My Mom often asks me to make the V8 stew, it is her favorite. Beef stew with V8 From Better homes and gardens new cook book 2 TBL all purpose flour 1 pound beef or pork stew meat 2 TBL cooking oil 3 ½ cups vegetable juice cocktail ½ cup chopped onion 2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ tsp dried basil, crushed ½ tsp dried thyme, crushed 2 ¼ cups cubed, peeled potatoes 2 cups sliced carrots 1 cup sliced celery Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or dutch oven brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. Return meat to saucepan. Add juice cocktail, onion, bouillon granules, garlic, basil, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover, simmer 1  1 ¼ hours for beef (30 minutes for pork) or till meat is nearly tender. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover; simmer 30 minutes more. Skim fat. Makes 4 main dish servings. My notes say use 1 ½ lbs beef, 1 ¼ cups potatoes, 1 cup carrots. We prefer more meat and less veggies at our house.

haus proud - "Stew" is as varied as the folks who make it and you've covered the many options very well.... Here's my take on it after doing some testing and looking at some of the science (probably after a reading session of "On Food and Cooking" - The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - by Harold McGee). I personally made it the traditional way forever and always and when I tried a different recipe and method, I fell in love with stew all over again and never returned to the traditional method. Traditionally, you wanted a bit of fat on stew meat, or the finished meat would be dry. Traditionally, stew meat is dredged. It seemed to take a lot of extra fat in the pan to brown dredged meat. I don't follow either of those methods and like my stew much better now that I don't. But as we all know, all taste is subjective and cooking is about choices. I use chuck, because a good butcher will tell you there is a little more fat (even though it's considered a lean cut) and more connective tissue, which add both flavor and tenderness during a long, slow cooking process, as Joe pointed out. When you purchase a package of "stew meat", it can be cut from almost anywhere - more of a mystery meat. I cut my own stew meat and avoid as much visible fat as possible, and cut it into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes. It's a personal thing - I don't like to wrestle a large 1-1/2-inch cube of beef in my stew. I never dredge the meat because I think it interferes with the browning process and tends to make the bottom of the pan a sticky, disgusting mess. But as with most cooking, dredging is a choice - it's neither is right or wrong. I also don't salt the meat before browning. Salted meat exudes more juices and dries out. Adding the salt to the stew after the meat is browned produces jucier meat. I use a small amount of fat for browning the first batch of meat (probably less than a tablespoon), fairly high heat, and brown only in small batches, removing each batch from the Dutch oven and setting it aside, until the entire 2-pounds of meat is browned. Not a lot of fat in the pan, but if there is, I'd dab it out with a paper towel, careful to leave the "flavorful cooked-on goodies". I don't constantly stir the meat while it's browning, but let it sear well, then turn or stir it, until all sides are well-browned. I usually don't add any fat for the subsequent batches of meat I brown, so that saves some added fat. If you brown the meat all at once, you end up stewing the meat pieces because there's too much moisture from the large amount of meat pieces. Browning, without dredging, will render a darker, richer, brown stew with more flavor. I also add a t. of lemon juice while simmering the meat, which is a tenderizer. I remove some of the potatoes and a cup or two of the liquid and blend it in a blender or food processor and return to the pot to avoid the starchy taste of flour/water slurry, which congeals when refrigerated and separates when frozen and reheated. So, to each their own, for whatever reasons... -Grainlady

The one below has Italian dressing in it. Here is a link that might be useful: Beef Stew

I found this one online: JOHN MADDEN'S SUPER BOWL STEW Source: COOKS.COM 1/3 c. flour 1/2 tsp. pepper 1/4 tsp. salt 2 1/2 lbs. bottom round, cubed 2 to 3 tbsp. vegetable oil 2 lg. onions, sliced 2 sm. green peppers, chunked 2 stalks celery, sliced 1 lg. clove garlic, pressed 3 lg. carrots, cubed 4 med. potatoes, peeled & cubed 1 sm. turnip, peeled & chunked 1 sm. rutabaga, peeled & chunked 3 c. beef broth 5 to 6 drops red pepper seasoning 1/8 tsp. marjoram 3 tbsp. parsley, chopped Combine flour, pepper and salt on large piece of wax paper. Dredge beef cubes well on all sides with flour mixture. Reserve flour for thicker gravy. Brown meat in oil in large Dutch oven, working in batches if necessary. Remove meat. Saute onion, green peppers, celery, garlic in pan drippings for 10 minutes. Add carrots, potatoes, turnips, rutabaga, broth, red pepper seasoning, marjoram and parsley. Bring to a boil. Add meat. Cover; simmer 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender, adding more broth if mixture becomes too dry. For a thicker gravy, mix together 1/4 cup cold water and reserved flour mixture in small bowl and make a smooth paste. Remove meat and vegetables with a slotted spoon into serving bowl. Stir flour mixture into pan liquids. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly. Pour over meat and vegetables. Serve with a crusty French bread. VARIATION: Add 1 red, sweet pepper instead of 2 green peppers and 1/2 pound (or one can) green beans.