Borracho Beans or Meshugas Lentils

My girlfriend (yes... for all those online admirers of mine, I do have a girlfriend) suggested a recipe to me a few days ago called Borracho Beans. As I understand, Borracho means drunk, and Beans is pretty clear. Her recipe called for certain parts of certain animals which I am certain not to use. However, it seemed like the major component in the mixture was the inclusion of beer.
So, last night, as the weather became cold, I decided I would make myself something warm to eat today. Out came the crock pot (my dairy one) and into it went:
1 lb lentils
1 chopped red onion
one head of garlic
3 chopped carrots
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs of rosemary
lots of chopped hot pepper, and some dried whole red hot pepper
cumin
dried parsley and dill and savory
1 can tomato paste
salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder
1 beer
3 or so quarts water
I turned this on last night before going to sleep, and this morning awoke to a wonderful smell of meshugas (Jewish for drunk) lentils. The beer actually had a pretty good impact. Often lentils have a little too much of bland flavor. The cooked beer modifies that flavor just enough. I eat this before teaching this morning. I think I will add a little more salt into my next bowl of soup, since it still was a little on the bland side.
On a related note, I have come to appreciate the quality of my mothers soups (and generally every meal she made) as I have been cooking more and more. It seems like through my experimentation and inventivity with cooking, I often end up roughly approximating her previous sucesses.