More Irish Food

I've seen so many good recipes floating around out there this week for St. Patricks Day, I guess I was feeling extra inspired by my Guinness cupcakes that I also figured I'd go ahead and make a Guinness stew too, might as well since we had the extra Guinness. I'm not a big Guinness fan, to be honest the only time I've ever really had my own Guinness was at the actual Guinness Factory in Dublin. If you're going to only have one Guinness that is probably the best place to do so.

I was also planning to make the stew in the crockpot so I knew not too much would be entailed. I googled around to try and find a good crockpot version of the recipe but couldn't really find one so I kind of winged it. I was surprised that in all the recipes I looked at you needed to cook the beef before it went in the crockpot, something I'd never really done before. But it worked out really well the beef cooked perfectly in the crockpot and fell apart.

I really enjoyed the stew, I thought this recipe was a strong winner. Mike agreed that he liked it but that other stew recipes are just as good and don't call for having Guinness on hand, something we usually don't have lying around. I think I could take some of the things I learned from this recipe like flouring the beef and lightly cooking it in the frying pan before going in the crockpot and caramelizing the onions first would be good to do in other stew versions I make in the crockpot.

Beef & Guinness Stew
Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients:
3  tablespoons  canola oil, divided
1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
2  pounds  boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1  teaspoon  salt, divided
5  cups  chopped onion (about 3 onions)
1  tablespoon  tomato paste
4  cups  fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
1  (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Stout
1  tablespoon  raisins
1  teaspoon  caraway seeds
1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
1 1/2  cups  (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
1 1/2  cups  (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces) I omitted
1  cup  (1/2-inch) cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces) I omitted

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and beef. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Cook in crockpot on low for 6 hours, I served over egg noodles which were perfect!