Various Stove Top Temperatures
About 3 Hours
BackgroundMy friends Lisa and Melissa went to Ireland with me to celebrate my 30th birthday! If you ever get the chance to go to Ireland – take it. We rented a car and did a tour of the southern part of the Emerald Isle. That trip included 10 of the most memorable days of my life and I would absolutely go back in a heartbeat.
One of the greatest things about Ireland was the food – specifically the brown bread, Kerry Gold Butter, and Irish Stew. The most surprising thing about it was that most of the bars in Ireland serve brown bread and Guinness Stew and it’s delicious in all of them! Being an avid cook, I decided to try my hand about both the stew and the brown bread.
I started with this recipe from Cooking Light but decided that I wasn’t a fan of turnips and parsnips. They’re fine – kind of cinnamoney – but not my cup of tea. I substituted those veggies for potatoes and came up with this version of Guinness Stew that will keep you warm on a winter evening. Give it a shot and let me know what you think in the comments!
Recipe
- 3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
- 2 lb Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, Cut into 1” Cubes
- ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Salt*
- 1 tsp Pepper*
- 2 Large Onions, Chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tbs Tomato Paste
- 4 Cups (32 fl oz) Beef Stock
- 1 Bottle Guinness Stout
- 2 ½ lb White Potatoes, Peeled and Cut into 1” Chunks
- 8 oz Carrots, Cut into 1” Chunks
- Dried Parsley for Serving
- Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
- In a large bowl, toss the flour, salt, pepper and cubed beef together so that all of chunks get some flour and some seasoning.
- Once the oil has heated up, add half of the beef to the pot and cook for about 2 ½ minutes, stir the beef and cook for an additional 2 ½ minutes to brown all sides. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
- After removing the second batch of beef, add all of the onion to the pan (add more oil if needed) and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir everything around. After about a minute, add the garlic and cook until the onions are translucent (about 4 or 5 minutes).
- Add the tomato paste, beef stock and beer, scraping the bottom of the pot to get the browned bits into the stew.
- Return the meat to the pot and bring to a boil. Once the stew is boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- After an hour of simmering, uncover the pot, increase the heat to medium high and bring it back to a boil. Let your stew boil uncovered for about 45 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by ⅓.
- Add the potatoes and carrots, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until the potatoes and carrots have softened, about 30 minutes.
- Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed (you probably will) and serve with a sprinkling of parsley.
Tips and TricksIf you’d like to make this the day before, check out the freezer tip below. Instead of cooling and freezing, before the veggie step, cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Feed the FreezerIf you’d like to freeze the stew, stop cooking before you add the carrots and potatoes, cool completely, and freeze. When you’re ready to enjoy some stew, bring it to a boil, add the carrots and potatoes, and cook on medium for about 30 minutes until the veggies have softened.
Fun FactsYou can get Irish Butter at the grocery store. Look for Kerrygold Butter on the top shelf of the butter section for your bread-topping needs. That’s right…there’s a top-shelf butter!
