Guinness Beef Stew: Posting as I go along....

[Glassunion]

Last edited Sat Sep 13, 2014, 04:40 PM - Edit history (3)

The weather is quite dreary today, so instead of normal routine of slapping on a leather coat and riding the motorcycle all day, I've decoded to make some comfort food.

The stuffs and prep work:
3-lbs of Rump Roast - Trimmed and cut into 1" cubes
1-Large Yellow Onion - Diced
1-Large Leek - Sliced thin into 1/2 Rounds
4-Cloves of Garlic minced
2-Bunches of Celery - Chopped
1-Bag of Carrots - Chopped
8-oz of your favorite mushrooms
4-Yellow potatoes - cut into bite sized pieces. (wait until a 1/2 hour before eating)
1/4-Cup of Vodka
1-Can of (or two bottles) of Guinness
1-Qt of Beef Stock
1-Tbsp Dry Thyme
1-Tbsp Dry Rosemary
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Leek... and my kitchen assistant #1 (Sam).


In a large soup pot sweat the onion, garlic and leek on low heat in a liberal amount of EV olive oil.


While those are sweating, I trim the beef, and prep the celery and carrots...


Salt and pepper the beef then, in a very hot large Simmer / Saute pan sear the meat until seared on all sides.

Once the onion, garlic, and leek are translucent and soft, I turn the heat all the way up to get a little caramelization, then deglaze with a splash of beer and beef stock.

Add the Beef, beer, remaining stock, mushrooms, and spices to the soup pot and bring to a boil.

Make sure to pay attention to your kitchen assistant #2 (Loki)


Once at a boil, lower the heat to a light simmer and let it do its work for about 3 hours, and sip your vodka... Also, do the dishes. The kitchen should be a bit of a mess at this point.

[cbayer]

1. I love your videologs, truly.

That looks wonderful.

[Glassunion]

2. I wish the internet had smell...

The whole house smells great. Downside, is I have to put up with the odor until the wife gets home.

[cbayer]

3. I would also love internet smell!

I had a fabulous sausage, eggplant, garlic smell tonight that your would love.

[Glassunion]

4. I have some Andouille sausage in the fridge that I'm still considering a use for.

I so need the attachment for my kitchen aid. I'd love to make my own.

[cbayer]

5. I would make a chicken and andouille gumbo.

I think it's the best use of that sausage.

I don't know what you mean about an attachment for you kitchen aid.

[Glassunion]

6. There is a meat grinder / sausage stuffer attachment for the Kitchen Aid

http://www.everythingkitchens.com/kitchenaid_mixer_attachment_pack_kgssa.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw1s-gBRCKwOKQ1sWonvsBEiQA8qALFaOaZ-1Tzhd_pvq2TNWW6Qx704OWgc8AIr0trQojAfsaArkt8P8HAQ

[cbayer]

7. Ah, I see.

I would never use that. Sausage is cheap and the butchers do it much better than I could.

Plus there is that whole dilemma of trying to find "casing", lol.

[Glassunion]

8. Mom made the best sausage.

I've never really had an interest in making it, however as I get older I find that I remember the times mom and I had making sausage. The smells, and flavors that she could create were wonderful. My mother (a Creole) had so many influences in her cooking, French, Spanish, Southern US, all mixed in with the local ingredients available to anywhere we lived at the time. I was born in the northeast of the US, so we had a bounty of pork and herbs. I was mostly raised in the south (GA), where we had chickens, and a different array of herbs. Then in California, we had an abundance of sage and beef.

We used good old fashioned intestines as the "casing".

Now that I am back in the northeast (eastern PA), pork farms are everywhere. I make and freeze pork dumplings by the metric ton. Makes such a quick and easy meal.

I have a pork farm so close I could probably hit it with a 5 iron. They do quite a bit on site. All my bacon comes from this guy. I buy the whole belly smoked from him.

My wife (PA Dutch) cannot cook to save her life (which is probably why she married me), but her mother makes the best sausage. All of her sausages are simple German/Dutch recipes. But they are so good, and make for the best grilling foods.

So, in missing the times my mom and I had making sausage, I just feel like I should try my hand at it. It's also something that I could get my wife into. For some silly reason she enjoys kneading meat. I need the dry rub on the ribs, she will jump at the opportunity. Making meatballs, I know I have a volunteer to roll them out. I think it would be a good time for the both of us.

[NJCher]

9. Beautiful photos!

I'm going to give this a try!

And I love your kitchen assistant. I have two of them! Except one's a little chubbier than your assistant.

But the look on that face? It says, "Where's mine?"

Thanks for posting this--very useful resource.


Cher

[Glassunion]

12. Loki is Assistant #2.. Assistant #1 is barely visable in the lower-left of the first photo...

I did not realize he was in it until I posted the photo. That would be Sam.

[japple]

13. Looks like a very sweet and helpful boy! Did anything fall on the floor for

him? My dog loves to come in the kitchen after the cats have eaten, just to make sure the floor is clean and there are no bits of stray food. She's a good girl and a great helper!

[Glassunion]

14. Sam is finicky. He only really eats cat food

And smoked salmon, he won't touch bacon. Bacon!! Loki on the other hand will eat any protien you put in front of him.

[freshwest]

10. Very professional job there. And I love Loki!

[japple]

11. Oh my...that looks scrumptious! And Guinness is one of my very favorite

"ingredients!" In fact, it might never make it into the stew at all. Your kitty is beautiful.