Slow Cooked Stew

1/3 cup Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 lb. Boneless Chuck Steak, 1 inch cubes

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 onion, chopped

3 cup Beef Broth

1 Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried Thyme

1 teaspoon Paprika

2 Bay Leaves
1 lb. New Potatoes, halved
1 lb. Carrots, sliced diagonally

1 cup Green Peas

2 ribs Celery, diced

1 cup Sour Cream (if desired)

1 package Wide Egg Noodles, cooked

In a ziplock bag combine flour, salt, and pepper.  Shake beef chunks in bag to coat.  In a caste iron skillet, sauté beef chunks in 2 Tablespoon oil until browned.  Remove beef to slow cooker.

In the same skillet melt butter and sauté onions till softened while scrapping the bits from the pan.  After about 3-5 minutes of sautéing pour a cup of beef broth.  Pour broth mixture into a mixing bowl.   

Combine in the broth mixture the remaining beef broth, Onion Soup Mix, water, Tomato Paste, worcestershire sauce, Garlic, Thyme, Paprika, and Bay Leaves.  

Add the vegetables to the slow cooker on top of the beef.  Pour onion soup mixture over top and toss to coat.  

Cover and cook on high for 2 hour and on low for 3 hours.   Make sure potatoes are cooked through.

If not thick enough, In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup stew broth.  Stir flour mixture into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 30 min.  

- To make it more like a Hungarian Goulash (if desired) add 1 cup sour cream to stew at the very end and serve over Egg Noodles.

Note: If you have on hand you can add 1 teaspoon of rosemary and caraway seeds if desired to the onion soup mix mixture.