Recipe: Guinness Stew

Guinness Stew
rec.crafts/brewing/Joel Plutchak/2004

This is a variation of a basic Carbonnade recipe common to many countries--a simple beef stew made with beer. Whereas a Belgian version would call for a Flemish brown ale, this one is perfect for a St Patrick's Day Sunday dinner. The friend who gave me this recipe (Rob Demillo) likes to prepare the whole dish in a crock pot and slow-cook it at the lowest setting for 6 hours.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb bacon
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
3 lbs beef, in 1-inch cubes
12 oz Guinness Extra Stout
vegetable oil
chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Egg noodles or baking powder biscuits (optional)

Coarsely dice the bacon and fry in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon, leaving grease in pan. Lower heat, add onions to the bacon grease and saute until tender. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions, raise the heat to med-high, and stir until onions turn brown. Remove onions to strainer and let drip until bowl, collecting the drippings.

Meanwhile, mix the flour, thyme, salt, and pepper, and coat the beef cubes with the mixture, discarding any remaining flour mixture. Add the collected onion drippings back to the skillet, turn heat to medium high, and brown the beef cubes on all sides in small batches, removing each batch to an oven casserole dish when browned. Adding vegetable oil to the skillet as necessary.

Once all the beef has been browned and removed, pour Guinness into pan, add bacon bits, and deglaze the skillet (heat and stir until all the brown bits come off the bottom of the pan). Add the onions to the beef in the casserole dish, pour the contents of the skillet into the casserole, and cover.

Cook in a 325 degrees F oven for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Serve atop egg noodles or baking powder biscuits, garnished with parsley, with Guinness as the accompanying beverage.

Servings: 6-8