Delicious little recipe, really good on cold days. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1:55 Total time: 2.5 hours (approx) Ingredients: About 1/4 cup olive oil 2 bay leaves 1 large onion, minced 1lb stew meat 1 cup red wine (I prefer merlot, and a decent one to impart a nice fruity flavour) 1 cup guinness (can or tap)* Sea salt (to taste) 2 tbsp butter 6-10 cloves minced garlic 6 cups beef broth 2 cups peeled, chopped carrots 2 tbsp tomato paste Black pepper (ground preferably) 3lbs of potatoes, cubed to 1/2 inch Note*: you can make this dish with more or less liquid to your liking, but the ratio of broth to alcohol should be 3:1, with an even split wine and guinness. Steps: 1. Take a large pot (stock or dutch oven). Coat the base with the olive oil, heat, and add meat, browning on all sides. Once meat is browned, add garlic, and a pinch of sea salt, sautee for 1-3 minute once garlic is added. 2. Add stock, wine, guinness, tomato paste, bay leaves, and some sea salt to the beef/garlic mixture, bring to boil. Reduce to medium/medium-low heat and simmer covered for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. 3. While that is cooking, melt the butter in bottom of another pot. Add potatoes, carrots, and onions. Sautee in pot over medium heat (important so they don't scorch) until the veggies are golden, between 10 and 20 minutes. Season with sea salt 2-3 times during the process, mixing thoroughly. Set aside until hour is done on broth. 4. Add veggies to pot when the time is up, simmer uncovered for 40-50 minutes, salt to taste, add pepper to taste. 5(optional). This is up to you depending on how you feel. The fat floats to the top of the pot, you can either spoon it off when the cooking cycle is done, or stir it in for extra flavour, up to you. Notes on prep: a) I don't use slow cookers for this recipe as it tends to cause the beer to react badly, resulting in a bitter mess that requires either sugar or some bittersweet chocolate to remedy. That is too sweet for me, and this is a faster (albeit more doting) method. b) Don't rush. Heat control is important on this one. You can easily screw up pretty much any dish that is cooked with beer by trying to rush it to completion. c) Get ready for leftovers. Even small bowls of this will fill you up quick. It is a very succulent dish, but also very rich, so don't expect to down the entire pot in one sitting.

Another yummy new recipe for me. The barley/rice makes this a pretty hearty soup. Doesn't take much to fill you us and it's really good for you too! =) Lima Bean Stew 1 onion, chopped 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped 2 stalks celery, sliced 2 carrots, sliced 8 cups water 3 cups frozen lima beans (16 oz pkg) 1 16-oz can tomato sauce 3/4 cup barley 3/4 cup brown rice 2 Tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg's) 1 Tbsp parsley flakes 1 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp dried oregano several twists freshly ground black pepper Combine all ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer for 60 minutes. * Can also be make in a slow cooker. Combine all ingredients and cook on low 4-6 hrs. (from the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook)