Guinness Stew

This past week the temperature started to drop in Moscow, we even had a bit of snow. It is times like this that I love comfort food, especially a stew or a big pot of soup. Originally I had thought I would make lamb stew but when I was at the market, the Beef tenderloin was 1/3 the price of the lamb so I use it instead. You don’t have to use such a good cut of meat because the slow cooking method will make any cut tender.

1 kg trimmed and cubed lamb or beef

6 slices thick smoked bacon small diced

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

flour and salt and pepper for dusting meat

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1   14 oz can Guinness

3 cups beef broth

20 button mushrooms quartered

4 carrots diced

4 stalks celery diced

1 small turnip diced

4 medium potatoes diced

1 small can tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy braising pan sauté the bacon till crisp. keeping all the bacon fat in the pan, add the onions and garlic and saute till translucent. Remove the bacon, onions and garlic and set aside. Dust the meat with the flour, salt, pepper and spices. In batches, add the meat and brown the cubes. Deglaze the pan with the Guinness. Add the bacon mixture back and add the mushrooms, sautéing for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cover placing the pan in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. If the stew is too thin, add a slurry of 2 Tbsp of the flour mixture used for dusting the meat along with 1/2 liquid of your choice (broth, beer, wine, water). Remove the lid and allow the stew to cook a further 1 hour to reduce some of the liquid and thicken. Season to taste.

Serve with fresh bread and butter.