Paul’s Guinness Beef Stew

I’m excited to have my second ever Guest Chef on BeatsEats, my husband Paul.  Although he has Souz Chef’ed many of my recipes, this one is all his own.  A favorite slow cooked meal, rich and savory, Paul’s Guinness Beef Stew is comfort food to the max.  He serves it over roasted potatoes for a crunchy contrast to the tender beef, vegetables, and silky gravy.

Guinness Stew pic

The recipe takes all day to slow cook but overall a relatively easy meal to make.  He’s made it on low heat over the stove (ready in 3-4 hours), or in the crock-pot as shown here (more like 5-6 hours).

Paul's Guiness Stew

Alright, lets get started! For today’s meal, Paul uses a grass fed beef chuck roast.  It’s a nice 4 pound piece of meat and beautifully marbled.

Hunk of beef roastHe trimmed off some of the excess fat with a sharp knife and cut the beef into about 2 inch cubes.

Cut off excess beef fat

The meat was then seasoned with salt and ground pepper, and coated with a light dusting of flour.

Seasoned beef

Now we’re really ready to get cooking!  He seared each piece of beef on a hot pan with oil.  It’s important to get a nice char of each side for the flavors to really come out in the slow cooker. Make sure you have enough room in the pot so that the meat browns instead of just steaming.

Char the beef

Once the meat has been charred all around, set them aside, dump out the extra oil from the pan, and add diced onions, celery, and carrots.

Vegetables for Stew

Season with salt and crushed peppers, and allow to caramelize for a few minutes before adding finely chopped garlic.

Garlic to veggies

Since the garlic cooks faster than the other vegetables, it’s a good idea to wait to add so they don’t burn.

Next, Paul added some tomato paste to the pan for another flavor punch.  After a few minutes of stirring and melding of flavors, the vegetables are ready to go!

Veggies ready for Stew

Paul combined the vegetables and beef in the slow cooker.

Ready for the slow cooker

Gave it a can of Guinness (my favorite part!)…

Guinness for the stew

Nestled in some bay leaves and thyme….

Herbs for Stew

…and put a lid on it.  And turned the temperature to high!  For 5-6 hours!

Go stew go

After a few hours, the whole house starts smelling like the amazing stew.  Every 30 minutes or so, we’d come and take a look at the meat, anxious for it to finish cooking.  Careful not to leave the top off for too long as it will just increase the cooking time!

About 45 minutes before serving time, is a good time to start on the potatoes.  Paul loves roasted potatoes with this dish.  Another favorite  is mashed potatoes.  Or even a big chunk of crusty bread works too.  Whatever you like!

Roasted potatoesPaul roasted diced potatoes with salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary, until they were nice and golden.  “Crunchy on the outside, yet soft in the inside to soak up the stew.”  Direct quote from the chef himself! 🙂

After about 6 hours of cooking in the crock-pot, the beef was super tender and moist, and starting to fall apart when poked at.  The vegetables still held their shape and color, and the liquids were silky and smooth.

Guinness Stew

Paul served the Guinness Stew and Potatoes separately and allowed the guests to help themselves to individual bowls.  This way the potatoes stayed crunchy and everyone could customize their own ratio.

Serving Guinness Stew

Paul’s Guinness Stew is a cold weather (or really any weather!) comfort food and he enjoys making it from friends, family, and Irish holidays.

Thanks Paul for sharing the recipe!

Chef Paul

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