Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day. Rather than going out to a local pub to celebrate Saint Patrick's death by drinking Bud Light colored with loads of green food coloring, I stayed home and made a traditional Guinness Stew and drank a pint. Guinness stew can be found in any county in Ireland, and every family has their own recipe. Traditionally, the stew is comprised of lamb or beef with root vegetables and braised in Guinness stout. Below is my take on the Irish favorite.

You can change it up if you'd like using different meats and your favorite root veggies - I'm sure you could even make it vegetarian by taking out the beef and substituting vegetable stock for beef stock. Be creative and adapt this recipe to your tastes, just whatever you do, don't forget the Guinness.

Guinness Stew

2 TBSP olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 lb stew meat, cut into small cubes
1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped (use bigger chunks)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme (generous pinch)
1 tsp dried Rosemary (generous pinch)
2-3 tsp flour
1 cup beef stock, plus more for final cooking (~ ½ cup)
1 cup Guinness, plus more for final cooking (~ ½ cup)
1 TBSP chopped parsley
3-4 carrots, sliced
2-3 large potatoes, cut into big chunks
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet (optional)

DIRECTIONS
*Start at least 1 day before you plan to eat this*

Heat a large stock pot and add the oil. Add meat and brown it on all sides.

Add onion and cook until onions are translucent, about 3 min.

Reduce heat to low and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, and flour. Stir until smooth.

Add the beef stock and Guinness; simmer. Stir until the stew thickens a bit.

Add the remaining ingredients and bay leaves. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours.

Cool and place in refrigerator.

On the day you plan to eat it, take out of fridge and simmer on low for at least 2 hours. Add about ½ cup more each of beef stock and Guinness. If the broth is too thin, feel free to add a cornstarch/water slurry to thicken it up. Salt & pepper to taste.

Remove bay leaves just before serving.

Sláinte!