I made this and it was good!
I've been really drawn to braised meats and stews lately - something about the meat falling apart is integral. This is the recipe I will now go to to get my fix. It's the perfect thing for cold days (in Edmonton, Vancouver, whathaveyou), and has that stewy-comfort food-satisfying quality. I've adapted it (sort of) from a Jamie Oliver recipe.
My friend Nina made this for me first, and swore it was easy so I tried it. You need a bit of time because it takes around 2 1/2 hours of cooking in the oven, but the actual work is quick and easy. The original recipe calls for it to be in a pastry/pie, but I didn't really care for that and felt like it would be better over some buttery-garlicky mashed potatoes. I was right. The photo doesn't really do it justice. It's awesome.
Steak and Guinness Stew with Peas
You need:
olive oil
3 medium red onions, peeled & chopped
5 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
2 carrots, peeled & chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed & chopped
a big handful of mushrooms, sliced
2 lbs of stewing beef, cut into 2 cm cubes
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked & chopped
salt and pepper
One 440ml can of Guinness
2 heaped Tablespoons plain flour
potatoes for mashing
frozen peas!
Preheat oven to 375.
In big ovenproof pat, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on low heat. Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes (this is some serious onion chopping. I cried and left the room several times - worst part for sure). Turn the heat up, add garlic, butter, carrots and celery and mushrooms. Mix together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of pepper.
Fry fast for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1.5 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and give the stew a stir. Put it back in and continue to cook it for another hour, or until the meat is very tender and the stew is rich, dark and thick.
I just mashed some potatoes (add as much butter, cream, garlic as you like, boiled up some peas and then served the stew over the potatoes and threw some peas on the side. The sauce is like gravy and the meat is super tender. So Good! I don't even think I'd change anything when I make it again (tomorrow).
