French Oven Beef Stew

This is a recipe of my mom's. We rarely eat red meat, but for this recipe I make an exception. It is SO GOOD. The aroma alone is incredible. I made it the other night when we had dinner guests, so I didn't bust out my camera. Luckily (surprisingly) there were leftovers, so I got to have it for lunch the next day, too. And you get to see a picture!

2 lbs. Beef, cut into cubes (I used grass-fed--very, very pricey, but tasty!! And humane.)
2 med. onions, cut in eighths
3 ribs celery, cut in diagonal pieces
1 lb. carrots, cut into chunks (really the more the better here)
2 cups tomato or vegetable juice
1/3 cup quick tapioca
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. basil
8-10 med. potatoes, cut into chunks

Combine beef, onion, celery, carrots, juice, tapioca, sugar, salt, pepper and basil in a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Cover and cook in a slow oven (?) at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Mix potatoes into stew and cook uncovered for 1 hour longer.

**I just mixed the potatoes in at the beginning and cooked it that way and it was fine.