Irish Beef Stew

Marsha here - with the goal of posting an entire St. Patrick's meal for you, our readers, I adapted a recipe for the crock pot so I would have enough time to get everything done. It turned out great and I think it is probably the preferred method for most people anyway.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2-3 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• 1 cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method:

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large fry pan over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Transfer to the crock.  Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine (I used "Three Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's) Tomato Paste (I love the tubes of tomato paste that keep in the frig, especially when you only need a tablespoon or two) sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine.

 

2 Melt butter in another large fry pan over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. I did not add potatoes this time as I was making a side dish of Colcannon, which will be posted next.  Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew meat.  Cook on low for 8 hrs., the preferred method rather than at the high heat for 5 hrs., in my opinion.  Discard bay leaves. Spoon off any obvious fat from the top.  Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)  Yield: Serves 4-6