Favorite Beef Stew

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees if using roaster method. Add flour to a plastic bag and add garlic and thyme. Combine ingredients. Add stew meat chunks and mix well. In a heated skillet over medium to high heat, heat a small amount of olive oil. Once hot, add chunks of meat in frying pan, shaking each piece to remove the surplus flour, but do not pack in pan. Sear the meat on all sides. Remove to a warm plate and set aside. Sear all the meat in batches, adding olive oil as needed. Reduce heat to medium and add one cup red wine. Scrape bottom of frypan to loosen any brown bits. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until it reduces a bit (you will see it thicken slightly). Bring heat back up to medium and add 2 cups beef broth. Bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and cover fry pan. Turn heat to medium low and let the mushroom mixture simmer for 3/4 hour. In the meantime, add peeled and chopped vegetables, onion, and meat to a roaster or slow cooker, depending on which you will be using. If placing in slow cooker, add vegetables and onions underneath the meat. If using cooker (oven) add ingredients and 1 cup of beef broth and cover. Place in preheated oven and set timer for 1 hour. Slow cooker method - do not turn on yet. One mushroom mixture has simmered for about 45 minutes, add hot liquid to roaster in oven, cover and roast for 2 hours. If using slow cooker, add liquid mixture, cover and set to cook on low for 9 hours, high 6 hours. Once the stew is cooked, you can thicken sauce by removing some of the vegetable, meat mixture from roaster or cooker and adding corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water and bringing mixture to a soft boil for a couple of minutes.