Holidays forum: In honor of St. Pat's Day - Guinness Beef Stew
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| Even though I'm not Irish, I do love many of their customs - Irish coffee and Guinness Beef Stew being at the top of that list! I first had Guinness Beef Stew in a little pub in Seattle, the Owl N Thistle Irish Pub and Restaurant. I liked it so much, I've been back a few times for more and have also made it at home several times. Today, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd make it again and come up with a recipe, rather than just throwing stuff in a pot and adding beer, and I think it turned out pretty darn good! I read online about adding sugar, bittersweet chocolate, or prunes to counteract the bitterness of the Guinness Stout. I went with prunes today; next time I may try the chocolate, just to compare. Guinness Beef Stew 1-1/2 to 2# beef stew olive oil 1 or 2 onions, finely diced 1 to 2 cups carrots, finely diced 2 to 4 T minced garlic 2 t thyme 1/2 t pepper 1 t kosher salt 1-1/2 cups Guinness Stout, divided 1 cup water 2 cans beef broth 2 t Worcestershire sauce 2 T tomato paste 2 bay leaves 8 to 10 mushrooms 3/4 cups prunes, pitted and chopped 2 T flour (I have written the directions for this recipe as it would be made using an Aga cooker. For those using a traditional stove, you can translate as follows: BP means a burner with high heat, SP means a burner with low to medium heat. SO means to simmer, either on top of your stove or in a 250 degree oven.) I browned the beef in some olive oil on the BP quickly, just enough to brown at least one side and give it some color, then tossed that into a large pot. Next I sauteed the onion and carrots, again on the BP, adding the garlic toward the end, and then added it to the stew. I diced the onions and carrots so that they were pretty small - I wanted them for flavor and bulk, but I wanted the beef and Guinness to be the stars of this stew. I moved the sautee pan over to the SP, and poured in 1-1/4 cups of Guinness to deglaze any bits left behind, then added the thyme, pepper, and salt, and poured it all into the stew. I poured the water, 2 cans of beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste into the sautee pan and got it warm enough to dissolve the tomato paste, then added that to the stew. Finally I threw in some bay leaves and mushrooms. My bay leaves were very small so I put in 6, but I think aiming for around 2 large leaves is the goal. After wiping the mushrooms clean with a paper towel, half or quarter them depending on their size. The goal is to have them about the same size as the beef. I just love the flavor of mushrooms and beer together. I put the stew pot on the BP to bring it to a boil, and then into the SO for about an hour. I then added the chopped prunes, put it back into the SO until I wanted to eat. The prunes pretty much cook away and you cannot even tell they're in there. An hour before I thought I'd be eating, I mixed the 2 T flour with the remaining 1/4 cup of Guinness Stout in a small pan on the SP, and once it was smooth, I added it to the stew to thicken. At this point, taste for S&P. I do not use much salt in most of my recipes, so you may want to up the salt for this, depending on your tastebuds. I put the pan back into the WO at this point as it had been in the SO a long time and I didn't want the beef to get overcooked. I served this alongside potatoes. I could have put the potatoes into the stew, but my husband likes mashed, so I left them out so he could have it over mashed potatoes. I also think that putting the potatoes on the side is handy because if there are leftovers, the potatoes always get sort of mushy after refrigerating and reheating. This way you can make fresh potatoes the next day or whenever you're finishing off the stew.
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| That looks good! I'll have to keep this in mind for next winter. (Anything with any semblance of winter is over here now.) Take a walk with me at https://www.facebook.com/WildflowersSoCal |
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| Where in California do you live? I grew up in the Bay Area. I was born in San Mateo. My husband grew up in Menlo Park/Atherton, altho he was born in Pasadena. The majority of my family still lives in the Bay Area, so I go down there quite often. I was just down there in February for my mom's birthday. I posted about that event in the Entertaining Forum, http://cubits.org/entertaining/thread/view/8296/. |
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| I am in Canoga Park, which is in the Los Angeles area. The contest you had sounds like a lot of fun. Take a walk with me at https://www.facebook.com/WildflowersSoCal |
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| Have you had a pretty typical winter? The Bay Area has had a very cold and rainy winter. Up here we've had an unusally mild and warm winter! Weather is getting so weird these days.... The contest was really fun. I got the idea from some friends who have done it as an adult party. I wasn't able to go to their party but I had heard that it was super fun and a very successful party. People really got into the competitive spirit and showed up with some great food. I hoe they have another one when I can go! |
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| Our winter wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It rained more that it did the past two years but it was still an "average" amount of rain. It didn't seem to be all that much warmer or colder than usual, except for this week, which is hot. Take a walk with me at https://www.facebook.com/WildflowersSoCal |
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