Merry Monday!! And Merry March 4th!! I don’t know about you, but I can NOT believe we are in March. And I am going to apologize right now, because you are going to hear me say that, A LOT! My husband and I find ourselves saying it each other all of the time. We annoy ourselves! So, sorry again.
It doesn’t help that February is a short month to begin with. On top of that we went away the end of the month for our wedding anniversary, came back and it’s March! So I am just going to dive right in! I LOVE MARCH!! We have quite a few March birthdays that we celebrate. Today is actually my nephews 16th!! (Happy Birthday Skyler!!) It is the husbands birth month, sisters, BF’s, couple cousins, boyfriend of other BF… I will spare you! So ya!! Bizzzzay! But I love it!! I love celebrating and hosting! Which, not only do we have A LOT of people to celebrate in March, but it is also St. Patrick’s Day!! Which we have always celebrated as if we were full blown Irish (we have some Irish in us) but my sister’s birthday is on St. Patty’s Day!! So like it or not (not her meal of choice!) said sister ALWAYS gets Corn Beef and Cabbage for her birthday!! Hahaha, I find it pretty funny! Because everyone one else in the family LOVES Corn Beef and Cabbage! (Sorry Jolie)
And aside from sharing my Corn Beef and Cabbage recipe, I had been thinking, “What other great meals can I post about in March?” I want to post some “Irish” recipes, but don’t have many in my wheel house. Well, the Saturday we got back from San Fransisco my mom stopped by and was raving about a recipe she found for “Irish Beef Stew”. It was cold and rainy the day we got home, so stew was a perfect meal to prepare. Mom was nothing but overjoyed (if you ever get the chance to meet my mom, she functions in the space of “overjoyed”) to share the recipe with me!! She even called me the next day to make sure I loved it as much as she did!! Which, I did. Obviously, I am blogging about it. And on that note, just and FYI, I would NOT post a recipe I did not like!
So this Irish Beef Stew!! Amazing! And when you make it, a few things, the carrots and potatoes really do need the full hour of simmering to cook. If you need to shorten the time, do it on the front end of cooking where you cut the initial simmering time down before adding the carrots and potatoes. But I recommend the full 2 hours to let all those flavors marinate. The other is at the very end you’re going to add some cold water, cornstarch and balsamic vinegar. Taste the soup before you add this. I was amazed at the drastic flavor taste after adding a small amount of those 3 ingredients. Of course it isn’t necessary, I just found it interesting. =)
This is a super easy stew to make. Just need to have time to simmer. You will not regret that! My family loves biscuits, so made some of those to go with. This will now be added into my wheel house and not just made in the month of March!
Don’t forget if you make it to let me know how you like it. And if you remember to try it pre water, cornstarch and vinegar, let me know what you think!!
Happy stewing!! ~Jeanne
Ingredients
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 lbs beef stew meat
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (2 tbsp)
- 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
- 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 12 oz bottle of Irish beer
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups carrots, sliced
- 2 large potatoes, diced
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp cold water
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in large pot on stove.
- Coat beef pieces in flour, shake off any excess flour. Transfer to pot and brown on all sides. About 4 min. Remove beef from pot and set aside.
- Add onion and mushrooms. Cook until onions are tender. About 3-5 min depending on size of onion.
- Add garlic, stir and cook until fragrant. About 1-2 min.
- Transfer beef back into pot. Add broth, crushed tomatoes, beer, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
- Add carrots and potatoes, return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are tender. About 1 hour.
- Stir together cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Pour into pot and stir in along with balsamic vinegar. Simmer until thick and bubbly. About 4 min.
- Serve and sprinkle with parsley.
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