Irish Beef Stew
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 6 to 8 hours in crock pot
Serves: 4
Cost: approx. $6.oo
This is a delicious, inexpensive meal you could cook for St. Patrick’s Day (or anytime!) You can prep it the night before or first thing in the morning, place in a crock pot and pretty much forget about it till dinner time. Serve with Irish Soda Bread or a loaf of crusty bread to complete the meal (and soak up the sauce). I bought a loaf of bread for $1.69…you could add a small salad or sliced fruit to the menu and still keep the entire meal under $10.00. I used beef stew meat for this (the kind that’s already cut) and paid $3.29 a pound for it. You can also use beef chuck …whatever’s on sale.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 pound beef stew meat-cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 large potatoes, cut into large chunks (you can peel or not-the peel adds vitamins)
- 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut in bite size pieces
- 1/2 yellow onion, cut into large chunks
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/2 of a 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depends on how much heat you like-remember, you can always add more, not less)
- Kosher salt and black pepper to season
- 1/2 of a 12 ounce bottle Guinness beer (drink the other half!) or any Irish stout beer
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Chopped parsley for garnish
Cooking Instructions:
Put the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic and cayenne pepper in crock pot. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dredge the beef cubes in flour to coat, shake off excess and fry in the hot oil until browned. Place the meat on top of the vegetable mixture. Mix the beef broth and tomato paste together in a bowl and pour over beef and vegetables. Pour the beer over mix and cover. Cook for about 8 hours on low or 6 hours on high. About an hour before the stew is finished, mix the cornstarch with the cold water and pour into the crock pot, this helps thicken up the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.