March 17, 2018

Irish Beef and Guinness® Stew

Name: Irish Beef and Guinness® Stew
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons canola oil; 300g beef stew meat (rinsed and cut into 1.5" chunks); 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt (for dredging meat); 1/4 teaspoon pepper (for dredging meat); 1 tablespoon butter; 1 medium onion, chopped; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1/2 can (250mL) Guinness drout stout; 2 cups (500mL) beef stock; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 bay leaf; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon pepper; 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups or 400g); 6 parsnips, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup or 300g); 2 medium waxy potatoes (e.g. Yukon Gold), peeled and chopped; 2 stalks celery, sliced

This rich and hearty stew makes the perfect comfort food to feed a crowd, especially when it’s made with Guinness®, Ireland’s famous dark stout.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Obviously the religious holiday has been co-opted over the years, but I wanted to celebrate today by trying my spin on one of Ireland’s most traditional dishes: Irish stew (or should I say, Stobhach Gaelach), which is full of meat and root vegetables. Traditionally, mutton (older sheep) was used for this dish, but lamb and beef are now very common.

Something that made making this dish extra special for me today was finding out I was 2% Irish! Yes, it may seem like a minuscule amount, but the Ancestry.ca DNA test I did last year said that I’m part Irish, so this is as authentic as I can make it! 😀 (just wait until I post the recipe for my jolloff rice after finding out I was part Ghanaian as well).

Now You're Cooking - Irish Beef & Guinness Stew — A light dusting of flour, salt and pepper to your beef cubes will not only help give it some flavour, but will help thicken your stew as it cooks.

This recipe for Irish stew requires a bit of prep and a long cooking time, but it’s so worth it–you can’t rush a good stew! I used carrots, parsnips and yellow-fleshed potatoes as the main root vegetables. Some people add some flour to make a roux in order to make the stew a little thicker, but I didn’t need to do that with this recipe, as I think some of the smaller pieces of the potatoes and parsnips broke down nicely. I had also dredged the beef in some flour prior to cooking, and the dish also thickened upon standing. Remember not to chop your potatoes too small: they cook fairly quickly then the other vegetables and you don’t want them all to disappear into the stew!

Using Guinness® adds a nice, malty dimension to this dish. Although almost all the alcohol is cooked off due to the long simmering time, the enzymes in this ale helps tenderize the beef, making it more flavourful.

Monique Creary

Yields 6-8 servings

Irish Beef and Guinness® Stew

This rich and hearty stew makes the perfect comfort food to feed a crowd, especially when it's made with Guinness®, Ireland's famous dark stout.

15 minPrep Time

1 hr, 45 Cook Time

2 hrTotal Time

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil

300g beef stew meat (rinsed and cut into 1.5" chunks)

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt (for dredging meat)

1/4 teaspoon pepper (for dredging meat)

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 can (250mL) Guinness drout stout

2 cups (500mL) beef stock

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups or 400g)

6 parsnips, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup or 300g)

2 medium waxy potatoes (e.g. Yukon Gold), peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

Directions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan (or dutch oven) over medium-high heat.
Toss the cubed meat in the mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Shake off the excess. Working in batches, cook the meat on all sides, until well-browned. This will take approximately 5-8 minutes per batch (try not to crowd the pan). Transfer the browned meat to a plate and set aside.
Add butter to the same pan. Once melted, cook the onions until softened (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add in the garlic and continue cooking for another minute.
Slowly pour in the Guinness® to help de-glaze the pan, as you stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and bring to a boil.
Carefully add in the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, celery, along with the reserved cooked beef.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 90 minutes. Check the stew and if potatoes are still a little firm, you can continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes or so. The stew should be done cooking in under two hours.

Notes

If you find the stew too thick, you can add a bit more stout. If it's too thin, remove the cover and continue to simmer on low until the gravy has reduced.