Carbonade de Boeuf

I love Robert Carrier. His volume 'Great Dishes of the World' is not what one will find in modern cookbooks anymore. He's one of my comfort food chefs. It is bourgeois/country/regional cooking and a solid base for any cooking library. It's cold again here meaning stew.

Carbonade de Boeuf
2 lbs beef (I used a bottom round roast from the cow in my freezer)
2 T lard
4 T butter
4 onions
2 T flour
1 bottle Guinness
salt and pepper
flour for dredging

Cut roast into 1 inch cubes. Slice onion fairly thinly. Dredge cubes in flour and brown in lard in dutch oven in a single layer. Remove to platter and continue until all meat is browned. Add onions to dutch over with butter. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned. Sprinkle 2 T flour over onions and stir. Return beef to dutch oven and mix. Add beer. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Carrier says to serve with spaetzle or potatoes. I served it with thick egg noodles.

This a very simple, very good stew. Good warm comfort food for a really cold night. While the ingredients are very simple, the flavor is more complex than you would expect. Cooking with beer is a wonderful thing.