Beef Stew

• 1 lb. beef (chuck or round)
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• Salt & pepper
• 0.5 tsp. mustard powder
• 0.5 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 4 oz. salt pork (q.v.)
• 1 large shallot
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 oz. flavorful beer
• 8 oz. beef stock
• 3 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 3 oz. crimini mushrooms
• 0.5 lb. yellow potatoes
• 1 large carrot

Pre-heat your oven to 300F.

Blanch the salt pork, slice it thinly, and cut it into small squares. Cut the beef into 1" cubes and set them in a bowl. Peel the shallot and cut it into thick rings.

Heat an oven-proof pot (that you have a lid for) on the stove, add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, and gently sauté the salt pork for 10 minutes until it has rendered its fat and is starting to color. Add the shallot rings and sauté some more until they are soft. Remove the contents of the pot to a bowl and set it aside.

Sprinkle the flour over the cubes of beef; add salt, pepper, the mustard powder, and the herbes de Provence, and mix it all up with a fork and spoon so the beef is coated.

Heat another Tbsp. of olive oil in the pot and brown the beef on all sides. If it won't all fit in a single layer, do this in a couple of batches—you want to brown the beef, not steam it.

Add the beer and the stock and bring it up to a gentle simmer, put the lid on the pot, and put it in the pre-heated oven for 2 hours.

After two hours, add the salt pork and onions to the pot and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes.

Cut the potatoes and carrots into chunks and trim and slice the mushrooms.

For the last half hour you want to add the potatoes to the pot, sauté the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil, and, for the final ten minutes, add the carrot and mushrooms to the pot.

Serve this with some nice bread and a little salad on the side.