Irish Beef Guinness Stew #SundayFunday

I invited the Sunday Funday writers to help me with a Luck of the Irish feast for this week's event.

Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Rebekah of Making Miracles, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, and I coordinate this low-stress group; we only participate when we are inspired. As I already mentioned, I am hosting this week. Here is the line-up of the recipes from the group...

• Colcannon, Ham Soup With Dumplings by Sneha's Recipe

• Easy Pretzel Ring with Beer Cheese Dip by A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Irish Beef Guinness Stew by Culinary Cam (you're here)

• Pan-fried Cod with Colcannon Sauce by Food Lust People Love

• St. Patrick’s Day Brownie Bites by Amy's Cooking Adventures

Irish Beef Guinness Stew

Back in February, I started looking at dishes for St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef and cabbage is always a family favorite - despite knowing that it's not an authentically Irish dish - but I came across an Irish beef stew made with Guinness. So, I picked up a six pack and decided to make a version. So delicious! And we've been making it once a month since then.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 2 to 2-1/2 pounds beef (I used brisket), cut into large chunks

• 1 cup onion, peeled and diced

• 1 cup celery, diced

• 1 cup carrots, sliced into coins

• 6-8 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 bottles of Guinness (or you can use any beer or stock you have on-hand)

• 1 can (28-ounce) diced tomatoes or tomato sauce

• 4 cups potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I leave the peels on)

• freshly ground salt, as needed

• freshly ground pepper, as needed
  

Procedure

Heat the oil in a large, Dutch oven. Stir the beef into the pot. Sear on each side for 3 to 5 minutes - until a nice brown begins to appear. Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot. Pour in the Guinness and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.

After an hour, stir in the canned tomatoes or tomato sauce. Bring the liquid to a boil again, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover, again. Let the meat braise for another two to three hours; you really can't cook the meat too long so long as there is still liquid in the pot. The meat just gets more and more tender.

Fold in the potatoes and simmer until they are fork tender, approximately 30 more minutes. Raise the heat to reduce the sauce to your desired thickness.

Spoon into individual bowls and serve with more Guinness.

Sláinte!

That's a wrap for my Luck of the Irish, St. Patrick's Day offering for this week's #SundayFunday. The group will return next week to share lamb recipes. Stay tuned.