Beef Stew with Guinness

 *for my love*

After making a (very) successful attempt at Harry Eastwood's *skinny* BB -which was über delicious- I decided to try my luck with a variation of this dish, Irish style.  So basically, I followed Harry Eastwood's (low-fat) recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, but replaced the wine with two pints of smooth black Guinness, so I did :)

My version of Beef Stew with Guinness

Type of cuisine: Irish

Preparation & cooking time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

500 g of lean beef (cut in cubes)

2 pints/cans of Guinness ™  (2 x 400 ml)

2-3 skinned onions

2 skinned tomatoes

1 sliced carrot 

approx 10 brussels sprouts heads

4 garlic cloves 

bouquet garni (mixed dried chips of carrots, celery, lovage, parsley, bay leaves etc)

1 tsp of ground coriander seeds

a pinch of pepper

1 cube of beef stock (optional)/ or salt

olive oil

2 tbs of flour

Method

Cut the beef in (small) cubes and season it with the freshly ground coriander & pepper. If you decide not to use beef stock, salt the meat at this stage. 

Fry the crushed garlic in olive oil and add the meat cubes & let them brown. 

In a different non-stick pan fry some olive oil (1 tbs) and a transfer the meat. Add the flour and stir constantly the cubes over till they get a biscuit-like colour. Pour the natural beef stock that you kept in the first pan and continue mixing. 

In a small bowl dissolve the beef stock cube in warm water (approx half a cup of water) and pour it over the meat. 

Open the 1st can of Guinness and pour it over. Season with 2 tbs of bouquet garni,  add the skinned tomatoes and onions, cover and simmer for 2 h. Stir occasionally, making sure the meat won't stick to the pan. 

45 minutes before the 2 hours are up, add the sliced carrot and brussels sprouts. Add the second can of Guinness and keep on simmering on low fire. 

2 hours later the meat & Guinness sauce will have become thicker and totally delicious as the alcohol and bitterness of the beer will have vanished completely. 

Mop it with Irish Soda bread or serve with baked jacket potatoes, salt, melted butter and fresh parsley.

I have  been dreaming of this stew since I went to Ireland in May. So when I found Guinness at the supermarket, I knew that I had to use it to the fullest. I am not a beer drinker, but I must say I like the smooth velvety consistency of Guinness.  

Traditionally, lamb is used for Irish stew, but I went for tender beef instead (in lieu of lamb) and soaked it in Guinness. That brought back some wonderful memories of Ireland and its people. 

typical traditional Irish cottage