Kirk Stew

My hubby is military so we tend to move around a bit, our last duty station was in Louisiana where we got to know many people that we came to love as family. This recipe is inspired by one of those people.
Louisiana, to me, is Crawfish boils, cook outs, going out to the lake and just generally enjoying the great outdoors... Come to think of it I feel the same about Alaska, minus the Crawfish and less opportunity to cook out on the grill... 
Anyhoo, we spent more than a few days/evenings cooking out at Kirk's house, he sees himself as THE grill master and he is not far off. The thing about cook outs at Kirk's was that he wanted to provide the meat, and provide he did. There was seldom anything else to eat unless we brought it along, it was usually up to us girls, some men see nothing wrong when there is nothing but meat on their plate! So, Kirk, here's to you! We miss you ALL dearly! (w00t! w00t!)


Stew meat 
Bacon
Beef Smoked Sausage
Dark beer of your choice
Potatoes
Onion
Garlic
Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.

In a Crock pot I put one bottle of dark beer and enough beef broth to about an inch and a half deep.
Cut up one pound of bacon, I cut it when it was still a bit frozen, and wound up with square inch size pieces. Put the bacon in a large hot skillet and cook until floppy, you don't want it crispy. Using a slotted spoon carefully transfer the bacon to the Crock pot, leaving as much grease behind as possible.
Toss in sliced beef smoked sausage and heat through in the bacon grease, browning slightly, carefully transfer with a slotted spoon to the Crock pot.
Now add the stew meat to the skillet searing all sides then transfer to the Crock pot.
Now add your cubed potatoes, onions and garlic right to the top of the pot.
Don't forget your salt, pepper, and seasoning to taste. I went with a prefab Italian seasoning.
Put on the lid and go do what you gotta do. I cooked this on low for about 8 hours. It was amazing.

Now, if you have leftovers, which we did, the kids are learning how easy leftovers are so I try to make extra. For the leftovers a few days later I added a bit of Merlot and thickened the sauce to serve over corn bread, it was also a huge success, no leftovers this time!