Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Guinness Beef Stew



Yesterday was St. Patty's Day and I felt like getting into the spirit of the holiday by cooking something Irish. I don't know exactly how Irish this stew is...just because of the Guinness? Works for me!

I looked at several recipes and decided to use
this recipe for Beef and Guinness Stew as my inspiration. 

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs stewing beef
  • 2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
  • 2 tbsp flour 
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp each cayenne pepper, salt and pepper
  • 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste dissolved in 4 tbsp water
  • 1 1/4 c Guinness Stout
  • 3 carrots cut into 2 inch pieces 
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 large baking potato cut into bite sized chunks
  • 1 turnip cut into same size pieces as the potato
  • 2 parsnips cut into 2 inch pieces
  • Sprig of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 c beef stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions 
  • Toss beef with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, flour, and cayenne (the amount is up to you and how much heat you like)
  • Heat the other tbsp olive oil in a saute pan. Add beef and brown on all sides, about 6-7 minutes. Do not crowd the beef in the pan - you can do this step in 2 batches (from this step up to the deglazing with Guinness) 
  • Add garlic and onions, saute 2 minutes.
  • Add tomato paste mixture, cover and let simmer 5 minutes.
  • Transfer beef to a large pot or Dutch oven.
  • Pour half of the Guinness into the saute pan where the beef cooked. Scrape up any brown bits and bring to a steady simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Pour Guinness from the saute pan and the rest of the Guinness over the beef.
  • Add carrots, celery, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, thyme, and broth. Stir and adjust seasonings.
  • Cover and cook over medium-low heat (just at a nice simmer) for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
  • Adjust salt and pepper, and simmer partly uncovered for at least another hour.
  • Adjust salt and pepper and serve.
Jon said he liked this better than the really good beef stew with herbed dumplings I made on New Year's Day. I'd rate them as equally good. They were both hearty and delicious, but this Guinness stew had a richer taste and a good kick from the cayenne.

This stew isn't just for St. Patty's day - I'll be making this one again soon before the weather turns too warm!



Print this post

1 comment:

  1. I LOVE Guinness anything. Hubby has been asking for stew...I'll give this a try. It looks great!

    ReplyDelete