Beef & Guinness stew

There have been two Guinness in our fridge since the Spring we moved in. It's almost embarrassing how long ago that is. Pair this with my recent need to make some rib-sticking slow-cooked Autumn food, and you get tonight's dinner. Beef & Guinness and other things we like Stew.

I've been cooking so long that there's a lot of things I no longer measure. I don't really use a recipe. I wander through Henry's and pick out things that sound good to me, throw them in a pot and see what happens. When there's no measurement, use your best judgment. If you really have no idea where to start, ping me and we'll figure it out. :)

Here goes!

Beef and Guinness Stew
~3lb chuck roast
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 medium parsnips (you can use carrots, I just don't like them)
1 medium head of garlic, peeled but not crushed
white button mushrooms, halved
4 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1.5"-2" chunks
olive oil
flour
salt
pepper
24oz of Guinness
1qt beef stock

In a LARGE stockpot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. I used our 5qt Le Creuset. It ended up very, very full (almost too full). Cut chuck roast into slices approx 1" wide. (Alternately, you can cut this into 3" cubes). Mix flour (approx 1/3 - 1/2 c) with salt and pepper, dredge meat pieces in flour, brown on all sides. Make sure to get a nice, crispy brown finish as this will determine the rich caramelly color of your broth later. I did my meat in two batches

Remove meat from pan, set aside. Reduce heat. Cut onions in half lengthwise, then cut into thin slices (they'll be half-ring shaped). Add onions to pan and return to medium heat. Once the onions begin to sweat, they will help de-glaze the pan. Cook them down until they just start to color. (Yes, this sounds a lot like making french onion soup, but don't tell M.) Add the Guinness to the pan, and return the meat. Add garlic cloves & parsnips, pared cut in 1/2 inch chunks. Cover, and simmer for 45 min.

Because our stockpot only holds so much, I cooked these ingredient for 45 min, then added the beef stock and cooked for 45 more. At the end of that (1.5 hours total time), I added the potatoes and mushrooms and let it simmer for 45-60 minutes longer. At that point, my meat was fork tender, my potatoes were nice and soft, and my onion was almost disintegrated -- the only way M will tolerate it.

I had reserved the excess flour from dredging, and then I mixed some of the hot broth with it to create a thickener. I kept adding broth until the flour slurry was almost as hot as the stew itself. After I added this to the broth and gave it a nice swirl, I let it simmer for another 10 minutes and then turned off the heat. It stood until serving (about 15 more minutes) and needed to be stirred once more, as a thin skin had formed on the top by that time.

This recipe is M approved. M who does not like onions, is ambivalent about parsnips, and wholly distrustful of beer of any variety. :)