Man Meal Of The Week: Beer & Beef Stew

All I could think about this week was eating a yummy slow cooked beef stew. Beef and beer go so beautifully together, especially Guinness (it was Saint Patrick’s Day, after all), it adds the most gorgeous depth and colour. The amazing thing about this stew is that you chuck everything into a casserole dish and leave it cooking for at least 3 hours. I put it in as soon as I got home from work at 5pm and ended up eating at 8pm.

INGREDIENTS

1.2 kg stewing beef
2 heaped tbsp all-purpose flour
1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
1 heaped tsp sea salt
1 heaped tsp black pepper
1 heaped tsp garlic and herb salt
2 large onions, chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 parsnips, grated
2 large sticks of celery, chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tsp xylitol/sugar
1 cup chicken/beef stock
500ml Guinness or stout beer
2 bay leaves
1 handful fresh sage
1 handful fresh basil

To serve:

Rice/polenta/ mashed potatoes or fresh ciabatta
2-3 fresh chillies
Basil
Grated parmesan (optional)

METHOD
Serves 4-6
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 3 hours

Preheat the oven to 150°C. 

Roughly chop the onions, carrots, celery and grate the parsnips. Place a large casserole dish on high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil. Chuck in the chopped veggies, crushed garlic and a pinch of salt. Fry for 7 minutes.

While the veggies are frying, mix the paprika, salt, pepper and garlic salt into the flour. Thoroughly pat dry the meat with paper towel, getting rid of excess moisture and coat the meat with the flour. Transfer the meat to a sieve and shake off the extra flour, so that a thin layer is left on the meat. Place the meat into the casserole dish and fry for 4 minutes. 

Run the fresh sage and basil under boiling water to release all the beautiful flavours, roughly tear them and add to the dish along with the stock, tinned tomatoes, sugar/xylitol, bay leaves and Guinness with a large crack of black pepper, stir, cover and place in the oven for3 hours. 

Once the stew has finished cooking, top with chopped chillies, fresh basil and Parmesan (I didn’t have any). Serve with any starch you desire.

Check out more awesome recipes on Young & Hungry.

Beer and beef stew