“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” ~ Adrienne Cook
Guinness and Beef Stew
St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. It’s a day when the Irish celebrate the day St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died.
What was once a religious holiday has now become “Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.” From parades, green beer and corned beef and cabbage it is one big celebration.
Clodagh McKenna, Ireland’s answer to Rachael Ray or Martha Stewart, makes Guinness beef stew that is served after the local parade. This recipe comes from her cookbook entitled Clodagh’s Kitchen Diaries.
When my husband and I visited Dublin, we had some wonderful stews that were topped with pastry crusts or mashed potatoes. After the stew was cooked, I covered the casserole dish with puff pastry and baked it for 25 minutes at 400 degrees F. The crust makes the stew a little fancier.
Clodagh recommends that the stew be made a day ahead of time so that the flavors become concentrated.
Ingredients: Converted From Metric Measurements
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 14 bacon slices, chopped
- 10 ounces of shallots, left whole
- 2 ¼ pounds of stew beef
- 14 ounces of mixed wild mushrooms
- 1 quart of Guinness
- 1 bouquet garni
- Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
- 1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
For the preparation instructions, see the recipe on the food channel at uktv.com.
