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

Pot-au-Feu

My first Pot-au-Feu was so delicious that it is definitely worthy of a mention on Lemon Love Notes, Facebook, Twitter and other media outlets. :)

Generally defined as "un plat traditionnel de la cuisine française, à base de viande de boeuf et de légumes [...] is un bouillon aromatisé par des herbes (thym, persil, laurier…) et des légumes." In a nutshell, it's a traditional French beef & vegetable slow-food dish imbued with herbs, cooked in a pot (hence the name), and served hot. 

Another worthy-to-be-mentioned detail is that there isn't a strict recipe for Pot-au-Feu, though some vegetables suit this dish better than others. 

Traditionally, carrots, leek, turnips, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, celery, cabbage, garlic go into the marmite (aka cooking pot) where they meet with the lean and fatty parts of the beef or veal: shoulder, marrow, flank, rump, knuckle, topside, sirloin, shin, rasher, or ribs.

source: www.akstoddart.co.uk

The concept of pot-au-feu is rather simple- so simple that it's amazing that so few people cook it on a regular basis. I guess that one of the major challenges this dish has to face is the sheer competition with fast food and living life on the fast lane. Pot-au-feu requires our full attention and it is basically a meal cooked and concocted with LOVE. Yes, the big L- love, as in passion, dedication, tenderness, ardour, agape. It's funny how a dish as old as the dawn of our civilization, has become a gastronomic curiosity with a rather strange  name.

Our ancestors did use the cauldron more often than we do today and they cooked their food slowly. In Food in History, Reay Tannahill mentions that "in the fifth century BC, according to Herodotus, the nomad Scythians 'put all the flash into an animal's paunch, mix water with it and boil it like that over the bone-fire. The bones burn well, and the paunch easily contains all the meat once it has been stripped off'. In this way an ox, or any other sacrificial beast, is ingeniously made to boil itself". pages 16/17

If the dish was tasty, packed with flavours and contained a bouquet garni as the Pot-au-Feu does, little do we know.  Apparently the earliest recipes for pot-au-feu emerged in the first half of the 19th century and one of the earliest names of pot-au-feu was pot pourri, according to hertzmann.com. And what an inspired name! Pot-au-feu is indeed a pot pourri, a delicious sweet soup with tender beef pieces and herbs. 

Pot-au-Feu

Type of cuisine: French/Cuisine des Terroirs/Low Fat

Preparation time: 10 minutes (to wash, peel, cut all the vegetables)

Cooking time: 2 hours  (there is no rush, is there?)

Adapted from Harry Eastwood's The Skinny French Kitchen

Ingredients

beef (sirloin, leg, marrow & shin)

4 baby carrots

4 baby new potatoes

4 cherry tomatoes

4 asparagus shoots

1 stem of leek

1 big white onion

2 spring onions 

2 green garlic stems

3 or 4 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp of crushed cloves

coriander seeds

1 branch of rosemary

thyme

2 tsp of dehydrated bio vegetables (don't contain salt nor other preservatives)

a small bunch of parsley

a pinch of Camargue salt (fleur de sel)

sumac or ground pepper or crushed mustard seeds for decoration (I used sumac)

Preparation 

Wash all the veggies and put the chunks of beef  in a large saucepan. Add water just enough to cover the meaty bones and the lean beef cubes. Add the bay leaves, 1 tsp of coriander seeds, 1 tsp of dehydrated vegetables and the cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid and let them simmer for an hour. Although not in the original recipe, I took the liberty of adding a cinnamon stick (I love cinnamon and I use it often with beef) and to my relief, it gave the broth an interesting flavour. 

I chopped and diced some of the vegetables (the leek, the parsley and the white onion) but because I used mainly baby veggies, I kept the rest intact. 

Method

Watch over the beef as you need to scoop the scum that rises at the surface of the water. After 40 minutes of simmering add the chopped white onion (cut in quarters) and let it infuse its sweetness for 40 minutes or so. 

Have a different pot ready and after approx 1.20 hours of simmering, remove the beef bones and set them aside to cool down. Sieve the soup in the new deep saucepan. Discard the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick. 

