Nick, just think about the basis of a stew, a hearty meal that uses up meat and veges. There are so many variations to the dish that it is really hard to go wrong in your choices. Problems - cooking the meat incorrectly and seasoning it incorrectly or heavily. (Other than of course just burning it or similar!) Something like a stew is where you can be creative and chop and change ingredients to suit your tastes, your budget, what you have on hand, what's in season, who you are cooking for, etc. Every variation takes the dish to a new place but providing you are still basically cooking it the same, it will still be a stew.
Just thinking about that, I don't think any of our family even uses stock to make it. Just water and lots of seasonings and veges. Still very tasty.