Putting on the Irish

It's been more than a week since I tried a new recipe. I've been meaning to try this Irish Beef and Guinness Stew for some time, and I acquired the Guinness yesterday. This stew tastes incredible. The sweetness from the raisins along with the flavor of the caraway does incredible things with the hearty beef and Guinness flavors. Although my mom is very proud of her Irish heritage, I'm afraid she wouldn't like this stew. She doesn't like caraway.

It takes a long time to cook, and I should have started it earlier this afternoon, but I wasn't able to get to it any sooner. It would make a great winter afternoon project. The beef is incredibly tender. Buddy of course had to help me with the vegetable scraps. He enjoyed the turnip end pieces as much as he enjoys the carrots, but he didn't seem to enjoy the parsnip ends.

While I was waiting for the stew to stew, I drank one of the bottles of Guinness. It reminds me a lot of the beer I drank when I went to Germany in high school. (I was legal there at that age). But this had more of a bitter aftertaste. I don't think I'll be drinking much Guinness, but the stew I certainly enjoy.

This recipe comes from page 148 of the March 2010 Cooking Lightmagazine that I recently discovered. I've since subscribed to it.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola Oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt, divided
5 cups chopped onion (about 3 onions)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 (11.2-ounce bottle Guinness Draught
1 tablespoon raisins
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1.5 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
1.5 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces)
1 cup (1/2-inch( cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces)
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1.5 teaspoons butter to pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of the beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1.5 teaspoons butter, and beef.
2. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Uncover bring to boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

Makes 8 servings (serving size:about 1 cup). Each serving has 365 calories.