Guinness Beef Stew
- 2 1/2 lbs Beef stew meat, cut into 1½-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsps Butter
- 1 6 oz. Can Tomato Paste
- 1 lb new potatoes, cut in half
- 1 large onion, cut into a 1-inch dice
- 2 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch dice
- 4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch dice
- 10 white button mushrooms, trimmed and diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 bunch fresh thyme, a couple of sprigs of rosemary, tied together with kitchen twine
- 4 cups (2 cans) Guinness beer
- 1 (10 oz) package frozen peas
- 8 ozs freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 Egg wash (1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 TBL water)
- Coarse sea salt for final seasoning
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 375.
Over medium heat, in a 5-quart heavy, oven-safe pot or Dutch oven (with a fitted lid), melt 2 TBL butter. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 10-12 minutes. I season with a little salt at this point.
Add the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. Add remaining butter at this point; you may want a little more depending on how dry your vegetables appear.
Mix the cubed beef with the flour, then stir in the tomato paste. Add the salt and pepper, bay leaf, bundled herbs, and beer. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, for about 10 minutes.
Remove the pot from the burner and place it in the preheated oven. Cook for 1½ – 2 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender. (You can let the frozen peas thaw on the counter while the stew cooks, but the stew will be so hot when you take it out of the oven that if you forget, stirring in frozen peas at the end will be just fine.)
While the stew is in the oven, prepare your puff pastry; allow it to come to room temp. Roll it out to get rid of the creases. Decide if you will be serving in individual ramikins or a large casserole dish. Cut your pastry to accommodate whichever you prefer. You will want your pastry to be about 1-1.5 inches wider than the opening of dish.
After the stew cooks in the oven, remove it, stir in the peas, fold in half of the cheddar cheese, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Distribute the stew into individual ramikens or one large casserole dish. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over top. Place the puff pastry dough over the stew, pinch it closed along the rim to seal it. Using a sharp knife, slash the center a couple of times; this allows steam to escape during final baking. Brush the top(s) with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt. Place casserole or ramikins on a large cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until puff pastry is puffy and golden.
Serve & Enjoy!!