Game of Thrones Recipe: Venison Stew

It's weird that I didn't make not even one Game of Thrones recipe while the show was on. I usually get at least one in the while the show is on. I know what it was...it was because there were only seven shows this season, instead of 10. I really missed my last three shows. No idea why they cut the show so much. 

Anyway, I'm still making recipes from the North. This time, venison stew. Except no venison. I just used ground beef. 

I don't think I'm a big fan of stews. And with the past week being real cool and rainy, it wasn't like I was making it out of season. 

First I made the bacon. Real bacon. I don't really eat real bacon, unless it's in a recipe. And I might have subbed it out for Turkey Bacon, but I needed the grease. Turkey Bacon doesn't make grease like actual bacon. So I just sucked it up and used it. I added that to get cooked ground meat.

Then I cooked the carrots and peas with the onion and garlic in the butter and added the broth. After that was done I added it with the beer, barley, the stock (for some reason I bought chicken stock-IDK what I was thinking!), and the seasonings. And I was actually able to find the smoked salt. Which was new to me. Not sure if I like it yet.

Anyway, I went out and bought a dark beer specifically for this recipe. I've only cooked with beer once. It was for a beer cheese soup and it was OK. I used a light beer though. This time I needed a dark beer. And I had no idea what I was looking for so I grabbed this. Made in England. It said nut brown so I assumed it would be dark enough. 

I was hoping it would be good. But in my opinion, all beer is nasty. Especially this. 

And I think that was a big part of where this soup went wrong for me. It tasted too much like the beer. I hated it the first day. The next day it wasn't as bad. The day after that it was significantly better.

But still not good.

I'm not a fan. And I would never make this again. Never, ever. 

I got the recipe from Inn At the Crossroads blog in case you are curious to check it out for yourself. But I don't recommend it.