Beefy Irish Stew

With St. Patrick’s day this Thursday, I thought a little Irish love was in order for #TastyTuesday! Irish Stew is kind of obvious, and I was going to dig deeper, but the Urban Hubby is of Irish descent, and is the definition of a meat-n-potato-loving man, so my Beefy Irish Stew is the real deal (he hates lamb, but feel free to swap it in for a more authentic version.)

Get it going and let it simmer until it’s so thick you can stick a fork in it and it.

What you need:

-2 pounds beef, cubed
-3 large potatoes, coarsely cubed
-3 carrots, chopped
-1 parsnip, chopped
-2 large Spanish or white onions, coarsely chopped
-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 cup flour
-1 can of Guinness beer (or dark ale)
-1 cup beef stock (bouillon)
-4 cloves minced garlic
-5 whole bay leaves
-1 tablespoon thyme
-1 tablespoons rosemary
-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
-cracked pepper to taste
-2.5 tablespoons of salt

What you do:

Toss the cubed beef in flour to coat. In a large stock pot, heat the oil, throw in in the bay leaves. Turn up the heat and sear the beef on all sides. Ideally all sides should be crusted. Turn the mixture down to mediu and add garlic and onions, sautéeing and caramelizing the onions. Add the thyme and rosemary as well as three tablespoons of flour. Muddle everything together. Once combined, add the Guinness and the beef stock. Let this simmer and thicken, about 10 minutes. Throw in the rest of the ingredients, cover and let simmer a few hours until the veggies are tender, stirring gently. You can also throw it in a slow cooker for the day or into a dutch oven and into the oven at 300° for a few hours.

Serve it steaming hot in a big bowl with some crusty bread for sopping up the stew. This hearty dish needs no accompaniment – except maybe a pint of your favourite Irish ale.