Mmmmmm, Beerganoff!

For the past three days I have been home.

I have not gone shopping, or to the bank or even been in the car. The only other person I have spoken to is The Husband. I feel very Amish. Or slightly stir-crazy. Not sure which is worse.
I should be working on the novel, but the cloud over the lake seems to be inside my head as well and the words get all jumbled. Kind of like I am drunk. But I'm not. At least...I don't think I am.

Trying to figure out dinner last night I remembered a cooking segment The Husband was watching on the Today Show. Or Regis or the View. I can't keep his shows straight.

Anyhoo, I remember bits and pieces of the recipe, but the one thing I remember was beer. Beer, which is the one thing I won't drink. Seriously, it's the only item from the alcohol family that I turn my nose up at. But not the husband. Or the Children, for that matter. So I started tossing stuff out of the fridge and into the Dutch oven, mixed it with beer and came up with....Beerganoff! Have a cold one and serve this over noodles and think of me...drinking wine.

 "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel." Homer Simpson

Beerganoff
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 8 ounces (1/2 cup) pepper bacon, cut up- or turkey bacon if you must.
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried allspice
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless beef shank, in approx. 2 inch cubes
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cups beef broth (canned, carton or cube is fine)
• 4 teaspoons grainy mustard
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 cups English dark ale or if you only have PBR like I did, go for it.
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• Good grinding pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Get out a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven and, on the stove over a medium to high heat, melt 1 tablespoon fat, or warm 1 tablespoon oil. Add the bacon pieces and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until they are crispy.

Add the chopped onion, stirring well so that they're mixed into the bits of bacon, and turn down the heat to low and cook — stirring every now and again — for 10 minutes, by which time the onions will have softened.
Stir in the allspice and thyme and then tumble in the cubed beef shank and, for ease, with a pair of spatulas or suchlike, toss and turn the meat in the pan.
Shake in the flour and stir to mix as best you can.
Pour the broth into a large pitcher and stir in the mustard and sugar and then add the beer before pouring this over the stew in the pan.

Stir to mix, then let come to a boil, add the bay leaves and salt and a good grinding of pepper, then clamp on the lid and stagger to the oven with the heavy pan.
Cook gently for 3 hours. The house will smell delicious and you will wonder why the hell you never thought of making Beerganoff before. Serve over noodles to experience the whole Beerganoff effect. If you want, let cool, uncovered, before covering and refrigerating, then heat and serve the next day to bring happiness to your kitchen and stomach.