Beer Braised Beef & 'Gourmet' Mashed Potatoes

I know, my posts have been pretty heavy on the recipes and 'what I cooked for dinner' category, but I've got a backlog, and have to be able to post the new recipes I make in the days to come. This post is about the Beer Braised Beef. At this point, I'm not really sure where the recipe came from... I wrote it on a recipe card some time ago, and just recently got around to putting it together.

One day last week when I was at home on lunch break I pulled out the crock pot and threw in onions, diced canned tomatoes, cubed round steak and other things of the sort, then poured in a can of beer over the whole thing. You see, a while back we came by some Bud Light in our house, and neither of us are Bud Light drinkers, and I can't drink anything of any sort these days, so it's been languishing in the cupboard. After making this recipe, I have one can left. I've slowly been using them up by cooking.

When I got home I lifted the lid and tasted, only to be disappointed by the bland flavor. Turns out, I was also supposed to add seasonings to the pot, including salt, oregano, parsley and all that good stuff. It was much better once I seasoned it up a little.

I decided to serve the beef over mashed potatoes, since these had also been languishing in their drawer for quite some time. I could eat mashed potatoes by the potful, and thus I avoid making them too often.

I left the skins on for the cooking and mashing process. Who says you have to peel your potatoes? Besides, anymore it's considered gourmet to leave the skins on in fancy restaurants. That, and they're nutritious.

Once again, my KitchenAid mixer came into play to mash the potatoes, along with a little bit of salt, pepper, milk and butter. There are few things more delicious.

And there you have it, an easy weeknight supper that your husband will love and of which he'll help himself to seconds. :-)

Sorry, I don't have the recipe on hand, but it's one of those that you pretty much just put together whatever you want - within reason - and it will turn out good.