Irish Beef Stew

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 30 June 2006 in Food & Cuisine and Portfolio.

This may look like regular beef stew, but it's got Guinness in it. The result? A hearty beef stew, with the subtle bitter undertone of dark beer. Certainly a dish that would appeal to all men, Husband included! *ooh*

I plucked this recipe off Elise from Simply Recipes, who in turn plucked it off Epicurious, one of my favourite sites to trawl for recipes. As usual, I've changed the recipe slightly - firstly, being the lazy cook that I am, I've shortened the recipe by skipping a few steps, e.g., I did not saute the vegetables separately but simply dumped them in with the meat to stew till tender. Secondly, as I'm not one to have red wine lying around in my kitchen on an average day, I simply did without the red wine; and the stew turned out just fine! Thirdly, I did not include thyme - I'm not a fan of thyme, unless it's used in large quantites and for chicken. My personal feel is that chicken and thyme go together, but I don't really like beef and thyme. ?! Oh, and of course, I've added my kitchen notes and tips, as usual. Here we go:

Irish beef stew (adapted from Epicurious and Simply Recipes)

Serves 4

Some olive oil

500g beef chunk, cut into chunks slightly bigger than bite-size*

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

6 cups beef stock

1 cup Guinness stout

2tb tomato paste

1tb sugar

1tb worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

500g potatoes

2 large carrots, or 3 small ones

1 large onion

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of your pot. When hot, brown the beef on all sides. Then, add the minced garlic and stir till fragrant. Throw in the beef stock, guinness, tomato paste, sugar, worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Cover and bring to boil. While waiting, start on the vegetables - wash and peel the potatoes and carrots. Then, slice into chunks. Slice the onion thinly. When the pot is boiling, add the vegetables, cover and return to boil. Then, simmer covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. After this, remove the cover and simmer for an additional 40 minutes, to allow some water to boil off and stew to thicken. Serve with baguette or over a bed of rice. Enjoy!