster than I could cut it into pieces for her. Our local heat-and-eat restaurant makes something that tastes identical---for $3.95 a pint! Will not look for another stew recipe: this is The One!

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MISSDARCY

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Reviewed: Apr. 14, 2004

On its own it is just ok, in fact a basic recipe which adapts quite well to various adding of personal preferences which I've noticed plenty of reviewers did, to it. I added LP sauce, mixed herbs, a bit of fresh garlic and bird eye chillies, more beef, delicate touch of tomato sauce, some fresh tomatoes, before the family deemed it good. Oh yeah, don't skimp on salt, add a bit more if you're using homemade beef broth, which I did. Not bad.

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Sereneblue

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Mar. 27, 2004

I made this today for my husband. I don't do stews, but my family really enjoyed it.. But my husband said it seemed to be missing one thing. He finally decided the next time I make it for him(which means he really did like it), I am to add some tomato sauce to the beef broth. :}

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LINDA LOO

Cooking Level: Beginning

Living In: Boaz, Kentucky, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 25, 2004

I made no changes to this recipe. I had complaints before that my stew was too thick, so I didn't thicken this and it came out perfect.

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C-MEINTX

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Huntington Beach, California, USA

Living In: Fort Worth, Texas, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 13, 2004

This was a good recipe to use as a base. It is easy to customize to your own particular taste. I added 1/3 of the potatoes at the beginning (they broke down and thickened the stew) then added the remaining potatoes half way through cooking. I also added tomato paste, red wine, and other various spices.

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JEspinoza

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Reviewed: Mar. 1, 2004

I liked this, though I don't think it was spectacularly greater than other beef stews. I had never made it before, and I was pretty leery about adding so much onion. But it turned out fine. It made a lot and we got to eat it all week.

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KAGAGNON

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Marquette, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 1, 2004

I'd never made beef stew before and found this recipe to be easy and very good. I added some onion powder to the flour mixture and used the pearl onions for ease. As others said, it didn't take the full amount of time to be finished cooking. I was thinking of tossing in some limas or peas next time. Excellent recipe!

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