Name: Irish stew with Guinness
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 190 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 500g of stewing beef, cut into 2-3 cm cubes; 1 onion, chopped; 4 garlic cloves, sliced; 1 cup Guinness; 1 cup red wine; 3 cups chicken or beef broth; 1 bouquet garni (3 bay leaves, three sprigs of parsley, 1 sprig of thyme); 1 stalk of celery, cut in half; 2 Tbsp tomato purée; 2 tsp honey (or sugar); 1 Tbsp Worcester sauce; 3 medium carrots; 500g potatoes; Olive oil, salt and pepper; Optional:; A few drops of Angostura Bitters; Extra optional vegetables: ½ cup pearl barley or 1 cup chopped root vegetables (Sweed, parsnip or turnip) or 1 cup coarsely chopped mushrooms; To serve: chopped parsley

Irish stew with Guinness

17 Mar 2016

by Dinna

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

190 minutes

Total Time

10 minutes

Background

Traditionally, Irish stew was made with lamb or mutton, but modern recipes use beef. The following Irish stew with Guinness can be made with cheap stewing beef because it's cooked slowly and gently for a couple of hours - but you don't have to stir it, you can just leave it to cook itself! The result is an incredibly tasty dish - perfect for St Patrick's day, on cold evenings or any lazy weekend.

Ingredients

500g of stewing beef, cut into 2-3 cm cubes
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup Guinness
1 cup red wine
3 cups chicken or beef broth
1 bouquet garni (3 bay leaves, three sprigs of parsley, 1 sprig of thyme)
1 stalk of celery, cut in half
2 Tbsp tomato purée
2 tsp honey (or sugar)
1 Tbsp Worcester sauce
3 medium carrots
500g potatoes
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Optional:
A few drops of Angostura Bitters
Extra optional vegetables: ½ cup pearl barley or 1 cup chopped root vegetables (Sweed, parsnip or turnip) or 1 cup coarsely chopped mushrooms
To serve: chopped parsley

Instructions

Heat a little oil in a large casserole dish or lidded saucepan. Season the beef with salt then cook until it changes colour on each sides, then transfer to a plate.
Sauté the onion and garlic until soft.
Put back the beef, pour over the broth, beer & wine then add the spices, tomato paste, sugar (or honey), celery, Worcester sauce and Angosturas (if used).
Bring to the boil then add the carrots and potatoes (whole!)
Simmer over a very low heat for about 2½ hours. It's ready when the beef is soft and the vegetables are tender (but not too soft!) and the sauce is thick and smooth.
If you use the pearl barley and other root vegetables: Add these to the stew after 1½ hours of cooking. Make sure there is enough liquid in the pan for the pearl barley to swell - add more stock if it looks too sticky.
Before serving, discard the bouquet garni and celery then, in the pot, roughly slice the potatoes and carrots into chunks.
Serve with crusty bread.