St Patrick's Day Slow Cooked Beef & Guinness Stew
By Angela Patel
Celebrate St Patrick’s day in true Irish style with this hearty beef stew. Chunks of shin beef are simmered for a few hours in a slow cooker with Guinness, garlic, herbs and vegetables until meltingly tender.
And to mop up all that delicious, intensely flavoured gravy why not bake a loaf of herbed soda bread – unlike yeasted bread it’s really quick and easy to make and doesn’t need hours of proving time.
Kitchen Tools Needed:
Bromley Mills in Olive Wood & Stainless Steel Finish
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 5-6 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
FOR THE STEW:
- 900g diced shin beef (see Tips)
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100g smoked bacon lardons
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 500ml Guinness
- 500g hot beef or chicken stock
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- Few sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Steamed cabbage wedges, to serve
FOR THE HERBED SODA BREAD:
- 450g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 50g salted butter, chilled and diced
- 1 tablespoon freshly snipped chives
- 150g carton natural yogurt
- 250ml milk
METHOD:
- To make the stew, toss the diced beef in 2 tbsp of the flour and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the bacon lardons and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the lardons to the slow cooker pot.
- Add a little more of the remaining oil to the pan and brown the diced beef, in 2-3 batches, for 3-4 minutes, turning until browned all over (see Tips). Transfer each batch of beef to the slow cooker pot, adding more oil to the frying pan as needed.
- Add the celery and onion to the frying pan and cook over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle over the rest of the flour and stir in the garlic, tomato puree and sugar and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Gradually stir in the Guinness and stock and bring to the boil, scraping any sediment from the base of the pan.
- Pour everything from the frying pan into the slow cooker pot. Add the carrots, thyme and bay leaves and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the beef is very tender (see Tips).
- To make the soda bread, preheat the oven to to 220°C/200°C fan/Gas Mark 7. Sift the flour into a large bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the diced butter and using your fingertips, rub it into the flour until you have fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the chives.
- Make a well in the centre and stir in the yogurt and milk. Mix to a soft dough, then knead very lightly on a floured surface until smooth, dusting with extra flour if the dough is sticky. Shape into an 18cm round and place on a floured baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to mark a cross on the top of the round of dough – this will help the bread to rise evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until risen, golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped.
- Serve the stew with steamed cabbage wedges seasoned with freshly ground black pepper, along with chunks of the warm soda bread.
TIPS
When browning the shin beef cubes don’t overcrowd the frying pan. Cook over a high heat and turn occasionally until well browned.
Some slow cookers have different settings – so timings may vary. Check every hour after 4 hours until the beef is really tender.
To thicken the stew gravy, if needed, blend 1 tbsp of cornflour with 2 tbsp cold water until smooth and stir into the slow cooker pot about 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.
The soda bread is best eaten on the day of making but it can be kept overnight. Reheat chunks of the bread in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes to freshen up before serving.
