Beef with mushrooms in Sarsaparilla

This is a non-alcoholic version of the famous English Recipe "Beef in Beer", instead of using stout, I used Bickford's Sarsaparilla to achieve a dark, deep and intense finish of the sauce.

BEEF WITH MUSHROOMS IN SARSAPARILLA
Serves 8 (probably)

1kg      Beef, cut into large chunks
250g    Button/Shitake Mushrooms, diced
275ml  Bickford's Sarsaparilla
100g    Shallots, whole and peeled
1pc      Large red onion, chopped roughly
2Tbsp  Flour
3Tbsp  Cooking oil
1cup     Beef Stock
1tsp      Thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a non-stick pot and sear beef chunks until brown on all sides, remove and set aside. Sear mushrooms until brown on edges, remove and set aside. In the same pot, stir fry shallots until brown on sides, set aside.

Saute chopped onion until soft then return beef with its juices to the pot.  Add flour and stir for 2 minutes or until juices are absorbed, then add stock and sarsaparilla. Bring to boil, add thyme and let simmer for 2 hours covered.

Add in mushrooms and shallots and cook for a further 30 minutes, if liquid is too much, continue cooking without cover until sauce has been reduced and quite thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.