Hearty Irish beef stew in Guiness beer sauce

It is something about the autumn coming that is making me crave for delicious yummy indoor meals that were practically impossible to cook within our steamy boiling summer. I can’t complain even at the moment, this autumn is quite mild right now, but the feeling is here already.

The feeling for those recipes that seem impossible to handle by somebody like myself: I am usually impatient, can’t wait until some recipe is ready and most of the time I like it to be reasonably quick. But there are few exceptions (and I am working to build my skills also for others) and one of them are stews. I like experimenting with simple ingredients together and meat that is kept in the oven few hours to become very very tender.

So now let’s throw everything in the pot together to make some Irish beef stew in Guinness beer sauce. I discovered this recipe in an old magazine and adapted it with beef meat which is a bit harder to soften than lamb, but it worth all the waiting.  Be careful to prepare it maybe one day ahead. This way you will not be stressed next to the oven and let it take the time to get done properly. It also works if you start it after lunch for some rich dinner.

What do you need

1kg of beef meat

1 onion

3 big carrots

6 potatoes

1 spoon of nutmeg

Vegetable oil

2 spoons of powdered nutmeg

2-3 spoons of flour

2 bottles of Guinness beer

Fresh bread to serve 

How to prepare it 

Start by preparing all your ingredients: peel the potatoes and cut them in cubes, peel the carrots and cut them in chunks, cut the meat in small cubes and finally peel the onion and slice it.

   

 

  

 

Put all your meat in a medium tray and cover it evenly with flour. You can do this by covering the tray with a lid and shake it to distribute the flour evenly.

Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the meat in batches. Remove from the pot and add the onion.

Attention: if the bottom of the pot burns because of the four from the meat it is better to clean it and fry the onion in fresh oil than burn it together.

Fry the onion and top it with salt and pepper. When it  starts to glow, add one third of the grated nutmeg and mix few times to distribute the flavors.

Return the meat to the pan an mix it with the onion. Add now all the other vegetables and.. tanaaa… the Guinness beer.

 

 

It will still hold some space until covering all the mixture, so top this with water or beef stock. (I used water for this one)

Add the remaining nutmeg and bring to a boil. The smell is already delicious right now.

You are then ready to move your pot in the oven (preheated, don’t forget) and now rest or do whatever you with for three hours, as it is not going anywhere J

Just check it once in a while, don’t forget about it completely.

Serve it with fresh bread and beer if you fancy. I am definitely a wine person, so I remained faithful to this favorite even for Irish stew.

Bon Apetit my dears!