Beer Braised Beef

I was given some beer and if you know me, I don’t prefer drinking beer. I didn’t know what to do with it and it just sat in the fridge getting flat. Growing up, I was taught not to waste food. Even if it is something that I did not like. My dad would say, “Eat it now or Eat it later” or I would transform it into something else.

I decided to see if I could cook with beer. I found a recipe for beer braised beef short ribs but when I went to buy the ingredients, I could not find beef ribs. I also completely forgot to get tomato paste. I still had to make dinner so I had to do some substitutions.

Start by chopping up 2 medium sized carrots and 1/2 white onion. You will also need 3 cloves of garlic, 2 bay leaves and 1 Tbsp of thyme.

To substitute the tomato paste, I used 1 medium tomato and a squirt of ketchup.

To substitute the beef ribs, I used a beef roast. I wanted big chunky pieces. Season the beef chunks with some salt and pepper and sear the meat in a tablespoon of oil.

Set the meat aside. Add the carrots, onions and garlic to the pot and soften for 5-8 minutes.

Add the tomato, ketchup and 1 Tbsp of brown sugar.

When the vegetables are nicely browned, deglaze the pot by adding 2 1/4 cups of beer and 2 cups of chicken broth.

Bring to a boil and then lower to medium low. Simmer and cook for 2 1/2 hours. The longer you cook it, the more the beef will break apart.

The beef will be really tender and easily break apart. I like to take the big chunks of beef and break it up with a fork. The beef was delicious, sweet and didn’t taste like beer.