In my BH&G there is a crockery recipe for "Beef and Brats":

1 pound boneless beef round steak, cut 1" thick
4 ounces uncooked spicy bratwurst, cut into 3/4" slices
1 TB cooking oil
1 small onion sliced and separated into rings
2 TB quick-cooking tapioca
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 14 1/2 oz can chunky tomatoes with garlic and spices, undrained

1) trim fat from beef, cut into 4 pieces. Sear beef and brown brat
slices in oil.
2) place onion in crock, sprinkle with spices, pour in tomatoes, put
meat on top.
3) cook on low for 10-12 hours. Serve on noodles or rice.

a) I presume that the tapioca's role is to thicken the sauces? If
so, I presume that you'd do this instead of the usual water+flour into
drippings method so that the flavor isn't diluted?

b) What is the consistency of this supposed to be like? Watery like a
soup, or thick like a stew? I've never had it before (nor heard of it
prior to owning this book) and it is referred to as an "American
classic". The Internet hasn't heard of it either.

It's a fairly simple, inexpensive recipe and not so bad. I doubled it
so that I could have leftovers for the week, but maybe I screwed up,
because mine turned out watery like soup. If that *is* how it's
supposed to be, how much should I increase the Tapioca to make it more
stew-like?

Or, would it be best to skip the tapioca, separate the fat from the
juices, then do the flour+water+plus juices method to make a "gravy"
out of it?

Thanks.

-J