Recipe: Irish Beef Stew

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Saint Patrick’s Day is here, and there’s nothing we enjoy eating more on the holiday than a warm bowl of Irish Beef Stew, made with Verde Farms’ organic, grass-fed stew meat, of course. We particularly like the following recipe that we have adapted from Eating Richly.

It doesn't have to officially be St. Patty’s Day, however, to savor this stew – it’s delicious any time of the year, particularly during cooler months. (Serves 6-8)  

Ingredients
1/2-1 lb stew beef
Salt and pepper
2 TBS olive oil
1 11.2 oz bottle of Guinness Draught
1 cup red wine
5 cups beef stock (or 3 14oz cans of beef broth)
1 tsp dried thyme
3 bay leaves
2 TBS ketchup
3 large russet potatoes, peeled
2 large carrots, peeled
1 yellow onion, peeled
2 TBS butter
Fresh parsley

Cooking Instructions
1. If your beef is in large chunks, chop it into small bite sized pieces. Season it with salt and pepper. Heat the oil on medium-high in a large stock pot and add the meat. Cook the meat several minutes on each side, using tongs to turn individual pieces so that the meat gets nice and brown.
2. When your beef is well browned, add the Guinness, red wine, beef stock, thyme, bay leaves, and ketchup. Stir well, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and place a lid on the pot. Let it simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
3. While beef is simmering, chop your potatoes and carrots into bite sized pieces, and finely chop the onion. In another pot, melt the butter on medium-high then add the potatoes, carrots and onions. Stir the vegetables to coat them in the butter. Cook the vegetables about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that the vegetables get caramelized.
4. Add the vegetables to the beef and broth. Simmer it another 20 minutes with the lid on. Ladle the stew into bowls and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.

Enjoy with crusty bread.