Ok, I know you've already started your stew, but here's my own recipe. (I make several types, but this is for beef stew).
Purchase a piece of meat. Buy a good cut. Look for alot of good marbling. Then the night before you are going to make the stew, cut up the meat into 1-1 1/2 in. thick, steak-like portions and tenderize them by pounding them with a mallet or the side of a saucer. Once you are done cut them into 1 cubic in. pieces.
In a pot put 1 cup each of beer, apple juice, tomato juice. To this mixture add 2 diced cloves garlic, 1 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 bay leaves. (Use a spice bag). Bring mixture to a boil and continue for 10 minutes. Pour over meat in a bowl, cover, and allow to marinate for 24 hours.
When you go to cook, remove meat from marinade, reserve marinade, allow meat to drain. Put meat seasoned flour (2 cups flour, 2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp salt. In a large preheated dutchoven, put 2 Tbsp. oil. Place meat in and cook until browned. Cover and place in a moderately heated oven, 250-275 F. Cook for 1/2 hour. While it is cooking, prepare vegetables making sure that they are diced to about the same size as the meat.
2 lbs diced potatoes
1 onion
2 green bell peppers
3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
Peas, corn, or green beans (or a combination of all three). Roughly one can
2-3 whole skinned tomatoes, diced
After the meat has cooked, add vegetables, remainder of marinade,cover, and return to oven. Add enough water to cover meat and veggies. Allow to cook at 300F, for 11/2-2 hours. Sauce should thicken while cooking.