Irish Stew

This is not a tomato based stew. It has a bottle of beer in it! It's good. I got this from a low sodium e-mail, Low Sodium Cooking. I adjusted it just a bit.

• Ready In: 8 hrs 15 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2  lbs beef stew meat
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 1  garlic
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper, Fresh Ground
• 1  onion, halved and sliced
• 12  ounces dark beer
• 2  cups low sodium beef broth
• 3  tablespoons no-added-salt tomato paste
• 2  cups carrots, Sliced
• 4  potatoes, cut into quarters
• 2  turnips, cut into quarters
• 1  teaspoon rosemary
• 2  bay leaves
• 1⁄4 cup cornstarch
• 1⁄2 cup water

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the beef stew cubes and brown on all sides.
2. Add the flour to the beef stew cubes and mix thoroughly.
3. Add the meat to the crockpot along with all the other ingredients, EXCEPT the cornstarch and water.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
5. Finally, combine the cornstarch and water.
6. in a bowl and stir into the stew. Turn to high, cover the slow cooker and allow the stew to cook an additional 30 minutes, until thickened slightly.