Beef and Stout Stew

I'm not Irish, but if there was one heritage I wish I could be its Irish; and French, and Greek, and Brazilian, and Argentinian...ok, so I admire a lot of heritages.  But Irish seems like a good thing to be, especially this time of year.  So on a particularly rainy and dreary Sunday, after a week of colds and sickness, beef and stout stew sounded like a good idea. 

I searched the Internet for a recipe that I could use, but I didn't find one I liked.  Meaning: I wanted one that was simple and didn't take too long (so no slow cooker.)  So, I made up my own recipe.  I've only done this a handful of times with mixed success, so I was a little nervous.  But it turned out great!  I basically went with a beouf bourginon process, only with stout instead of red wine. 

It might not be the most authentic Irish stew, but I hope it would make an Irish person proud. 

Beef and Stout Stew

(Serves 4)

1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes*

1 bottle of stout beer**

1 onion, large diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 large carrots, large diced

1 1/2 lbs new potatoes, quartered

2 1/2 cups beef broth

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup frozen peas

flour

olive oil

salt

pepper

optional: cornstarch or flour

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, season beef with salt and pepper.  Add flour, enough to lightly coat each piece of meat.  In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium/high heat.  In batches so as not to overcrowd the meat, brown meat on each side until a brown crust forms.  Add additional oil as needed.  Transfer to a plate and set aside. 

Saute onions in pot (add oil if needed) over medium/low heat until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add carrots and potatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Cook 1 minute.  Add thyme.  Add beer and scrape brown bits off of bottom of pan.  (These "burned" bits are the ticket to flavor town.)  Add beef broth, water and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Transfer pot to oven and bake 2 hours with cover vented. 

After 1 1/2 hours, add frozen peas.  If liquid is a little too runny, make a slurry by adding about a tablespoon of cornstarch or flour to a small bowl (I use cornstarch since flour's taste is a little more prominent) and add about a tablespoon of liquid from the pan.  Stir together in the bowl and then pour and stir into stew.  Cook remaining 1/2 hour.  Test for seasoning and serve.

*I buy from the meat counter already cut and packaged - I used just over 1 lb

**I used my husband's home brew stout, but Guinness would be good here