Slow-Cooker Guinness Beef and Mushroom Stew

In typical Melissa fashion, I did not follow a recipe nor measure ingredients as I dumped them into the crock-pot. I did however, glean a lot of inspiration from already produced recipes such as this Beef in Guinnes with Fluffy Dumplings and this Beef, Guinness and Mushroom Pie. Taking a look at the ingredients and portions of these two dishes followed by a look at my refrigerator and energy, I whipped up the following for our St. Patrick's Day Iron Chef 'Competition' where each dish made was required to use Guinness as an ingredient.

Ingredients/Directions:

The heart of this soup is the broth, in order to make the soup land in14 bowls of hungry English teachers, I went heavy on broth: 2 bottles of Guinnes, 2 cups Chicken Broth, (can substitue beef broth) 1 cup Water, 1-2 Tbsp. Soy (can substitute Worcestershire) 1 Tbsp. Hot Sauce, Dash of Cinnamon, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. Add to the broth sauted Mushrooms and Onions (2-3 cups). Toss 1 or 2 lbs. of Beef in 1-2Tbsp. Flour, Dash of Salt and Pepper, sear in oiled fry pan. Add to broth. Cook in slow-cooker 8-10 hours on low and serve up alongside any number of dishes which include the magic ingredient of Guinness! Enjoy! (Additionally, small potatoes and carrots would make this a much heartier dish to serve up or adding more beef, I went extremely heavy on this broth - which was fabulous - but it would be stellar, for a smaller gathering, to add some veg and meat and thicken it up)