This way, you will filter the soup and no sharp shards of bone will find their way through the broth. 

Carve the meat off the bones, keep the lean parts and dump the fatty collagen-looking bits. Put them back  into the clear soup and add the baby potatoes, the carrots, the cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp of dehydrated vegetables, and a small branch of rosemary. Return the saucepan to the cooker and continue simmering.

30  minutes before the end, add all the green vegetables: the leek, the green garlic, the spring onions, the asparagus shoots. 

Taste and season with crushed cloves, fleur de sel, and thyme.  

Decorate with finely chopped parsley and sumac. Sumac is lemony and I love the blend of flavours and textures. The baby carrots and the white onion taste so sweet,while the meat is so tender that it basically melts in your mouth. The soup is clear, but the tiny specks of dehydrated vegetables (onion, carrot, parsley root, parsnip, celery & tomato flakes) have now expanded and formed a delicious kaleidoscope within the soup.

It's strange to think that once upon a time Pot-au-Feu was regarded as "le repas du pauvre", a meal fit for the paupers, for the most unfortunate ones. We are pretty fortunate today to know the recipe of this simple, yet delicate and delicious dish and cook it with love for ourselves and the people we love. 

Harry Eastwood says that this dish is one of her father's favourites and that she wrote this dish for him. Actually, her father "is insistent (and right) about making it a day before you want to eat it, so the flavours literally double in intensity and depth after cooking it". 

...True. If you can't wait till the following lunch, have it on the day with a slice of baguette, ciabatta, or fresh brown bread with cereal crust, then store it in the fridge overnight. 

"The only other imperative with Pot au Feu is to serve it boiling hot".

Trivia

Maybe I should mention under 'trivia' that there "might be occasional aberrations, such as the adoption of meat cooked a l'anglaise- rostbif, for example and even that interesting variation rostbif d'agneau- but, overall, no Frenchman had the slightest doubt that in matters of taste France was superior to all other nations."  Reay Tannahill, Food in History (page 239).
In a way, it's kind of unfair because recently in Ireland Mike had this beef stew cooked in Guinness and it was AMAZING! I was thinking at the time that once I find good quality dark beer in Romania, I will cook it myself.

However, the Pot-au-Feu frenzy is pretty infectious and I've recently discovered this Vietnamese variation on www.vietworldkitchen.com which is called Sup Thit Bo.

At the end of the day, no matter where you live, what you do and where you come from, the classic Pot-au-Feu will be always adapted to the local culture, the seasonal ingredients, and your own unique personality.

Boeuf Bourguignon & La Joie de Vivre

After Julie and Julia, the whole blogosphere exploded with countless versions of Boeuf Bourguignon, which proves that we food bloggers are not here to reinvent the wheel, but to bring forward delicious recipes that make us happy. Blogging is about sharing and every dish has a story of its own.
I was reading the other day that BB started as a rustic, bucolic dish that French peasants used to eat. They would boil the tougher bits of beef for hours, add red wine and have it with boiled potatoes. 


Making BB could be a little intimidating, even its name is a challenge with all the vowels and the silent second "g" :), but basically it's a wholesome, delicious family-binding dish that is relatively easy to make.

Type of cuisine: French/traditional "cuisine des terroirs"

Difficulty: medium

Time: 2- 2.5 hours

As I only made the mashed potatoes and boiled the sprouts, and Mike cooked the most delicious BB, I asked him to write today's entry, as a guest writer. 


Mike is my husband, BTW (and he taught me how to cook) :)


About the (perfect) mashed potatoes you can possibly make and have without feeling guilty, I will blog some other time. 

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Michael Waters

guest writer

Boeuf Bourguignon is, as we might expect, French.  Especially delicious on cold winter’s evenings, this stew of tender beef braised in red wine with onions and carrots can be served either as a special family dish or as a main course for a dinner party.  Apart from its tastiness, it offers a number of advantages: it can easily be prepared in advance, all the ingredients are readily available in most places, it actually improves over time, and it can be easily reheated without any loss of quality or taste whatsoever.

