Mom's Irish Stew

I'm going to offer this recipe in two forms, just as Mom gave it to us--the slow version and the fast version. The only difference is canned vegetables versus fresh vegetables. Here goes:

Mom's Irish Stew (slow version)

1 to 1.25 pounds stew beef
1 large onion
1.25 to 1.5 ounces of Worcestershire sauce
1 pound of carrots, sliced
1 to 1.5 pounds of potatoes, cut into medium wedges
1 can Campbell's tomato soup
3 to 4 ounces of catsup
2 to 3 cups of water (depending on how thick you like your stew base)
salt and pepper to taste

Cover stew beef with water, add Worcestershire sauce and boil for thirty minutes; then add diced onions, carrots, and potatoes, and boil for an additional thirty minutes. Add soup, catsup, water, salt, and pepper, then cook on low head for another 30 minutes or an hour. If you prefer it spicier, you may add a dash of tabasco sauce.

Mom's Irish Stew (faster preparation version)

1 to 1.25 pounds stew beef
1 large onion
1.25 to 1.5 ounces of Worcestershire sauce
2 cans of sliced or wedge potatoes (do not drain)
2 cans of sliced carrots (do not drain)
1 can Campbell's tomato soup
3 to 4 ounces of catsup
salt and pepper to taste

Cover stew beef with water, add Worcestershire sauce and boil for thirty minutes; then add diced onions and boil for an additional thirty minutes. Add canned potatoes and carrots (do not drain!--add the water from the can as well) soup, catsup, salt, and pepper, then cook on low head for another 30 minutes or so. If you prefer it spicier, you may add a dash of tabasco sauce.

Crockpot modification: We have modified the short version from time to time to work with a crock pot; the only change we make is that we cook the meat, onion, and Worcestershire sauce for about for hours on high, at which point we remove the meat with a slotted spoon, tear/shred it with forks to give it a stringy texture, then add it back to the crockpot along with the canned vegetables, soup, catsup, salt, and pepper to simmer on low for a couple of hours.