St. Patrick's Day is kind of a non-holiday for me, something I don't celebrate and exists mostly in memories of the Chicago River colored green and Green Beer day in college. Last year at this time, I was in New York with my friend Bruce and we enjoyed a 2-hour lunch at Balthazar while green-clad and painted people descended on the city from the 5 boroughs and beyond. We made it back to Long Island just in time to avoid the hard-core revelers.
This year I found a recipe online that looked too good to pass up. So I celebrated at home, in front of the fire, with a bowl of this wonderful beef stew, and Gabriel Byrne's lovely brogue in my ear as I caught up on this week's "In Treatment" episodes.
This stew is inexpensive, easy to make, and delicious. I happened to have a large bottle of St. Peter's Cream Stout in the cupboard, so I was already off to a better-than-average, although not exactly Irish, start. The prep is pretty minimal, and the beer breaks down the meat to a beautiful tenderness - even the toughest cut would fare well. Total cooking time was about 2 1/2 hours, until the liquid began to thicken.
Since there is no starch such as potatoes in the stew, we had it with a few slices of whole-grain brown bread and unsalted butter, which was perfect.
Angst, a glass of stout, and some hearty food? I do believe I've caught a wee bit of Irish spirit.
Beef and Irish Stout Stew
- 2 lbs. lean beef stew meat
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups Irish stout beer
- 2 cups chopped carrot (my note: about 5 carrots)
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- In a separate boel, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Dredge the beef in this to coat.
- Heat the remaining oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over med-high heat.
- Add the beef and brown on all sides.
- Add the onions and garlic.
- Stir the tomato paste in a small amount of water to dilute; pour into the pan and stir to blend. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5 mintues.
- Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the pan, and as it begins to boil, scrape any bits of food from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This adds a lot of flavor to the broth.
- Pour in the rest of the beer, and add the carrots and thyme.
Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
