March 17, 2023

Guinness Beef Stew

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Guinness Beef Stew

March 17: Feast Day of St. Patrick

A basic beef stew becomes an international icon when an Irish stout is added to the broth! Guinness beer makes a deep, dark gravy and provides a richer taste to this hearty dish. Many pubs in the Emerald Isle, Great Britain and abroad offer this on the menu year-round. But when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, Irish culture and cuisine are especially highlighted, and Guinness beef stew is a good alternative to serving corned beef and cabbage.

Try your luck in cooking this Guinness beef stew for the Feast Day of St. Patrick and it will become a family favorite festive food!

Recipe

(Adapted from GimmeSomeOven.com)

Ingredients

  • 2-3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Olive oil
  • 4-5 cloves garlic
  • 1 onion, quartered and pieces separated
  • 1/3 cup flour, all purposes
  • 1 (12 ounces) Guinness or Irish stout beer, room temperature
  • 4 cups beef stock or broth
  • 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 2-3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

Prepare the onion, carrots and potatoes. Season the beef with a salt and pepper. In a large pot over medium high heat, brown the beef in a tablespoon of olive oil in 2-3 batches, adding more oil if necessary. Transfer the browned meat to a plate and keep warm.

In the same pot, stir in the garlic and onions and cook till softened. Add the flour to coat the onions, scraping up the other bits in the pan. Then slowly pour the beer into the pot, stirring to thicken. Add the beef stock or broth.

Add the carrots and potatoes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the bay leaf and thyme. Heat till the broth is bubbling then lower the heat to simmer. Cover and cook for about an hour, checking to see if the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked through. Check and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper if necessary. Discard the bay leaf. Ladle into bowls and serve hot.

Notes

  • Guinness beef stew goes great with soda bread and Irish butter.
  • Sometimes St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Lent Friday. We abstain on meat on this day and eat our beef stew on Saturday. Others get a dispensation or choose to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and eat meat on Lent Friday and then abstain from it on Saturday/the weekend.
  • Search under the Theme Menus for other St. Patrick’s Day recipes.

 

July 21, 2013

Dundee Beef Stew

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Dundee Beef Stew

Dundee Beef Stew

July 21, 1648: Birth Date of Bonnie Dundee (John Graham, 1st Viscount of Dundee, 7th Laird of Claverhouse)

Through her media work with a Scottish clan, Islander corresponds on occasion with a laird (Scottish lord), editing a few of his news articles. She even met a duke and duchess from Scotland at one of the clan’s annual general meetings! These titled Scots are relatives of the legendary Bonnie Dundee.

There is a town in Scotland named Dundee where it manufactures its world-famous orange marmalade. We added it to a beef stew for a surprisingly sweet citrus taste. As a tribute to Bonnie Dundee, who was born on July 21, 1648, and died on July 27, 1689, we made Dundee Beef Stew (below are two cooking methods: crockpot and oven).

For a hearty (and historical) Scottish meal, make a marmalade-flavored beef stew inspired by Dundee (the town and/or the Viscount/Laird).

Recipe

(Adapted from “Scottish Heritage Food and Cooking” by Carol Wilson and Christopher Trotter)

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds beef, cut into bite-sized cubes
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2+ tablespoons oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter, divided use
  • 1 cup button mushrooms, cut in quarters
  • 3-4 tablespoons of bitter marmalade (we used Mackays brand orange marmalade with champagne)
  • 1 ¼ cup red wine
  • 2/3 cup beef stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions for the crockpot method

In a shallow dish, mix the flour with the paprika. Dredge the pieces of beef in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. In a skillet, heat the oil and brown the beef. Drain on paper towels. Continue to cook the other pieces of beef, adding a little more oil if necessary. Place the beef on the bottom layer of a crock pot/slow cooker.

Dundee Beef Stew

Cbop the onions and quarter the mushrooms.  In the same skillet where the beef was browned, melt one tablespoon of butter. Saute the garlic and onions until soft. Discard the garlic. Layer the onions over the beef in the crock pot/slow cooker. Saute the mushrooms with the remaining tablespoon of butter until golden brown.

