Chestnut Beef Stew

• 1 pound lean beef stew meat
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/8 teaspoon dried sage
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 (10 1/2-ounce) cans beef broth
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled eggplant
• 2 cups quartered small red potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups cooked, shelled, and halved chestnuts (about 1 1/2 pounds in shells)
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes
• Thyme sprigs (optional)

1. Trim fat from beef. Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes. Combine beef and 3 tablespoons flour in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal bag, and shake well to coat. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add beef, and cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Add 1 1/2 cups water and next 6 ingredients (water through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 hour.
2. Combine cold water and 1 tablespoon flour in a small bowl; stir well. Add flour mixture, eggplant, potatoes, chestnuts, and tomatoes to beef mixture; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and stew is thick. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

lean beef, allpurpose, vegetable oil, water, thyme, pepper, marjoram, sage, garlic, beef broth, cold water, flour, eggplant, red potatoes, chestnuts, salt, thyme

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chestnut-beef-stew (may not work)