If you are looking for an Irish Stew to make this St. Patrick’s Day, may I suggest this Guinness and Beef Pie adapted from epicurious? Although it takes a bit of time to make, as any good braised meat does, most of the cooking time is hands off. Plus, you will be rewarded with a rich dish and a happy family.
This is the first time I have ever cooked with brined peppercorns and they really added a nice depth of flavour to the sauce. Expect to see a peppercorn sauce recipe soon. For the meat I used a combination of beef stew meet and short ribs. If you use bone-in short ribs, simply shred the beef and discard the bone and cartilage before transferring to the baking dish and topping with pastry.
The original recipe called for individual portions in a pot-pie type fashion, I chose an easier and more rustic presentation but it was still well received.
Stay tuned for St. Patrick’s Day when I have a lovely Irish Soda Bread recipe to serve with your stew. If you are looking for more beer and beef stew recipes, check out these Stout Braised Short Ribs .
Serves 4
(Adapted from Epicurious)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds stewing meat, cut into large bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Guinness
1 cup beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
2 teaspoons green peppercorns in brine, drained and chopped
several sprigs fresh thyme
1 package store bought puff pastry, or make your own
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss beef cubes in flour, and gently shake off any excess of each piece. Put beef aside on a plate.
Heat oil to medium high heat in a wide heavy bottom oven proof pot with a lid. Brown the beef in batches and remove to plate. Add onions and garlic as well as the 2 tablespoons of beer and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook, stirring regularly until onions are nice and soft and try and get all that flavour off the bottom using a wooden spoon. Add ketchup and cook for 2 minutes. Add remaining Guinness, stock, Worcestershire, peppercorns and thyme. Stir in beef and bring mixture to a simmer. Cover and put in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is nice and tender.
Remove from the oven and allow meat to cool for at least twenty minutes. Increase oven heat to 425F. Roll out puff pastry and top stew with it. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill pastry. Bake for 20 minutes, and turn down oven temperature to 400F for another 5 minutes. The puff pastry should now be cooked through and browned on the top otherwise leave it in a little longer. Serve hot.
This dish reheated well the next day. Put in a 350F degree oven for 20 minutes and serve immediately.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Kat, your Guinness pie looks outstanding! I’ve made Jamie Oliver’s version (also very good) but I love the puff pastry on top (counting the layers I am)!
I just made a beef and guinness stew as well (posting tomorrow). I’ll have to try this one – for taste test comparison of course! Looks fantastic.
Oh my! Guinness and beef go together like, well, ME and Guinness! LOL! This looks so good. I like that you did it all together in a casserole dish. For some reason making individual portions just turns me off. No idea why. I love the idea of making the stew into a pie. Yum!!!
Peter – I will totally have to try Jamie Oliver’s version! I love his recipes and any good stew.
Joanne – yours looks great too!
Julo – Trust me, Guinness and me also go well together, though I actually prefer Kilikenney.
I love a good Guinness and beef pie!
I make mine with regular pastry all around, topped off with puff pastry.
Oh my gosh this was amazing! We didn’t have any beef broth, so we just used the entire can of Guinness and it was awesome, though a little salty. We’ll be sure to use no salt in the breading next time!
Julie – so glad you liked it. And making it in the summertime, how brave!
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