Carne Guisada com Massa - Portugese Beef with Noodles (almost)

I have taken the Summer months off from blogging. Life during the Summer is a mix of too much, and nothing at all. I think I am finally glad it is over.

Today I tried a new recipe in honor of my husband. We found out earlier in the year that his ancestors hailed from Portugal, not Spain as we had previously thought. I searched the internet and came upon a wonderful site with several Portugese recipes. They all seemed easy enough and several sounded very delicious.

Since we have an abundance of stew meat from our recent side of beef purchase, I thought the best recipe to try would be Carne Gusada Com Massa. from Full Bellies, Happy Kids.

All went well until the beer was added. Neither hubby nor I drink beer. Anyone who knows me knows Tequila is my drink of choice and hubby, well, hubby doesn't drink unless it's a special occasion.

So, when I went to the grocers to buy the ingredients, I stood for at least 10 minutes deciding which beer to buy. You know, when you cook with wine, make sure it is one you would drink. Don't buy the cheap stuff. It makes a world of difference in the flavor, not to mention it is a bonus to the cook, who gets to drink the remainder. But I HATE beer. Wouldn't know a good one if it stepped on my toe. I ended up buying MGD in the TALL can. I can use it again tomorrow in the chicken right?

The recipe calls for pouring in half of the beer. I don't think they were counting on me using a tallboy, and it didn't occur to me until after the head started rising to the top of the pot that perhaps it was too much. After adding mucho quantities of pasta, then the water to cover as the recipe called for, it ended up being way too much liquid. In the future I will tone it all down a bit.

The meal was indeed yummy, the pasta was overcooked due to the amount of liquid, but all in all the fam gave it four stars.

Thank you Sandra for a delicious post. Next time I promise to follow directions more closely.