I tried a lot of different stew recipes until I finally settled on one.
3 lbs of cubed stew meat (think its actually labeled stew meat in the store)
2 Tbls. oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
l cup chopped celery
l/4 cup chopped parsley
2-l/2 cups canned tomatoes
l bay leaf, crumbled
l/2 tsp. thyme
l cup peas
1 cup green beans
6 or 7 chopped carrots
6 potatoes, quartered
l/2 cup flour
32oz carton of beef broth
salt and pepper - to taste
Brown the meat in the oil. Put this in whatever you are cooking the stew in. Then add sliced onions, carrots, garlic, celery, parsley, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper and all of the broth. Bring it to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for two hours, stirring it once in a while.
After the two hours add the potatos, peas, and green beans and simmer for another hour. I use frozen green beans and peas. You could also add corn if you wanted. After the hour is up mix the 1/2 cup of flour with 3/4 cup of cold water and stir it well. Then stir this into the stew and let it simmer another five minutes. Then as ken w said serve it over biscuits.
You can do the same thing with chicken too. I use 2lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs. Also instead of the beef broth I use chicken broth. This recipe seems like it takes forever, but is worth the wait.