Alternative Recipes

Alternative Beef Stew #1

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. stew meat
  • 1 large white onion, chopped (about 2 C)
  • 2 C chopped peeled carrots
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 4 – 6 C Guinness, divided
  • 2 C low-sodium beef broth
  • Big handful fresh thyme
  • Vegetable oil for browning the beef
  • Flour for dredging beef
  • Cayenne for seasoning flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 lb small new potatoes, red or gold
  • 2 C frozen sweet peas thawed (optional)
  • Chopped scallions and parsley for garnish.

Directions

Put a large dutch oven over medium heat. Trim some of the fat from the beef. When the pot is hot, add a couple TB of the oil to the pot. Put a quarter cup flour in a bowl and season it with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. (Use about a quarter TSP of cayenne.)

Dredge half the beef in the flour mixture, shaking off as much excess as you can and put it into the oil in the pot. Don’t touch it at all for at least five minutes, let it brown well on the first side; then turn the meat over to the other side and brown that side too. After you flip the first batch of beef, pour two C Guinness into a frosted pint glass, and take a sip. When the beef is browned on both sides, remove to a clean bowl. Take another sip of Guinness. Dredge the rest of the beef in the flour mixture, brown both sides of that, then remove to the same bowl. (If more oil is needed, add a little and let it get hot.) While the second batch of beef is browning, sip the Guinness and contemplate life back in Ireland.
 
When the second batch of beef is done browning, remove it to the bowl and add all the chopped vegetables to the hot dutch oven. (If you think a little more oil is needed, go ahead and add it.) Season the vegetables liberally with salt and pepper, stir the vegetables so they’re all covered w/ oil, cover the pot and cook the vegetables, covered, for about 20 minutes, removing the lid and stirring every five minutes.

Meanwhile, drink some more Guinness. After 20 minutes or so, when the onions are well wilted, remove the cover, raise the heat a little, scrape the fond off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon into the liquid released from the vegetables, and cook the vegetables 10 minutes uncovered. The vegetables should be pretty well wilted, browned a little and quite soft at this point. Add two cups Guinness to the pot, scrape up any remaining fond in the bottom of the pot, and bring the liquid to a boil. When it is boiling, reduce heat to low, add the beef and accumulated juices back to the pot, add the thyme, and add enough Guinness to cover. If you don’t have enough Guinness left over because you drank it, supplement the liquid with the beef stock. Cover the pot and simmer, stirring every 15 minutes, for one hour.
 
After 45 minutes, open another bottle of Guinness, pour into a freshly frosted pint glass, and take a sip. Scrub the potatoes, slice in half (or quarters if they are quite large). At the one-hour mark, add the potatoes, cover the pot and cook over low heat, barely a simmer, for another hour and a half, stirring every 15 minutes, and scraping up any more fond that develops on the bottom of the pot.

Alternative Beef Stew #2

Ingredients

  • 2lb stewing beef (well trimmed and cut into one inch cubes)
  • 1/2 cup flour (for coating the beef)
  • salt and pepper (to season dredging flour)
  • 2 - 4 tablespoons canola oil (for pre-cooking the beef)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 cups pearl onions (frozen) (about 12 oz package)
  • 2 to 3 parsnips (julienned)
  • 16oz baby carrots (1 packet)
  • 2lb red potatoes (quartered)
  • 1 and 1/4 cup guinness stout (1 bottle (11 oz))
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons corn starch (for thickening stew at end of cooking)
  • 1/4 cup beef broth (to mix with corn starch to thicken stew)

Directions.


Peel and julienne the parsnips into 2 inch long pieces to match the length of the baby carrots. Add the pearl onions, baby carrots, parsnips, and potato quarters into the bottom of the crock pot.

Season the flour in a flat bowl and dredge the beef chunks.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the floured beef cubes and brown them on all sides. You may need to complete this in two steps depending on the size of your skillet.

Remove the beef from the pan and add to the crock pot. Add the garlic to the skillet and brown for one minute.

Mix 1 cup of the beef broth with the red wine vinegar and dijon mustard in a small pitcher. Pour into the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen any beef or garlic.

Add the stock from the skillet, the additional beef stock, water and Guinness to the crock pot.

Add the thyme, bay leaves, cloves, brown sugar and chocolate chips to the crock pot. Mix ingredients together.

Place the lid on the crock pot and cook the stew on low for about 12 hours. Try not to lift the lid of the crock pot too often during cooking, since this can allow the heat escape and slow down cooking. The stew is done when the vegetables are tender.

Put the corn flour in a small pitcher or bowl and blend with 1/4 cup of cold beef broth, making sure the mixture is smooth. Turn the crock pot to high and add the thickening. Season the stew according to taste at this point. Cook for an additional 20 minutes to allow the stew to thicken. Stir occasionally.

Remove the bay leaves and discard. Serve in a large soup bowl. Tastes great with Irish Brown Bread.






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