Guiness Beef Stew

I have always wanted to make this recipe but just never got around to doing it. Luckily I had a somewhat lazy Sunday and was able to get the task done. Ran to a couple stores to get the ingredients and then to the liquor store for the Guinness. Now I do like many different types of beers dark and light and I have had Guinness before but it is not something I want to drink a 6 pack of. I was off to the liquor store in my neighborhood which has the option to buy 6 packs and you can mix and match so I wouldn't have to buy 6 Guinness so I  pulled up... Shoot liquor stores in Minnesota are closed on Sunday!! So, luckily North Dakota is just a hop over and was able to go there but had to buy a 6 pack? Oh well looks like I will be drinking some dark dark beer. Anyways I was able to get home and start on the delicious meal. It actually has very few ingredients but is a little time consuming to cut up the vegetables but here it goes! Oh and make sure you have plenty of time because it takes about 3 hours but the good thing is you can do things between.

 See Not very many Ingredients!!

 Guinness Beef Stew 
 Yields: 8 Servings ( About 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 5 cups chopped onion (about 3 onions) or more if you really LOVE onions like me
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
• 1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Stout
• 1 tablespoon raisins ( didn't have so didn't put in)
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

• 1. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and beef.
• 2. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

 Next time I might Substitute Potato for the Parsnips not really a big fan myself

Yummy Yummy Great Healthy Comfort food 

You can see all the delicious chunks of vegetables and meat

I also used this recipe to portion out the leftovers and freeze for a later date.

Apple Pie

Throwing together 21 plus apple pies on a cool crisp fall day has somewhat become a tradition with my mom and I. My parents have 5 apple trees and always seem to have an abundance so, what better way to get rid of them and make apple pies and maybe a few apple crisp!! This year we had quite the crew helping out which made the process speed by! My mom has the recipe which she has had forever and it is so simple and very yummy.


























Apple Pie
Yeilds: 4 Pies


4 - 9 inch pie tins ( we used prepared crust)
3 cups sugar
1 cup flour
2 tsp. Nutmeg
2 tsp. Cinnamon
24 cups apples (Peeled and Sliced)
8 Tbls. Butter


Peel and core enough apples to make 24 cups. Place in a large mixing bowl with the Sugar, Flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well. Place 6 cups of mixture in each prepared pie tin. Place 2 Tablespoons of butter on each pie mixture. 
Wet the edges of dough so it sticks better. Place rolled out dough ever apple mixture. Take a knife and cut around tin to get excess dough. Take a fork and press edges together all the way around. Brush a little water on top of pie and sprinkle with sugar. Cut about 3 slits on top of pie for ventilation. You may want to wrap the bottom with foil in case of a spill over.
Bake at 425 for about 40 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned.

Here is our apple peeler in action. If you do not have an apple peeler and plan on making alot of pies I suggest you buy one! It will make your life so much easier. They are cheap and totally worth it. You can pick them up almost anywhere just like this one at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Once you have peeled your apples and placed them in the bowl you can go ahead and add the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well.

Note: These are very very tasty just like this with sugar and cinnamon!! YUM You may want to throw in a few extra apples for snacking purposes.

We took the lazy way out and bought some pre-made pie crusts and dough. . 

You still had to roll out the dough but it was already made so that made it nice and easy

Pies filled and sprinkled with sugar ready to go in the oven.

Here is our crew working hard!!

Flash was also working hard taking a nap while protecting his raw hide.

Now it is time to enjoy some warm apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream. YUM Yum

We made a total of 21 apple pies and each took home some. I kept one out and froze the rest for a later date.