There is no one definitive recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, and every cook has his or her own particular favourite variation.   The essential elements remain the same, however, and basically involve cubes of lean beef slow-cooked in wine for about two hours, some vegetables added, and flavoured with herbs such as sage and thyme.

This is my own favourite way of cooking BB, and the following quantity serves four.   I find the cooking to be as savoury an experience as the eating.  And drinking the accompanying wine, of course!

Ingredients

·         1 tbsp oil (I use olive oil, but grapeseed or sunflower oil are equally good)

·         1 small onion, finely chopped

·         2 large (or 3 small) cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated

·         2 thin slices of cooked bacon or ham, cut into narrow strips of 2.5cm

·         1kg of lean beef, cut into cubes of 3 cm

·         1/2 tbsp chopped thyme

·         1/4 tbsp chopped sage

·         1 tbsp flour

·         1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste (diluted in about 2 tbsp water)

·         2 cups red wine

·         2 cups beef stock (or warm water with a beef-stock cube added to each cup)

·         Large pinch salt

·         ¼ tsp of ground black pepper

·         12 shallots, cut in half (or a large onion, sliced)

·          1 fresh carrot, chopped

·         1 knob butter (preferably unsalted)

In a large saucepan, fry the finely chopped onion, garlic and bacon in oil until slightly browned.  Stir in the beef cubes, sage and thyme, and fry until the beef is slightly browned.  Add the flour and stir until beef has become lightly coated all over.  Reduce the heat.

Stir in the tomato paste.  Gradually pour in the wine, stirring to make sure that any lumps formed by the flour are broken down.   Add beef stock, salt and pepper, and stir well.  Increase heat and bring to boil, keeping a close eye.

As soon as the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat immediately, and cover the pan tightly.  Simmer on low heat for approx one hour. 

Add sliced carrots, and stir gently.  If the liquid has reduced below the level of the meat cubes, top up with some water and stir lightly.  Replace cover.

After another half hour, stir in the shallots (or onion slices), replace the lid, and leave to simmer for another 20-30- minutes. Add the knob of butter just before serving.

Serves 4  

Total cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes approx

Notes

Many questions have been asked about which wine to use for cooking.  In fact, it really doesn’t matter as long as it is red, and dry or medium dry.   It makes no difference to the overall flavour. Sherry or dessert wine (apart, possibly, from the cost) is usually too sweet and can ruin the dish.

If you wish, a cupful of lightly sautéed mushrooms (halved or sliced, depending on size) can be added to the dish about 15 minutes before serving.  I have also, on occasion, added sliced red pepper, about 20-25 minutes before serving.

To serve

This dish is traditionally eaten with boiled potatoes, but it also goes well with mashed potato or rice.  Camargue rice is especially delicious.  If this is not available, a mixture of regular long grain (you can also use Basmati) and wild rice makes an excellent accompaniment.  Vegetables ideal for serving are sweet green peas or chopped green beans.  Asparagus, when in season, is likewise a good accompaniment.

 Suitable wine accompaniment

This is a hearty dish, and the wine to go with it should be likewise.  

A full-bodied red with good depth is strongly suggested.  I live in 

Romania, where there is very good choice of quality local wines at 

most affordable prices.  My choice with this dish would be a 

Prahova Valley Feteasca Negra from Cramele Halewood, or a 

La Cetate Cabernet Sauvignon from Mehedinti.  For a special 

occasion, Prince Matei Merlot from Dealu Mare goes down very 

well.   Romanian wines are still pretty hard to get outside of 

Romania (I don’t understand why…maybe lack of marketing...or 

prejudice?) but there’s no shortage of choice in the word!  I would 

recommend a big wine from Bordeaux, Barolo (Italy), Navarra 

(Spain) or, a lovely red which I tasted recently, a Trapiche Malbec 

from Argentina

I hope this amazing dish will inspire you to try it over the weekend. It's a wintery classic that will soon become your piece de resistence and will remind you that life is beautiful.


xx Yolanda