Like most Irish stews, beef and Guinness stew is simple to make yet complex in flavour. Serve with a plain mash or colcannon.
Serves six.
- 4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1.2kg boneless beef chuck, cut into 5cm pieces
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 onions, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 x 440ml can dark beer (such as Guinness)
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 3 carrots, cut into 2cm pieces
- 2 ribs celery, cut into 2cm pieces
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock, or as needed to cover
Cook and stir bacon in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until bacon is browned and crisp.
Turn off the heat and transfer bacon into a large stew pot, reserving bacon fat in the skillet.
Season beef chuck cubes generously.
Turn heat to high under the skillet and sear beef pieces in the hot fat on both sides until browned.
Place beef in the stew pot with bacon, leaving fat in the skillet.
Turn heat down to medium; cook and stir onions in the retained fat in the skillet until lightly browned and season.
Cook garlic with onions until soft.
Pour beer into the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up and dissolving any browned bits of food into the liquid.
Pour cooking liquid from the skillet into the stew pot. Stir in tomato paste, carrots, celery, thyme sprigs, sugar, black pepper, and enough chicken broth to cover.
Bring stew to a gentle simmer, stirring to combine; reduce heat to low and cover pot.
Simmer stew until beef is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
Stir stew occasionally and skim fat or foam if desired.
Remove cover and raise heat to medium-high. Bring stew to a low boil and cook until stew has slightly thickened. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and adjust seasonings. Serve with mash or colcannon.
