Beef Stew

Every time I make something I've never made before (especially if it's a food I'm not used to eating, never mind cooking), I'm incredibly worried it won't come out perfectly, but somehow I manage it (most of the time).
All the recipes for beef stew I looked up needed red wine or tomatoes/tomato paste, both of which I did not have. Being underage I couldn't just go buy some wine, but I don't recall my parents ever making their beef stew with wine anyway. They weren't big wine drinkers. So I adapted this recipe to fit what I had in the kitchen, as usual. I unfortunately had no bay leaves so I used a bunch of fresh sage leaves as a substitute, though I would recommend the bay leaves if you have them.

• 1 eye round roast, cut into 1″ chunks
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or 2 Tbsp pre-chopped garlic)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 2 1/2 cups of beef broth
• 3 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 4 potatoes, diced

First, brown the meat. Coat the chunks of roast in the flour, and heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large pan. You might have to brown the chunks in batches, because you don't want to overcrowd the pot. After all of the meat is browned, remove it and set it aside. You’ll be left with a lot of gunk on the bottom of your pan. That's what makes the stew taste so good.
Add the carrots/celery/onion/garlic on top of this, along with the bay leaf, thyme, and a pinch of salt. When the onions are transparent, add your meat back to the pot along with your broth and tomato sauce.
Use a wooden spatula or whisk and scrape the bottom of the pan to release all of the brown bits.
Cover, and cook on medium/low for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (and gently scraping the bottom to make sure nothing burns). After the hour has gone by, add the potatoes, and cook for an additional 35 mins.