BROWN ALE AND BEEF STEW

The slow cooking time of this stew recipe will give to the beef a really lovely tenderness. And besides, the slightly bitter flavour from the beer will make this dish as unique as another conventional soup, or even better I'd rather say. AND OF COURSE, at the time this stew is ready, everyone's going to love the beautiful smell around the kitchen than this combination will make.

2     stalk celery
2     medium onions
2     carrots
1     heaped tablespoon all-purpose flour
1     14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
2     tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3     fresh or dried bay leaves
1     pound diced stewing beef
2     cups brown ale
3     springs of fresh thyme

PREPARATION:

Trim the ends off the celery and roughly chop the stalks. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel the carrots, slice lengthways, and roughly chop. Put a Dutch oven on a medium heat with the olive oil. Put all your vegetables with your herbs and fry for 10 minutes. Add your meat and flour.

Pour in the booze and can tomatoes, give it a stir and then season with a teaspoon of sea salt and some few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and let simmer in medium heat on your cooktop for 2 hours - 2 1/2 hours. Remove the lid for the final half hour of simmering or cooking and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry. When done, your meat should be tender and delicious. Remove any bay leaves or herbs stalks before serving. Taste it and season again if needed with salt and pepper.

*GIVE IT A TRY WITH A NICE POTATO HOT-POT:

For the hot-pot topping:


1 1/4 pounds medium potatoes
Sea salt and freshly black ground pepper
Olive oil or a pat of butter
A few spring of fresh thyme






Preheat the oven to 375 F. Fill a large baking dish with your already cooked stew. Peel the potatoes and put them into a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain them in a colander and let them cool down for 5 minutes. Slice the potatoes lengthways into 1/4-inch-thick slice and lay these over the top of you stew. Drizzle with a little of olive oil or melt butter and brush this over the potatoes. Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks and sprinkle them over all the potatoes with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook in your preheated oven for 40 minutes.