Beef and Guinness Stew

It’s a meaty kind of week here. I’d been lured by the promise of extra airmiles if I purchased my usual no antibiotic or hormone beef at the grocery store. Thirty extra airmiles with each purchase!

It wasn’t just the airmiles though. I also have a new cookbook in my collection: Jamie’s Food Revolution. It’s not just filled with meat recipes but most of the recipes call for some meat or other. Many of these simple and homey recipes can easily be adjusted so swapping tofu for some of the meat isn’t too hard. While I kept the meat in each recipe I made this week, I didn’t follow any of them exactly. I worked with what I had on hand and was super happy with the results.

This recipe is actually one of four variations Jamie suggests from his basic stew recipe. I’d doubled his recipe to make enough for my family’s meal and leftovers. This is easily halved. Here’s what I did:

Beef and Guinness Stew

• 4 stalks Celery, roughly chopped
• 3 Onions, roughly chopped
• 4 Carrots, roughly chopped
• 6 Bay Leaves
• 2 lbs Stewing Beef, cubed
• 2 heaping tbsps All Purpose Flour
• 4 cups Guinness (or brown ale or stout) (2 cans?)
• 1 28oz can Diced Tomatoes
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350’F.
2. Heat a dutch oven on top of the stove over medium heat. Add a couple splashes of olive oil, celery, onions, carrots and bay leaves and fry for 10 minutes.
3. Add the meat and flour and toss.
4. Add the Guinness, diced tomatoes, a couple tsps of salt and a grind or two of pepper. Stir.
5. Bring to a boil and put in the oven with the lid on. Alternatively, if you want to cook on the stove top, lower heat and simmer with the lid on. Cook either way for 3 hours, removing the lid for the last half hour. Add a splash of water if it’s looking dry.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings.
7. Remove the bay leaves before serving on basmati rice (or quinoa if you forget to make the rice and need something fast, like I did.)