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Beef, Prune & Guinness Stew
By Michelle | January 3, 2008
Nothing yells Irish more than Guinness. Two billion Euros’ worth of the dark, frothy stout gets poured in glasses around the world every year. Now that’s a lot of pints, people. Surprisingly, Guinness is healthier than the average beer like Corona, Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Heineken, you get the picture. Why? Guinness is lower in alcohol, calories and carbohydrates than the rest. The reason why it’s so dark is because is loaded with flavonoids, anti-oxidants and vitamin B. Moderate consumption of Guinness works like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the risk of heart attacks.
The rule still stands that if something is good for you, it tastes bad. The tremendous bitter taste I find revolting and after my first sip I could never be tempted to try it again. But when it comes to food, it’s an entirely different matter. Alcohol and cooking get two (three if I had one more hand) thumbs-up from me. When the Guinness gets cooked the bitter taste diminishes and instead lends a rich flavour to the tender beef.
If you are wondering whether the Guinness drink has got anything to do with the Guinness Book of Records, click here. There is indeed a connection.
Beef, Prune & Guinness Stew
Preparation: 20-30 mins - Cooking: 2-2½ hrs
Suitable for freezing
Ingredients
- 50g (2oz) flour
- 1kg (2 lb) braising/stewing steak, cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes
- 30ml (2 tbsp) oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 300ml (10 fl oz) Guinness
- 500ml (2 cups) beef stock
- 250ml (1 cup) water
- 1 bay leaf
- 125g (4 oz) pitted prunes
- salt and pepper
Method
- Season the flour with salt and pepper and toss the meat in the flour. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole. Add the beef cubes and fry until browned all over. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, then stir in any remaining flour.
- Add the Guinness, stock and water, stirring well to combine. Bring to the boil, add the bay leaf, cover and simmer gently for 2-2½ hours until the meat is tender. Alternative, cook in a preheated oven, 160°C (325°F), Gas Mark 3, for the same length of time. Half and hour before the end of the cooking time, add the prunes.
- Remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Serving Suggestion
- Serve with rice, mash or baked potatoes.
Notes
- If you’re not a fan of prunes or pairing fruit and meat, feel free to omit the prunes. If you prefer, you can add a few carrots instead.
- About 8 shallots can be substituted for the large onion.
Topics: Irish, Lactose Free, Main Course, Stews, Wheat Free, d) 2 - 3 hrs |
January 4th, 2008 at 22:17
[…] Beef, Prune & Guinness Stew […]
January 5th, 2008 at 02:55
I like drinking and cooking with Guinness. The prunes in this stew sound really interesting. I will have to try it to see how they work in a stew.
January 12th, 2008 at 18:40
Kevin: Well, if you like drinking Guinness, you will love this stew. Prunes aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, some use carrots instead. Let me know how it turned out.
January 15th, 2008 at 13:26
I’m here in Ireland now from South Africa and it’s cold! Luckily this stew did the trick in warming me up. Okay, we did make a few small changes as my other half is not a prune fan. We swapped the prunes for Carrots (2 large ones) and garlic (3 cloves). We made the dish in the oven and it came out fantastic! I fact it was so good we cooked it twice in a row.
Great recipe thanks!
February 10th, 2008 at 13:18
Thanks for the great feedback and tips, Buks!
July 19th, 2008 at 19:08
this sounds just great..have been furiously printing out recipes this morning…but i have a vegetarian grandson. any way of changing this a bit to suit him? the beef stock would be ok, just not the meat itself.
i know..not a true vegetarian, but what can i do….thanks !!!!