Dark beer, beef, onions, mustard, honey, bay leaf, thyme, a great way to turn the tough, least expensive cuts of beef into tender dinners. Reverse marinade: brown beef first to seal the juices in, then marinade overnight in beer, then 3 hour stew, it is slow but worth it. Freezes well, make frozen dinners for the year. Serve with french fries or potatoes.

Mother’s family recipe. The combination of beef shank meat and beef marrow and bone bring strong beef flavor to this carrot and onion farm dish when simmered in dark beer. Traditionally served with steamed young potatoes with a side of pears poached in wine. Left over Beer sauce is dipped with home baked rye bread.

Hearty and Tender Farm dish, cubed beef is flour dusted and browned in olive oil, then simmered till tasty with garlic, carrots, frozen peas and onions and home made fettucini in dark beer and herbs.For a non-alcoholic version, use 2 pints of beef broth instead of beer.

Clear beef bone broth that has gelled, with deep brown color and fragrant beef flavor extracted from beef soup bones takes time, but there are some shortcuts to reduce prep time from 48 hours to four hours, without aromatics turning bitter.

Dad is the only one brave enough to eat pork hock trotters, the rest of the family prefers pork tenderloin. We butcher one piggy a year, the hind legs and front shoulders are turned to ham, that leaves the two front leg trotters, four pounds of meat when deskinned.This is my recipe adaptation from the oldest restaurant in Dusseldorf, Germany, called Zum Schiffchen. Napoleon ate there. They serve their hocks with the skin on.The beer marinade and pan drippings are used to make beer cheese soup. The pork hocks are served over home made sauerkraut. Leftover sauerkraut and pork mixed with slivered fresh vegetables make a a great eggroll.

If you can make soup, you can make beer. We brew home made delicious California common beer in winter, 50 pint bottles per batch. It takes a month to make 50 bottles, we use all four cold winter months to make four batches. Here is our foolproof recipe.

Nouveau Beaujolais does not make it to rural California. We substitute, pair an aged, local red wine that has hints of pepper, with a gourmet beef burger without pepper. We use mace, the outer skin of nutmegs, to flavor meat, instead of pepper. It is a mild spice that brings out flavors rather than overpowering them. Perfect for Wagyu beef with sage, garlic, salt and mace herbs.Birthday party dinner. 4 dinners of Juicy panfried gourmet burgers with fresh baked sourdough bread and french fries, goes very well with 10 glasses of robust dark Zinfandel red wine in a special Magnum bottle, saved for years.#GlobalApron

Tough beef cuts are less expensive, like flank steak, but flank steak has gone from $4 to $12 a pound in the store. So, here is a hack: replace flank steaks with less expensive but tough beef rump roast, and use the natural tenderizing enzyme from tamarind beans to tenderize.These thin steaks, grilled at high heat, with these spices, are called Carne Asada Steaks in Mexican Cuisine. We keep the rump roast frozen. We trim off the fat cap and then slice off 1/4” thin steaks AGAINST the grain, which are then marinaded individually. Each Carne Asada steak measures about 3” x 4” x 1/4”.We add tamarind beans to traditional marinade with lime juice and lemon juice to tenderize, and garlic, cilantro, cumin, achiote chili pepper to flavor the marinade. No salt. After serving, you add pepper and flaked seasalt to individual taste.Thin steaks are charred over high heat and cooked medium rare. Served on iceberg lettuce with sweet red pepper and steamed yellow corn, black beans, chopped green onion stalks and rice. Enjoy.#CA2025

Three pounds of juicy beef brisket flank meat in a rich filling gravy, six beef dinners, perfect for freezing.Sauerbraten means “ fried in sour” and is all about marinading pre roasted beef to sear in the tenderness and flavors and get the drippings to make a special Sauerbraten gravy with the marinade. Then, heating the meat a second time in the oven covered by this special sweet and sour gravy. This recipe is different from making a beef chuck sauerbraten or sirloin sauerbraten, because with those, we sear the juices in, but with brisket meat, which contains more fat, we melt the fat out first.

A small portion of tender marinated beef eaten cold over fresh sliced pear with pine nuts. A korean dish that brings out the delicious flavor of the beef. For the spice option, add gochujang pepper sauce. Goes really well with a glass of ice cold strong flavored wine like 17% dry california sherry.#GlobalApron

Inexpensive, pan fried, then oven baked, simple recipe that makes a tender steak everybody loves, with mild garlic kid version. Panfried one at a time, then finished in a very hot oven till served.#CA2025

Our family butcher has local grass fed Wagyu TriTip Beef for sale. ( Wagyu sounds like Mr Magoo). We bought a tritip, 1 1/2 pound, 1 1/2” thick, enough for 2 people two days in a row.Our first time trying Wagyu beef. Grilled to get the best flavor, no herbs or spices, put flaked seasalt and a peppermill on the table for flavoring after we taste it.Served with steamed potatoes, steamed carrots and fresh baked sour dough bread, and a bottle of home made red wine from last year.