Ingredients:
2 pounds Beef Chuck Steak or Stew Meat, get rid of any gristle and cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups or 1 medium diced Yellow Onion
1 Can 23 oz. of Campbells Condensed Tomato Soup (Surprise!)
1 cup of Celery, diced
2 cups Carrots, chopped into medium pieces
2 cups Chicken Stock (Surprise again…trust me, it works!)
1 1/2 pounds of tri-colored baby potatoes, chopped into medium pieces
2 cups frozen Peas
2 whole Bay Leaves, I use the dried ones (Yes, you need these)
Salt, Pepper & Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
1/8 - 1/2 Tsp of Garlic Salt, to taste
Light Olive Oil and Butter
2 soup cans of Water
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees.
2. In a dutch oven or heavy, large sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons each of oil & butter. On the stove, set burner to medium heat and melt butter and oil together in the pan.
3. Add beef and spread to make an even layer on the bottom of the pan. When one side starts to get some dark color (from searing) flip all the pieces over so that all of them have that delicious, caramelized color. Add Onions and stir the meat/onion combination for 4-5 minutes to soften the onions a bit. Turn off the burner and add Condensed Tomato Soup (save the can), Celery, Carrots and stir everything together. Fill the soup can with water (twice) and add to the stew mixture. Stir together and add Garlic Salt, Bay Leaves, 1 tablespoon of Salt and 1 Teaspoon of Pepper. You should have a soupy quality to the meat/veggie mixture and that’s what you want. Cover and put into the oven for one hour. Your kitchen will smell good very soon!
4. When the hour of baking is over, remove from the oven, uncover the stew and stir. Add Potatoes and Red Pepper Flakes (I put about 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon in mine) stir to combine. Put back into the oven, Uncovered and bake for another hour.
5. By this time the stew has baked for 2 hours and your kitchen and whole house smells amazing! But wait, there’s more! After hour 2, remove from the oven, stir and add Chicken Stock and Peas. You should see the meat has soften significantly and the veggies are all enjoying their time in the stew hot tub. After you add the chicken stock and peas, stir and taste the liquid (careful, it’s hot!) to see if it needs more spices, S&P … etc. Adjust to taste and put the stew back in the oven, Uncovered, for its final hour of baking.
6. It’s the end of hour three and you really want to eat this stuff! Take it out of the oven and stir. The meat should be tender, veggies and potatoes done and the liquid should have reduced to an almost gravy like consistency which really compliments the rest of the cast of the stew crew. Dish up and serve with fluffy biscuits or your favorite carb to sop up all that Stew gravy. And, if you want to join The Dragon’s tradition, whomever gets a bayleaf in their serving has to do the dishes!
Enjoy!