Beef & Guinness Stew

While in Ireland, we had Beef and Guinness Stew several times for dinner. The recipes were a little varied. Some were very rich and hearty, gravy-based and served over potatoes, once with a filo dough topping, and other times the dish was more like a soup. When we visited the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, we picked up a recipe card for the popular stew. You can find other recipes to use with Guinness at their website.

Beef and Guinness Stew

7 oz. (200ml) of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
1 lb. stewing beef, cut in cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced (the carrots in Ireland were huge so I'd use two or three of ours)
1 large celery, diced
1 large parsnip, diced
1 quart beef stock
sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary (to taste)

Brown the meat in large pan. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Pour in the Guinness and simmer to reduce by half. Add the beef stock and herbs and simmer for an hour to hour and a half. (You might want to thicken it a bit if you like more of a gravy than a soup.)

It is said that the stew is better made a day in advance and served over champ potato.

Champ Potato

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and halved
1 cup milk
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup butter
1 ground black pepper to taste

Place potatoes into large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.

Drain well. Return to very low heat and allow the potatoes to dry out for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk and green onions gently in a saucepan, until warm.
Mash the potatoes, salt and butter together until smooth. Stir in the milk and green onion until evenly mixed. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

The Irish also make a potato called colcannon which is the same only with a little cabbage added to the potatoes.