Beef Stew & Cheddar Biscuits-- Not for the lazy

Beef Stew is time consuming. This took me literally 4.5 hours.

I do believe it was worth it.

You can find the recipe in Martha Stewarts Real Simple Magazine-- or here:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/classic-beef-stew-10000001122826/index.html

I like to show my messes-- it's satisfying.

I did get a little panicked when I poured an entire bottle of red wine in. Made me nervous, but my faith in Real Simple pulled me through.

After the stew was in the oven.. I started my famous- Red lobster- knock off cheddar biscuits. I made these once (a from scratch version) for the 4-H fair and won a blue ribbon! These things are awesome. If you haven't made them, you have to. They are so easy.. and I found a really easy recipe online that I used last night:

Cheddar Biscuits-Red Lobster Knock Off

The gist is:

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

¾ cup cold half and half

4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Brush on--- after baking.

3 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder

400 degrees.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. Don't mix too thoroughly. Leave small chunks of butter that are size of peas. Add cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, don't over mix. Drop ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter. Makes one dozen biscuits.

They are just sooo pretty!
It was a hit with my food critic team.