- 1 bottle Guinness ( 12 fl ozs) I recommend the plain bottles not the so called draught in cans. You could use another brand of stout or porter.
- 2lb lean Stewing Beef
- 4 small or 2 large onions, coarsely chopped. Darina says large onions, I had small ones.
- 2 cups carrots, cut into cylinders. I mistakenly chopped 3 cups, but a good stew never refuses a carrot.
- 1 Large clove garlic. ( I replaced this with some chopped garlic from a jar and adobe spice that I thought would go well with Guinness)
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree,diluted in 4 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- some pepper freshly ground, pinch cayenne
- I also added some sliced peeled potatoes, not included in Darina's recipe since I like stews with potatoes.
- Sprig of Thyme ( I forgot about this )
Cut meat into 2 inch cubes and trim fat and gristle. Mrs McKinion had already done this for me. Toss with 1 tablespoon oil, flour, some pepper, pinch cayenne in bowl
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in wide pan over high heat. Brown meat all over. Add onions, garlic and tomato puree, cover and cook 5 minutes.
Move contents to casserole. Pour some Guinness in frying pan and bring to boil and stir to grab the meat juices and bits on the pan. Pour on meat with remains of the stout. Add the carrots ( and in my case the potatoes) and the thyme. Stir and add salt according to taste. Cover and Gently Simmer for 2-3 hours, until the meat is tender, on top of stove or in a low oven at 300F. I used a crock pot on high for 5 hours. Check seasoning.
Darina recommends serving with potatoes of course; champ, colcannon or plain boiled. I have never prepared the first two, so they are on my to-do list.
