Irish Beef Stew

Okay... blogging under the name of "Chef on a Budget" would be redundant if I never included my recipes in here... So, therefore, since school's out and I have more or less nothing to do, I shall now publish my first recipe: Irish Beef Stew.

Ingredients:

Beef (of course... buy the cheapest cut you can... I did, since I'm obviously on a budget)

Guiness Stout (BC liquor store sells them for about $12 for 4... a bit of a splurge I admit, but did I mention? school's out!!)

Flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)

Bay leaves (2 should be enough)

Potatoes

Tomato Paste (half a can or more than enough to coat the beef)

Celery

Carrots

Onions

Garlic

Oil

Method:

1- Cut your beef into bite sized pieces. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel (makes the browning easier :D) and toss them in your seasoned flour.

2- Heat some oil up in a pan. Brown the beef in said pan. (Browning can be done in batches if you are making a big portion)

3- Remove beef from pan and add in onions and garlic for about 1-2 mins and then the carrots and celery comes next. Stir in half a can of Guiness while scraping the brown bits of the bottom of the pan. (mmMMMmmmm yuuummm)

4- Put the beef back in and stir in the tomato paste. After about 3 mins, pour in the rest of the Guiness, about 1/2 a cup of water, add the bay leaves and give it a good mix, and leave it to simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

5- Every chef's privilage- when you think its almost done, open up the lid and have a taste and then season to your liking. And then... Bon apetite!

p.s. It goes oh-so-well with mashed potatoes, otherwise, some bread would be good too :D

Combined with a huge group of friends and some beer, this was the perfect way to end the studying term.