comfort food thursday {beef stew with pumpkin ale}

well folks, looks like i have food on the brain this week. and today is no exception. but can you blame me? just look at how tasty this beef stew looks! and it just so happens that i have a beverage fridge full of wolavers* pumpkin ale...lucky lucky me.

beef stew with wolaver's pumpkin ale - via feel good eats**

• 4 strips of bacon, thinly sliced
• 2 pounds chuck or stewing beef, trimmed and cut into chunks (i think venison or bison would work too!)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• flour for dredging
• 5 carrots, peeled and chopped (1-inch pieces)
• 2lb red or fingerling potatoes
• 1 bottle wolaver's pumpkin ale (or other ale or stout)
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper

what you do: set a large frying pan over medium high heat and add the bacon slices. Cook until the bacon begins to get crispy. While the bacon cooks, pat the beef dry with a paper towel and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the bacon, onions and garlic to the crock-pot, keeping the drippings in the pan. Dredge the beef in the flour, then shake off the excess and add the beef to the pan. Turn the beef so it is nicely browned on all sides and then transfer it to the crock-pot.

Arrange the carrots and potatoes along the exterior side of the crock-pot. Pour in the bottle of ale until it covers about 3/4 of the beef. Set on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the potatoes to a bowl before serving and roughly mash. Transfer the mashed potatoes back to the crock-pot and stir. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Serve with toasted bread and thick slices of cheddar cheese. serves 4-6

*wolaver's is otter creek's organic sibling. their IPA reigns supreme at my house, but you can't go wrong with any of their products.

**feel good eats is a great vermont blog by a fabulous local chef & food writer. site has been dormant for awhile, but the archives are worth exploring!