Beer Stew

This delicious recipe was passed to me from one of the lovely ladies at work.  After very serious work conversations, food rates extremely high on the agenda and we love sharing dinner ideas and tasty things we have made at home.

I particularly love this beer stew as it is hearty and sweet and makes the flat smell fantastic as all the meaty caramel flavours waft around.  It really is a delight to come  home on a drizzly day when the flat smells great and the oven has made it all warm and cosy.



The recipe below should feed 4-5 depending on portion size, but beware this is an extremely filling dinner.

Ingredients:
5 medium onions sliced
2 pkt chuck steak cubed (approx 1kg)
4 tbsp honey
1/2 pint beef stock
small bottle Leffe Brune or half big bottle (approx 1/2 pint) Must be Leffe Brune not Blonde
3-4 slices of bread
grain mustard

To make:

I like to use my le crusset cast-iron casserole so that I can make it in one pot and place straight in the oven.

Preheat oven to 160'c

Fry onions until golden brown, add 2 tbsp of honey and continue to brown until honey has dissolved.

Brown off meat in the same pot.

Add stock and Leffe Brune mix and bring to the boil.

Spread a thick layer of grain mustard over the bread and cover the beer stew creating a bread lid.

Place in the oven and cook for 20min at 160'c, then turn down to 120'c and cook for a further 6hours.

It can be left over night, or done in a slow cooker.

Remove from the oven stir in the bread lid.  If possible leave the meat to rest for an hour before serving if you have used a le crusset it should still be hot, otherwise it can be reheated.

Serve with green beans and roast pots or couscous.

This is a perfect winter dinner, it's easy to make and if you prepare it in the morning there will be no cooking when you get home.