St. Patrick’s Day Food – How To Make Irish Stew

Beer Substitution Okay

   So, there you go.  If you consistently have tough beef try either of these two recipes.  Although this recipe calls for Guinness Stout beer, nobody here drinks that beer so I substituted the beer we had on hand.  I don’t drink beer but I did have a glass of the Cabernet with the stew and it was pretty fine.

    Anyway, this was the resulting recipe and it was definitely a hit.  Note that the total cooking time is one hour!

   Then, I tasted the broth after adding everything but the vegetables.  Oh, my!  I knew this was going to be good!

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   Irish Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. beef stewing meat (or chuck roast)
• 1/2 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 – 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 3 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup Beer
• 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tblsp. Worcestershire
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups of carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 5 cups of baby potatoes*, cut in half or quartered  (You want the pieces about the same size.)
• Chopped fresh parsley

Irish Stew Directions:

   Cut **beef into 1-1/2″ – 2″ pieces.  Dust lightly with flour.

   Heat oil in a Dutch oven.  (When the meat is added, you want that sizzle.)   Add beef gradually and brown on all sides, remove to a plate or platter.  (Don’t overcrowd the pan, you won’t brown the meat, you’ll be steaming it!  Brown it in batches if necessary.) 

   

Saute onions in drippings, (add more olive oil if needed,) until soft. 

 Add the minced garlic and saute just until you smell the garlic.

    Add the browned beef back to the pan, the can of tomatoes, beer, wine, thyme, Worcestershire, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.

   Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes.

    Add the carrots and potatoes.   Bring back to a boil.  Cover the pan and turn down to simmer for 25 minutes more.

   Serve in bowls and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.

Tips

 *  I love these baby potatoes and buy a big bag of them from Sam's Club.  They don't need to be peeled and we get the extra vitamins in the peel.  You can substitute whatever kind of potatoes you have.

 ** If you buy stewing beef at Sam's Club, the pieces are usually made up of pieces of steak and roast.  It is good quality meat.

The Irish Stew Results

    Since I didn’t use the Guinness, maybe this wasn’t so Irish, but did I ever get accolades from the family?  The girls actually said they thought they might even like this recipe better!

 

    I think it is a keeper, too.  Dave says he still likes the other recipe better.  Go figure!  Gotta love that man.

    Isn’t the deep color of the broth, just gorgeous?  Yep, it makes a pretty presentation! 

Finish this meal off with an easy St. Patrick’s Day dessert.

 

Irish Stew

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs. beef stewing meat (or chuck roast)
• 1/2 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 – 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 3 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup Beer
• 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tblsp. Worcestershire
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups of carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 5 cups of baby potatoes*, cut in half or quartered  (You want the pieces about the same size.)
• Chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

   Cut **beef into 1-1/2″ – 2″ pieces.  Dust lightly with flour.
   Heat oil in a dutch oven.  (When the meat is added, you want that sizzle.)   Add beef gradually and brown on all sides, remove to a plate or platter.  (Don’t overcrowd the pan, you won’t brown the meat, you’ll be steaming it!  Brown it in batches if necessary.)   
 
    Saute onions in drippings, (add more olive oil if needed,) until soft.
    Add the minced garlic and saute just until you smell the garlic.
    Add the browned beef back to the pan, the can of tomatoes, beer, wine, thyme, Worcestershire, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
   Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes.
    Add the carrots and potatoes.   Bring back to a boil.  Cover the pan and turn down to simmer for 25 minutes more.
   Serve in bowls and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.