Beef and Vegetable Soup

Have I mentioned how much I like soup lately?
Since my friend went to Philadelphia for five days, she gave me some meat that she was worried would go bad whilst she was away. One of those things was a package of grass-fed beef for stews. So there's only one logical thing to do, right?
I developed this recipe after reading about twenty other ones, taking some of the ideas that were recurring, and adding a few touches of my own. The result was a filling soup with intensely flavourful broth that doesn't overpower the flavours of the solid components.

Ingredients:
Stew beef, cut into smaller bite-sized pieces
One bag baby carrots, cut in half
Ten red potatoes, peeled and cubed
Market District Beef Stock
4 mid-sized garlic cloves, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
Worcestershire sauce
Butter or olive oil
Salt, ground black pepper, dried rosemary to taste

Directions:
Melt butter in large pot over medium heat, heat garlic for roughly twenty seconds.
Add beef and enough Worcestershire sauce to cover pot bottom. Simmer beef in sauce until nearly cooked through.
Add carrots and potatoes, followed by stock and bay leaf. Add seasonings and more Worcestershire to taste.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Remove bay leaf and serve.


Notes: I know that it is common to use bay leaves in a soup that simmers for a prolonged time period, but in this case, using it in a fifteen minute soup allowed just enough flavour to be incorporated that it didn't clash with the other flavours.
I didn't actually measure how much Worcestershire sauce I used in the second half of this recipe. I sort of just dumped it in, let it simmer a bit, and based it on the smell. Since I wanted a stronger broth, I added quite a bit. If you want a milder flavoured broth, add less Worcestershire.

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