AN IRISH GUINNESS BEEF STEW

An Irish Guinness Beef Stew image

Oh wow! Cook this thick and hearty stew recipe on a cold winter day and you will have one delicious dinner. Guinness and wine at a lot of depth of flavor to this stew. The stew cooks to a nice thick gravy and we loved the process of cooking the potatoes, carrots, and onions. Make sure to have some nice, crusty bread on hand to...

Provided by Racquel Sweeney

Time 2h50m

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 & 1/2 lb beef stew meat (get the butcher to cut into bite-size pieces)
2 or 3 Tbsp plain flour
4 clove garlic (minced)
4 c beef stock
2 c Guinness + 1/2 cup of any red wine (I used a Merlot for this stew)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp sugar to sweeten tomato paste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
salt and cracked black pepper
VEGETABLES
2 Tbsp butter
5 potatoes (peeled and cut into bite size pieces)
1 large onion (peeled and diced)
3 med carrots (scraped and diced)

Steps:

1. In a small bowl add in the flour and a pinch of salt and pepper. Flour lightly the pieces of beef to seal in the flavour.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Brown the beef stew using tongs to turn the pieces over.
3. If you have too much liquid, carefully remove it to ensure the beef will brown. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
4. Add beef stock.
5. Add Guinness.
6. Add wine.
7. Add tomato paste, sugar, and thyme.
8. Add Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves.
9. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Reduce heat let simmer for 2 hours; stirring occasionally. NOTE = You may need to add more liquids. Take into consideration how many cups of vegetables you are adding or whether you want a thicker stew or a soup texture; "we like thicker stew" so I used a 3 to 1 ratio of beef stock to the Guinness and wine. This ensures to preserve the flavour of the Guinness.
10. While the meat and stock are simmering, prepare the veg. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, and carrots. Remember the potatoes will reduce half the size so be sure to double the volume.
11. I cooked the veg for about 30 minutes until they were tender and started to turn a little brown. Do not cover otherwise the veg will steam instead of browning.
12. Add the brown vegetables to the stew.
13. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Add more salt and pepper to taste. This is a great stew to make ahead of time to let the flavours blend overnight. Or if you can't wait have on the night excellent as well too ... :)