Spiced Beef Stew

Another wonderful recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Spiced Beef Stew

(I made some variations to this and this is what I used)
1/4 cup butter
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1 can or bottle of beer
1 onion, sliced into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 red potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can green beans
1/2 package baby carrots
1 can or jar chopped tomatoes

I used a dutch oven to melt the butter. Then coat the stew meat with flour and cook until browned through. After browning, remove the beef from the dutch oven and set aside.

Take the 1/4 cup flour and put in the dutch oven along with beef broth (add the broth slowly and whisk flour so it is not lumpy), the beer (grabbed a bottle of one of my husband's ales), onion, garlic, brown sugar, and thyme. Heat to boil. After this comes to a boil, add remaining vegetables. Cover and simmer until done (1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours). As this was cooking, I watched to see if it needed to be thicker. If needed, mix some of the broth with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and add to stew to thicken. Enjoy!!

This is a really wonderful recipe on a cold day like today!!