Irish Beef Stew (Vegetarian Possible)

Passover began recently and Easter is today, and I wanted to wish everybody a happy holiday no matter what you celebrate. Or just a good weekend if none of this applies. We have been having a lot of fun here - the pups are together again and playing, Jason and I are playing XBOX together, and we are visiting our favorite restaurants.

     

Raynor & Teemo on a walk, the pups playing tug, and our wine to go with the beef stew! 

 
Jason and I are cooking dinner Irish Beef Stew tonight, and I wanted to share the recipe with you. This is one of our ultimate faves and can be either made with stew beef (we prefer Whole Foods grass fed kind) or seitan if you are vegetarian.

What You'll Need
1.5 Pounds Grass Fed Stew Beef or 1 package beef style seitan
Worcestershire Sauce (Vegan if need be, we use Lea & Perrins here)
A Red Wine (We use a relatively cheap Merlot)
1 12 oz Bottle of Stout Beer (Guiness)
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Large Yellow Onions, sliced
5 Red Potatoes, cubed
1/2 Lb Carrots, chopped
Seasoned Salt
White Pepper
Olive Oil
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
A slow cooker

First, get your veggies ready. I layer things, starting by slicing the onions and layering them in.

Next comes carrots. We buy baby carrots that I cut up even further then I am with Jason. You could also just throw the baby carrots in, but Jason likes them cut.

Next is the 5 potatoes. Simply wash them, cube them, and throw them in. Be sure to feed the pup a carrot while doing this.

Mince 1 clove of garlic and sprinkle over.

In a large skillet, pour 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium heat. If you meat is not already cubed, cut into 1-1.5" cubes. Throw your stew beef / seitan in the oil and sprinkle with salt and white pepper, toss, and brown all over.

Once brown, simply layer on top of the veggies. Mince another clove of garlic and sprinkle on top.

Next, put in your liquids and tomato paste! Put in the whole can of tomato paste, 1 cup of red wine, and the entire bottle of beer. Then put in 4 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Lastly, pun in 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt and 1 teaspoon of white pepper. Then cover and cook on low for 8 hours OR high for 6 hours.

1-2 hours before the stew is done, mix 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 Tablespoon of water in a small container. I usually use a shot glass. Be sure to mix well! Then pour this over the stew.

Serve with a yummy bread - we chose Panera's asiago cheese demi because we waited until today, a holiday, to get the bread. Haha! Oops! But it was a good choice! Serve warm and save leftovers - I mix the leftovers with a bit of broth when I reheat.