this is how I make beef stew and it smells soooo good while cooking.
1pound of round steak cubed and cut up in bite size pieces
put the following in a large zip lock bag
1/4 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, dash of ginger, dash of allspice.
Put the meat in the bag with all the spices and flour, zip shut and shake well to coat the meat.
Melt generous 1/4 cup of fat/shortening in skillet,
add all contents of bag to skillet plus 1 cup chopped onions and brown stiring and browning meat on all sides. When it is browned nicely put it all in a crock pot along with 2 1/2 cups of water and stir. (I usually poor a little of that water in the skillet then pour that in the crockpot, you want all that browned flavorful stuff in the pot)I usually cook on high for 2 hours or whatever time it starts getting tender. Then add cubed potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, corn ect and cook till potatoes get tender. Also if there are any dabs of leftovers in fridge that goes in also. You can also cook on low in oven if your prefer, I have done it both ways. Sometimes when I do it in the oven in a caserole dish I add a cresent roll topping to it and brush with egg makes it look real pretty if you are serving it in that dish. Otherwise I use yummy Grands buttermilk biscuits and spoon the stew over the opened biscuit. yum yum