Ideal for a rainy day, Beef and Guinness Stew with Irish Soda Bread

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Beef and Guinness Stew with Irish Soda Bread is a classic Irish dish, perfect for a rainy day. This robust stew, crafted from tender beef chunks, rich and flavourful Guinness beer, and aromatic vegetables and herbs, simmers away in your kitchen for hours to create the ultimate comfort meal. Paired with warm, freshly-baked Irish soda bread, this is the epitome of comfort food. The beef imparts a delicious, velvety texture to the stew, while the Guinness adds a deep, malty flavour that complements the vegetables beautifully. The result is an incredibly flavourful dish that’s sure to satisfy your appetite and warm your heart.

This dish is perfect for a rainy day... and we know that Ireland has plenty of those!

Beef and Guinness Stew

This classic Irish dish uses real Guinness beer in contrast with tender beef and root vegetables. On any day, especially a rainy one this recipe will hit the spot.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped (14 ounces)

• 1 14.9-ounce can Guinness Draught beer of 1 3/4 cups Guinness Extra Stout

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can beef broth

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 small sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried

• 1 pound small red boiling potatoes, halved

• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

• 1/2 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

• 1 (17-ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package, optional

Directions

Pat the beef dry with paper towels.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.

Add the beef; toss to coat well with flour.

Reserve the remaining seasoned flour for later.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet.

Remove the beef from the flour and shake off any excess; reserve the seasoned flour.

Add the beef in batches in a single, uncrowded layer to the skillet.

Cook, turning, 10 minutes per batch until browned on all sides.

Transfer browned beef to a slow cooker.

Add the onions to the skillet; cook five minutes until golden.

Add the Guinness and garlic; boil one minute, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the mixture to the slow cooker.

Add the broth, parsley, bay leaves and thyme to the slow cooker.

Cover; cook on low two and a half to three hours until meat is almost tender.

Sprinkle in the reserved seasoned flour; stir.

Add potatoes, carrots and rutabagas.

Cover; cook on high one hour until vegetables are tender.

Taste pan juices; adjust seasonings.

If serving the stew with the pastry crust, heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut pastry sheets into quarters.

Place on two baking sheets; pierce several times with a fork.

Bake 10 minutes until crisp and golden.

Spoon a portion of the hot stew into individual dishes.

Top with a pastry square.

To cook stew in the oven: Transfer the browned meat and onion mixture to a large Dutch oven.

Proceed with the recipe as directed; cook, tightly covered, in a 325-degree oven two hours until meat is fork tender.

Add vegetables, cover the pot and return to the oven one hour until the vegetables are tender.

And now for the Soda Bread

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