Cajun Style Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
1 lb beef (ground or chunks of whatever is on sale)
baby carrots
potatoes
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
beef stock
1-2 Tbs cajun seasoning (I like Tony Chachere's)


Directions:

mix oil and flour (roux) in a large deep skillet, when fully mixed then heat the pan on medium, stir very often as the flour will brown quickly when the oil gets hot. cook until the roux is the color of a tarnished penny, add onions and bell pepper and cook until veggies start to soften and go clear around the edges. Be very careful not the burn the roux. add beef stock and seasoning until mixture is thin and soupy (you can also just use water or water and beef stock or water and boullion, I just use whatever I have). Heat to boiling and then bring down to gentle boil. Add beef and cook until just tender (about 45 min or so, depends on your cut of meat, if you use ground beef add it already browned and go right on to adding veggies). Add carrots and cook about 15 minutes, then add cut potatoes and cook until potatoes are done. By the time you add the carrots, the stew should have boiled down and started to thicken. You can freeze like this and then just thaw and reheat in the oven or on the stove. Serve over rice and I really like it with mustard on top.