Beef Stew

There are many things to enjoy about fall weather. My personal favorite is the return to comfort food. You know what I'm talking about. No one makes a steaming bowl of soup when it's 95 degrees, and no one cranks up the oven to make mac and cheese or lasagna. But when the weather changes, my stomach starts growling and I start craving me some stick to your ribs kind of food. This past weekend, we had our first "Fall Weather Weekend." I dug around in my freezer and found a top round roast from Gartners. Perfect for making stew. Add in some of Jenny's scratch made Spatzle, and BAM! We're kicking of the fall food season with a bang.

Inspiration: Pacific NW Fall Weather
Time: 75 Minutes
Difficulty: Fairly Easy
Special equipment: Heavy duty cast iron pot
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flour
Top Round Roast, cut up into bit sized pieces (can use Venison, buffalo or elk too)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil
1 onion, diced small
3 medium carrots, cut into bit sized pieces
1 red or orange pepper, cut into bit sized pieces
5 cloves of garlic, rough chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
12 oz. Stout (beer)
16 oz diced tomatoes (preferably fresh)
2 ears of corn, steamed and cut from the cobb
1-2 cups beef broth
1/2 pound dried egg noodles - cooked (or make your own Spaetzle)

1. In a dry pan cook flour over medium heat until brown (stirring with a whisk very frequently). Remove flour from the pot.

2. Toss meat with salt and pepper. Coat bottom of pot with oil and saute meat until browned. Remove from pot.

3. Coat bottom of pot with oil again and saute onion, carrots, bell pepper, garlic and herbs until onions are translucent. Add mustard and flour and stir until well coated. Some will stick to bottom of pan...that's okay.

4. Add 4 oz of stoud and stir so that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add another 4 oz and stir until foaming subsides. Add remaining stout along with tomatoes, corn and 1 cup of broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add in remaining broth when stew starts to get too thick for your taste.

5. Serve over cooked egg noodles (or again, make your own Spaetzle)