Cooking with Tandoori: Guinness Stew
As the weather gets colder, I had myself a deep craving for a good Irish stew. It'd been a while since I busted out the ol' crockpot, and the itch for some hearty stewed lamb was growing fast. I've received quite a few compliments on my stews over the years. Wynk and some others had requested I share my recipe after I tweeted about it.
First, we have the ingredients:
Of course, whenever I make stew, I tend to improvise with whatever I have around. But these are most of the constants. Note that many of these measurements are estimations:
2 1/2 lb. chunks of lamb or beef
750 ml beef stock
3 medium sized potatoes (I like red potatoes), chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
3-5 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 lb. baby carrots
1 Yellow Onion, chopped (almost diced)
1/2 cup barley flour
worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper
salt (I use ground sea salt)
dried basil
dried thyme
dried rosemary
3-5 bay leaves
1 tsp italian seasoning (I used Dean Jacob's sicilian bread dip seasoning, but something like Mrs. Dash will probably work just as well.)
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves
Hazelnut oil
Guinness Extra Stout
Guinness Draught
You want the onions chopped about like this:
Mix the barley flour with a couple tbsp of black pepper, basil, thyme and seasoning mix:
Next, throw the meat into a large skillet and pour in 3-5 tbsp of cooking oil. I like to use Hazelnut oil, but vegetable or olive oil will work just fine. Then add the flour mix.
Keep stirring and mixing until it's barely browned, but not fully cooked. The stewing will take care of the rest. This is especially important when using lamb meat. The flour mix should become a slimy brownish-gray batter:
Toss it into the pot.
Followed by the minced garlic.
And the potatoes.
And the celery.
In a seperate skillet, melt the butter along with a few tablespoons of hazelnut oil:
Toss in the onions and baby carrots. I threw the carrots in whole, but next time, I think I'll halve them. Then add 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar to carmelize the onions.
Once the onions are cooked into translucency, they're done:
Dump the whole mess into the pot - including the buttery, sugary oil they were cooked in, along with a liberal helping of Worcestershire sauce. I started out with about four tablespoons, but added more as it cooked, so use your own taste and judgement.
..followed by 3-4 tbsp of tomato paste.
And then the beef stock.
And finally, the pièce de résistance. Empty the whole bottle in.
Then add 3-5 bay leaves and cover.
Let it stew for 8-10 hours, or until the potatoes and carrots achieve their desired mushiness. I let it go over 12 hours, as I don't care for the taste of raw carrots. As it cooks, you'll probably want to add more flour to thicken the broth, as well as season to taste. You'll also want to stir occasionally. I know several times during the stewing process, I added a couple more tablespoons of Worcestershire, rosemary and thyme, as well as some more salt and pepper. I like a salty, savory stew. Your stewference may vary.
Once the veggies are sufficiently soft, the meat should be deliciously tender. It's at this point you want to break out the can of Guinness Draught.
Open and pour into a pint glass.
Oh yeah.
It's traditionally garnished with some parsley leaves over the top, but I forgot to pick those up. Ah well.
Sláinte!
Next: Tandoori's Tikka Masala Stew
First, we have the ingredients:
Of course, whenever I make stew, I tend to improvise with whatever I have around. But these are most of the constants. Note that many of these measurements are estimations:
2 1/2 lb. chunks of lamb or beef
750 ml beef stock
3 medium sized potatoes (I like red potatoes), chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
3-5 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 lb. baby carrots
1 Yellow Onion, chopped (almost diced)
1/2 cup barley flour
worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper
salt (I use ground sea salt)
dried basil
dried thyme
dried rosemary
3-5 bay leaves
1 tsp italian seasoning (I used Dean Jacob's sicilian bread dip seasoning, but something like Mrs. Dash will probably work just as well.)
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves
Hazelnut oil
Guinness Extra Stout
Guinness Draught
You want the onions chopped about like this:
Mix the barley flour with a couple tbsp of black pepper, basil, thyme and seasoning mix:
Next, throw the meat into a large skillet and pour in 3-5 tbsp of cooking oil. I like to use Hazelnut oil, but vegetable or olive oil will work just fine. Then add the flour mix.
Keep stirring and mixing until it's barely browned, but not fully cooked. The stewing will take care of the rest. This is especially important when using lamb meat. The flour mix should become a slimy brownish-gray batter:
Toss it into the pot.
Followed by the minced garlic.
And the potatoes.
And the celery.
In a seperate skillet, melt the butter along with a few tablespoons of hazelnut oil:
Toss in the onions and baby carrots. I threw the carrots in whole, but next time, I think I'll halve them. Then add 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar to carmelize the onions.
Once the onions are cooked into translucency, they're done:
Dump the whole mess into the pot - including the buttery, sugary oil they were cooked in, along with a liberal helping of Worcestershire sauce. I started out with about four tablespoons, but added more as it cooked, so use your own taste and judgement.
..followed by 3-4 tbsp of tomato paste.
And then the beef stock.
And finally, the pièce de résistance. Empty the whole bottle in.
Then add 3-5 bay leaves and cover.
Let it stew for 8-10 hours, or until the potatoes and carrots achieve their desired mushiness. I let it go over 12 hours, as I don't care for the taste of raw carrots. As it cooks, you'll probably want to add more flour to thicken the broth, as well as season to taste. You'll also want to stir occasionally. I know several times during the stewing process, I added a couple more tablespoons of Worcestershire, rosemary and thyme, as well as some more salt and pepper. I like a salty, savory stew. Your stewference may vary.
Once the veggies are sufficiently soft, the meat should be deliciously tender. It's at this point you want to break out the can of Guinness Draught.
Open and pour into a pint glass.
Oh yeah.
It's traditionally garnished with some parsley leaves over the top, but I forgot to pick those up. Ah well.
Sláinte!
Next: Tandoori's Tikka Masala Stew