Beef and Guinness Stew


She aint the moooo......!

Twas said of the old Irish tenement dwellers that ''they lived for the pints...it was their food''. Indeed here we can pay homage to the old days and thank god that we can both sup it and stir it into a stew. As a nation we don't have many national dishes, although I know plenty of people 'into' food, we're not generally speaking a nation of 'foodies'. This became very apparent to me when I became close friends with an Italian and began frequenting the country of Italy. Indeed if you're really 'into' food in Ireland some people view you as a kind of food snob -which is a rather unfortunate state of affairs! As Guinness is a national drink, this is by default a national dish! It is a delicious, slow cooked stew, with malty undertones and to be sure to be sure 'tis perfect for the day that's in it. Lá fhéile Pádraig!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbuRA_D3KU The muppets sing Danny Boy...or at least try!

To begin;

Take 800g stewing beef (trim excess fat) cut into 2cm cubes fry on a high heat with 2 tbsp oil , brown & seal the meat
cut an onion into chunks & 2/3 cloves of garlic
add 2 tbsp of flour slowly into the browned meat using a sieve and stirring vigorously after each addition
cook for 2/3 mins - add 1 tin of tomatoes slowly but stirring quickly!
chop 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery & a handful of mushrooms into chunks
add the veg. & half a pint of Guinness, top up with some veg stock if necessary (you need the meat to be covered - so it doesn't burn in the oven)
season with pepper & salt, thrown in some fresh thyme or dried & a bay leaf
turn oven on to 180'C, when hot put the stew into a casserole dish put inside for 2/3 hours
serve with mashed spud and some extra greens if you fancy...maybe steamed shamrock perhaps!!