Dundee Beef Stew

Layer the mushrooms over the onions. Stir in the marmalade. Pour in the red wine.

Dundee Beef Stew

Pour in the beef stock. Gently stir to mix the ingredients. Cover and cook for three hours or until the meat is tender. Season with salt and pepper and stir again. Serve hot in bowls.

Dundee Beef Stew

Directions for the oven method

In a shallow dish, mix the flour with the paprika. Dredge the pieces of beef in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. In a large pan, heat the oil and brown the beef. Drain on paper towels. Continue to cook the other pieces of beef, adding a little more oil if necessary.

Dundee Beef Stew

Cbop the onions and quarter the mushrooms.  In the same skillet where the beef was browned, melt one tablespoon of butter. Saute the garlic and onions until soft. Discard the garlic. Set aside. Saute the mushrooms with the remaining tablespoon of butter until golden brown. Put the beef and onions back into the same pan. Stir in the marmalade. Pour in the red wine. Pour in the beef stock. Gently stir to mix the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Dundee Beef Stew

Place everything in a casserole or deep glass dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for three hours or until the meat is tender. Remove from the oven and uncover (beware of escaping heat when lifting off the foil). Season with salt and pepper and stir again. Serve hot in bowls.

Dundee Beef Stew

Notes

 

May 1, 2012

Boeuf Bourguignon

Posted by HI Cookery under 05 May | Tags: , , , , |
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Boeuf Bourguignon

(Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy)

Beef Bourguignon

May: National Beef Month

Like most food bloggers, we were inspired to launch our own, HI Cookery, after the book (by Julia Powell) and movie, “Julie and Julia,” (Sony Pictures) came out. We wanted to try cooking and blogging about the various French foods mentioned in both media. But some of the recipes, like boeuf bourguignon, were just too time consuming and complicated to prepare. We cheated a bit by simmering our stew in a slow cooker and then garnishing it with pearl onions and mushrooms later for a flavorful French meal. While there are many versions of beef stew, try this classic one with burgundy wine. Cheers to fellow food bloggers on National Beef Month!

Recipe

(Adapted from Crock-Pot and Ottawa Citizen)

For the beef burgundy

  • 1/3  pound thickly sliced bacon, cut into 1 inch strips
  • 3 pounds stew beef, cut into bite size cubes
  • ¼ cup flour
  • olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup baby carrots
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 – 1½ cups beef stock
  • 1 – 1½ cup burgundy wine
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large skillet, fry up the bacon.  Transfer to the bottom of the slow cooker (we line ours with Reynolds brand slow cooker liners for easier cleanup). Dredge the beef into the flour and shake off excess.

Beef Bourguignon

Brown in the same skillet used to fry the bacon, adding a little olive oil each time to avoid sticking to the bottom.  Mix the beef with the bacon in the slow cooker. Prepare the vegetables.

Beef Bourguignon

In the same skillet, stir fry the onion, carrots and garlic until slightly brown.  Transfer to the slow cooker. Pour the beef stock and wine in the slow cooker and stir.  The liquid should cover the contents of the slow cooker.

Beef Bourguignon

Add the tomato paste, dried thyme and bay leaves.  Stir.  Cook in the slow cooker for 4-6 hours. Season with salt and pepper. During the last hour of cooking, prepare the pearl onion and mushroom garnish.

Beef Bourguignon

For the pearl onion garnish

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 24 pearl onions, peeled
  • ½ cup beef stock
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

Directions

Heat the olive oil and melt the butter together in small pot until bubbling.  Saute the onions and brown them evenly.  Add beef stock, thyme and bay leaf.  Cover, lower heat and watch until the onions are caramelized with minimum liquid leftover.  Set aside.

Beef Bourguignon

For the mushroom garnish

  • 1 pound medium sized white mushrooms, washed and quartered
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Saute mushrooms in butter until brown.  Set aside. Check the slow cooker to make sure the liquid has not evaporated.  Stir in the pearl onions and mushrooms. Simmer for another 15 minutes.  Transfer to a serving bowl.  Decorate with parsley.

Beef Bourguignon