OK, so it's a little early to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with an Irish dish, but traditionally my family and I dine on corned beef and cabbage and an amazing soda bread recipe that I will share with you if you'd like....and I thought I'd like to try something a little different. So as not to upset the family-tradition-apple-cart, I decided to try my new recipe today. Irish Beef and Stout Stew....
I'm usually not a big fan of stew, with all that sub-par beef and runny gravy, but this recipe had beer in it. Yep, that's all it takes. That and anything that can be cooked in one big pot and constitute a meal is AOK in my book. Warning, this recipe is NOT healthy. Yes, I used all natural ingredients, but we start this thing out by stirring fatty cuts of beef in white flour...GASP! Soooo not 2011, but sooo what?!
So yes, beef, stir with flour...then it's really easy. You add tomato paste, potatoes (the recipe calls for whole-new potatoes, but I like little bits of potatoes so I diced), onions, and 10 garlic cloves!! You add beef broth and plenty of Irish Stout...I used Guinness. Salt and pepper to taste and voila! You're ready to cook.
You bring this wonderful pot of aromatics to a boil on the stove and then put it in the oven for about 3 hours. I wish I could post smells on here. Yum!! Then you clean your house for those 3 hours and put away the backyard toys that just emerged after the glacial melt, take a huge amount of detours to pick your kids up from school and wish you had an ark as you navigate back home. It's all worth it when you open your kitchen door and that smell welcomes you home.... add peas right at the end and serve with rice or maybe egg noodles and of course warm biscuits. The panel of judges concurred that the stew was very good. All but Charlotte that is, who doesn't eat much meat....she had yogurt. Again, I'm not a huge stew fan, but this one is hands down my favorite.
I went out on a limb tonight and made a homemade angel food cake for dessert. I didn't bother taking pictures of the process because when I bake there is a usually a comedy of errors (see facebook recipe of smoked scones). Today there was swearing (little less angel in my angel food?) and spilled egg whites (all 10 eggs-worth!) and let's just say that the lady bugs who are still living in my house since fall will have plenty of sugar to eat for awhile. That said, it was all worth it. An amazing, fluffy confection complete with a freshly made sauce of blueberries and strawberries got oohs and ahhs from my kids.
So there you have it...an Irish stew with a red white and blue American dessert. Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!
