Irish Beef Stew

I wanted to do something festive for St. Patrick's Day this year.  Janet had given us some some Irish Soda Bread and Green River to celebrate, and when Lauren posted this Irish Stew recipe on her blog - I knew we had a winner.

This beef stew is so good, I think it will become a regular in our dinner rotation. I was skeptical of the creamy mashed potatoes on the bottom, because they're made with cream cheese, but they are fabulous and your can't taste the cream cheese at all.

Traditional Irish Stew uses half beef broth, and half Guinness, but Guinness only sold in 12 packs and we don't drink.  I didn't want to find a place for 11 cans of beer in my house, so I followed Lauren's recipe and only used beef broth.  However, if/when I ever get my hands on a can of Guinness, you better believe it will be going into this stew. 

 

Irish Beef Stew

Recipe slightly adapted from Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb. stew meat
• 4 large carrots, peeled & chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 large bay leaf or 2 small
• 3 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• heaping 1/3 cup frozen peas
• mashed potatoes (recipe found here)

Directions:

In large pot or deep skillet, brown stew meat in olive oil until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Pour in onions, carrots, garlic and spices. Cook another 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with beef broth. Cover and simmer 2-4 hours or until meat is very tender (mine only took 2 hours).  When you are ready to serve, remove bay leaf. In a small bowl stir softened butter and flour together until smooth and incorporated. Stir butter mixture into the stew with the frozen peas. Once the gravy thickens slightly, it's done. Serve hot over mashed potatoes.