Irish Guinness Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pounds beef chuck cut into 1 and 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 onions finely diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 ½ cups Guinness beer divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 pound carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
- fresh parsley
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325°F.
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After cutting the beef into chunks, season it with salt and pepper and set aside.
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Heat the oil in an oven safe dutch oven over medium-medium high heat. Add the onions, season with salt and sauté until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat as needed to avoid burning the onions.
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When onions are golden, add the tomato paste and garlic, stir until combined and a "fond" (the brown bits) is starting to develop on the bottom of the pot. Add the flour and stir until flour is mixed in, making a roux. It will look lumpy and weird at this point, that is OK!
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Slowly whisk in the beef broth until the flour roux is mixed in and the broth is smooth. Add 1/2 a cup of the Guinness, the brown sugar, and the fresh thyme. Whisk to combine.
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Add the beef to the pot and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered for 2 hours.
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After 2 hours, remove from oven and add the carrots and potatoes. Stir to arrange the beef so that different parts of it are sticking out of the stew - that way they can brown in the oven. Return stew to the oven for one more hour.
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Remove stew from oven. If beef is not as tender as you would like, you can continue to roast for another half hour. When finished cooking, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of Guinness and fresh chopped parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes
It seems counter intuitive, but you don't need to brown the meat before hand. Because we are cooking the stew uncovered in the oven, the parts sticking out of the stew will brown in the oven, saving you a step.
