28/03/2014
Recipe of the month - Beef and Guiness stew with sweet potato mash.
Sorry its been a while guys! Haven't had an idea grab my attention, until St Paddy's day came! The cold, rainy weather left me craving a good hearty stew........
Here we go!!!!
INGREDIENTS
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1kg stewing beef, cut into large chunks
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 10 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 1 pkt green beans cut in half
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml can Guinness
• 1 beef stock cube
• 3 bay leaves
• big thyme sprig
• 2 pkt tomato paste
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 to 2 tbsp corn flour made into a slurry
• Sweet potato (1 per person and 1 for the pot)
• Milk/cream
• Butter
• Garlic salt
• Chives (if you want for the mash, but recommended)
METHOD
1 Heat oven to 160C. Heat the oil in large pot, brown the meat really well in batches, then set aside in a separate dish. Add the onion, carrots and garlic to the pot, give them a good sauté, then scatter over the flour and stir. Tip the meat and any juices back into the pot along with remaining the veggies and give it all a good stir. Pour over the Guinness, tomato paste and crumble in the stock cube. Season the stew with salt, pepper and honey. Pop in the herbs and bring everything to a simmer.
2 Pour everything into an oven proof dish and place in the oven for about 2 hrs until the meat is really tender. Check it and if the sauce needs some thickening, add the corn starch slurry and stir. Pop it back in for a final half hour. Then it’s done!!
This stew simply HAS to be served with sweet potato mash. The contrast of the sweetness of the mash with the bitter stout in the stew will leave your taste buds longing for more!
(Sweet potato mash is really simple, chop and boil your peeled sweet potatoes. Once they’re soft, give them a mash with some milk/cream and butter until smooth. Add some Garlic salt and chives and there you have it!!)
The stew can be chilled and frozen for up to 3 months – defrost completely before reheating until piping hot.
ENJOY!!!!!
