Saint Patrick's Day

Last January I went on a trip to Europe and visited Dublin for the first time. I went to their oldest pub called 'Brazen Head', dating back 1198, for dinner on our first night. Since I was in Ireland I had to try their stew. I ordered their Beef and Guinness Stew. Ireland was all about their Guinness, since that trip, I finally got used to the taste of dark beer. Guinness was all I ever drank with my meals. So for Saint Patrick's Day this year I figured I'd recreate the adventure by making a version of their Guinness stew. I found a recipe online. I didn't follow it completely, but I did use it as a base guideline for making my stew. I also found a recipe on the official Guinness Storehouse website. The recipe below has my alterations that I used to make my stew. If you're the visual type like me the two websites I provided have step by step photos and a video if you'd like. I found that the step by step photos helped guide me in the right direction.

Beef and Guinness Stew Recipe

2 lbs Beef Round Roast
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 cup of all Purpose Flour
1 tsp fine sea salt (seasoning the beef)
1 tsp ground black pepper (seasoning the beef)

1 can or bottle of Guinness (12-14.9 oz)
4 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp fine sea salt (for sauce)
1 tsp ground black pepper (for sauce)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary or dried
4 cloves of peeled garlic
1 stem of bay leaves
1 carton of beef stock (32 oz)
2-3 large Idaho potatoes peeled, quartered
2 large yellow onions peeled, quartered
4 medium carrots peeled, chopped 2" pieces
3 stalks celery chopped 2" pieces
3 cups water


Instructions: 

1) Peel your 4 cloves of garlic, slice it in half and set aside.

2) Clean, and prepare all of your vegetables and set it aside in a large bowl. Wash the celery stalks and cut into 2" pieces. Wash and peel the carrots, and cut into 2" pieces. Peel the yellow onions and cut into quarters. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. (Keep in mind that none of the vegetables shrink while cooking, it won't melt away in the stew)

3) For the beef, pat dry with a paper towel and trim the excess fat from underneath off. Set aside the excess fat because you'll be using it for flavoring. Cut the beef into rough 2" cube pieces. I was able to cut about 20 or so pieces. You want big pieces, because it will shrink as it cooks.

4) I used a cast iron 12" skillet, because I didn't have a Dutch Oven pot. And it worked perfectly. First, I heated my skillet before putting in the 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Then after a minute I placed the beef's excess fat that we set aside into the skillet. (I had the heat on medium, if it splatters turn it slightly lower) While that burns on the skillet, I placed 3/4 cup of all purpose flour in a bowl and coated all the cubed pieces of meat. If you want to save time you could put the flour and cubed meat into a Ziploc bag and shake well until all the pieces have been coated evenly. The flour on the meat is used to thicken the stew.

5) By the time you finish coating the meat, the fat pieces in the skillet should be burnt to a crisp, discard these pieces when it gets to that point, if it is not completely burnt leave it on the side of the skillet. We want all the excess fat to melt and flavor the oil. Start placing the cubed meat, half a batch at a time about ten pieces spaced evenly. Be sure not to crowd the pieces because you want to avoid creating steam. We want to brown the meat on all sides. Do not cook the meat all the way, just brown the sides. While that's caramelizing, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of sea salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper over the meat, for the first batch. And do the same for the second batch. Once both batches are seasoned and browned, place it all on a large plate and set aside for later use.

6) Remember to discard the excess fat piece that was left burning. Now you should see practically no oil left in the pot, except a layer of charred pieces on the bottom of the pot. You want this! That's where all the flavor is kept. On high heat, slowly pour in half the can of Guinness. Start scraping with a wooden spoon all the cooked brown bits that's stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring this to a boil.

7) Reduce to medium heat, while you add the tomato paste. Add the remaining can of Guinness. Add the Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp of dried thyme, 1 1/2 tsp of  rosemary (I didn't have fresh so I wet the dried rosemary that I had and minced it into smaller pieces, wetting it prevent it from bouncing everywhere). Put in the halved pieces of garlic, the basil leaves, the 6 Tbsp of beef stock and 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer, about 2 minutes, then add back in all the browned beef, including any excess juice that accumulated on the plate. Stir well. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

8) Add all the chopped vegetables into the skillet. Slowly stir, to cover all the pieces in the sauce. Add the remaining cup of water, just enough to submerge most of the vegetables and meat. It's okay if you find some pieces of vegetable or meat sticking above the sauce. The liquid content for me was about half an inch from the top of my skillet, I didn't want to fill it to the brim incase it boiled over in the oven. Turn the heat to high and bring this all to a boil. Once it has boiled cover the top of the skillet with aluminum foil and poke a few small holes with a knife. If you are using a Dutch Oven pot, just cover it with the lid. My skillet didn't have a lid. Carefully place the skillet onto a cookie sheet. Make sure the cookie sheet is large enough for the base of your pot or skillet where it is leveled.

9) Once the oven is at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cookie sheet with the skillet on top in the oven. Cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes, without lifting the lid, so NO PEEKING. When it's ready, take it out and covered it. Allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes, if there is excess fat that rises to the top, you could remove it if you'd like. The longer the sauce sits the thicker it'll be. Season to taste if necessary, and be sure to remove the basil leaves!

10) Enjoy with a cold pint of Guinness! This recipe made about 3-4 servings. I only cooked for two people so we had plenty of left over.

I changed the original recipe because I didn't have 3 hours to make this dish. I had to cut the time and portion size in half. The result was the same as if I had been cooking it in a slow cooker for hours. Everything melts in your mouth. You have to taste this for yourself. I wish my pictures could have shown you how amazing this smelled and tasted.

While I was waiting for the stew to cook in the oven I painted my nails to pass the time! 

  

I'm crazy about Zoya Nail Polish. And yes, that is 18K gold. There was a sale, I couldn't help myself...