u/Adam_Weaver_

I bought a bunch at the farmers market and they left many more leaves intact than usual.

By coating the meat in flour first, you're largely browning the flour and less so the meat, which defeats the purpose of browning meat. Also, I've found that it doesn't thicken the broth to stew-like consistency. Using a flour slurry towards the end significantly mutes the flavors, even when you cook off the raw flour taste. Same with potato flakes. I've never tried cornstarch, because it doesn't seem very stew, but I used to like Dinty Moore and I think that's what they use.