Instructions: Combine flour and soy sauce, then stir in tomato paste. Place the beef in a very large casserole, add the flour mixture and stir until beef cubes are coated. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir again. Cover tightly, place in a 450 F oven, and bake 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 250 F and continue cooking until the meat is just tender, about 2 to 3 hours. Taste for seasoning about an hour before it is done; add more salt and pepper if needed.

Remove from oven and serve with one or more of the following vegetables. Either add them to the stew and heat briefly, or serve them at the side on the dinner plates. Choice of vegetables: fresh celery slices, cooked crisp-tender; freshly cooked carrots; fresh or frozen peas; small onions, boiled; fresh mushrooms, sauteed; fresh zucchini, sliced and briefly sauteed; fresh green beans, cooked crisp-tender; small new potatoes, boiled. This is best done a day ahead, then reheated slowly in a 275 F oven, but it can be made several days ahead and it freezes well.

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