This was another keeper recipe! I didn't thicken the gravy as written though, I left the meat in and made my roux seperately. Just a 1/4 cup of flour mixed with enough water to make like pancake batter consistency and poured it in...voila! Perfect! =)

I've been making this recipe for several years, and it is great as is, but I always tweak recipes because my hubby and I love dishes with lots of flavor. I add cumin, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper, and paprika to the flour before dredging the beef. Instead of shortening, I use butter and olive oil. I also substitute 2 beef bouillion cubes for the salt and add 1/4 C ketchup, 1 tsp oregano, and an extra bay leaf. This is a perfect fall or winter meal with homemade bread...definitely one of my favorite comfort foods! This can easily be made in the crockpot so it can be ready when you come home from work. Just brown the beef before adding to the crockpot, add all the rest of the ingredients, and cook on low for 6 hours. Before serving, add the 1/4 C flour paste and heat on high for 15 min to thicken.

Delicious! What a wonderful recipe! I could have eaten the veggies and broth without the meat! I used all the ingredients in this recipe but as sugested by others, I also added another bay leaf, added a little thyme and rosemary. I used beef broth but did add one cup of water. While all my ingredients were simmering, I also added a chopped jalapeno to give it a kick. I added peas and carrots at the end. I will definitely make this again!

Turns out great but with changes. Needs a lot more spices. I added oregano, thyme and garlic powder and more garlic, pepper and two extra bay leaves. Others have added tomatoes or ketchup but I find gravy is the best addition. I prepare the gravy according to the package and add about half to the stew. I also increased and added beef bouillon to the water- from four cups to six (1tsp per cup). I start with the four then add the other two with the potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Next time I will cut the potatoes smaller because it seemed to take longer than 45 minutes and then the beef, though super tender, was falling apart. I may either cut my time for cooking the meat and make smaller cubes or I'll make bigger cubes for the two hours. But we loved the end result anyway. I dissolved cornstarh in a bit of water and added it at the end and before the peas (which I add at the end instead of the corn). This way you don't have to take the meat out. It was very tasty-yum!

This is another one that I have made for sometime now. I do change several things though. I do not use shortening, I use vegetable oil instead. I omit the corn and add extra potatos and carrots. To thicken it up after simmering for a while I add some ketchup and barbecue sauce, a bit of A-1 sauce if I have it and a tablespoon or so of sugar. I also add, garlic, onion powder and a few dashes of jerk seasoning to taste . It is a definite... mom, can I have seconds from my son :) It is very bland on its own but with my additions it adds great flavor.

Not bad. Like others have said, it was extremely bland without adding a lot of extra spices.

Great recipe! The recipe calls for 4 cups of water. I varied this slightly - 1 cup of tomato juice, 1 cup of beef stock and 2 cups of water. Instead of the frozen corn, I added a stalk of chopped celery. I found this had enough liquid for me so next time I will add 1/2 lb more beef, and an extra carrot and celery stalk. I substituted the salt with garlic salt, which I added to the dredging flour. Fantastic.

A good base recipe. I needed to add a lot to it to get the desired taste & "hearty" feeling I expected.

I love this recipe. The only thing I changed, was to add a 12OZ. can of V8 juice.

I didn't have any shortening, so I browned the meat in olive oil. I also added 2 beef bouillion cubes and about 1/2 cup of red wine, and it was fantastic! It smelled wonderful while it was cooking. My husband loved it!

wonderful and easy....a keeper

I loved this stew and it was really easy. I didn't add the extra flour at the end or corn starch to thicken, the 3 TBLS at the beginng used to dredge the meat was plenty to make it thick. Thanks for a great recipe!

I prepared this recipe by first braising the stew meat with salt, pepper, garlic, onions and a little meat tenderizer, let it sit overnight in a mixture of beef broth (about half a box) tomato juice(half a jar or so)more garlic, paprika, sugar,dash of Worcestershire sauce ground mustard and chili sauce, then the following day put the mixture in the crock pot adding carrots, celery, potatoes and a little more chopped onion and cooked on high for about 6 hours. The sauce is a little spicy, but not over the top hot, and tastes much better the second day after it all mixes together. Thank you for the recipe!

Very tasty and aromatic. I added extra Worcestershire sauce and some Thyme, used frozen potatoes and carrots cut up for stew (frozen food section at Walmart) and cooked everything else the same. I didn't need the extra flour at the end since it thickened up well with the potatoes in it. Everyone had extra helpings, kids included. Very easy!

I love this recipe! nice, straight forward to make and you can add to it if you wish or just enjoy in its original form!

this recipe is ok but u better keep a close eye on it often cook time is long and deff not enough water it tends to cook dry make sure u stir often and add water as needed 4 cups is not nearly enough