Guinness Irish Stew and a Mourning Dove Fly By

Another GO IRISH meal

Guinness Irish Stew with Irish Soda Bread

Cook's notes: Whether you make this Irish Beef Stew with Guinness Beer for your St. Patrick's Day celebration or just an everyday meal, it’s definitely a must try recipe! With the addition of the Guinness Beer; a dark beer, it adds a robust malty flavor to the stew. This is one of those dishes where the flavor of the stew continues to improve the next day. You can prep a lot of the ingredients the day before and store them in a plastic bag. I found Guinness Draught Beer a better choice for the stew. Guinness Extra Stout is a stronger beer and its taste can overpower the stew's flavor.  

Traditional Irish stews can be found documented as early as the 19th Century. Traditionally this stew is made with the cheapest and readily-available ingredients using mutton (less tender sheep over two years of age) or lamb meat (neckbones or shanks) and root vegetables such as potatoes and onions with water. Irish stew makes more of a clear broth. Today you will find more variety of root vegetables added such as carrots, leeks, parsnips or turnips with barley, and parsley.

Irish Soda Bead was posted March 3, 2015

http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2015/03/irish-soda-bread.html

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs.beef stew meat or sirloin cut in small cubes
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 TB.olive oil or Tuscan Herb Olive Oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small box mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
• 2 cups each finely chopped carrots and red potatoes, diced 
• 1 cup each diced parsnips and celery
• 2 TB. parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. each allspice, celery seeds, marjoram,thyme, rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 TB. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 TB. tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5) beef broth and 1 can (14.5) chicken broth (low sodium)
• 1-1/2 cups V-8 juice or Bloody Mary mix
• 3 TB. flour
• 1/2 bottle of Guinness Draught Beer

Directions:

• Place 1/2 cup flour in a zip loc bag, add beef cubes, shake to coat beef. 
• Heat oil in large stockpot and brown cubes, remove and set aside.
• To the stockpot add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Saute about 4 minutes.
• Mix 3 TB. flour with V-8 juice or Bloody Mary Mix
• To the stockpot add beef cubes,  broth, V-8 juice mixture, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, celery, spices, bay leaves, tomato paste, Worcestershire and mushroom onion mixture.
• Oh, yes, don't forget the beer!
• Cook on low heat 1-1/2 hours, covered or until potatoes carrots and parsnips are tender. 
• Remove bay leaves before serving.

Mourning Dove

This photo was taken in the backyard. Fortunately I spied the bird before Bella scared it off. These birds are common in the neighborhood since we are in the foothills of Dove Mountain.  

Mourning doves occur from the lowest elevations along the Colorado River upward through forests of ponderosa pines to 8,500 feet. Their staple foods throughout the year are primarily small seeds and cultivated grains. Although some doves can be found nesting on the ground in open prairies, the best nesting habitats are brushlands and woodlands within the Sonoran Desert.