Beef and Guinness Stew

It all started when I went to my favorite Irish pub for dinner and ordered the beef and Guinness pie. Jason told me how good it was. It was fantastic, except for one thing; the restaurant has recently started doing frozen take-out for some of their more popular dishes. Guess who got the frozen reheat served to her? (Me! Me! Pick me please!!!!) It was still frozen on the inside. That's bullshit! What really kills me is that they sell it for a fraction of the price when you do the takeout.
In my bitterness of feeling betrayed by all that I loved about the pub, I though, "I can make this and freeze it myself. Then, if I want freakin' left-overs, I can eat them at home for free. " A little internet research later, and a quick consult with Mr. Jamie Oliver (we're not actually friends, I just checked the cookbook) I came up with this recipe. Pretty tasty!

This one is involved so I'll start you off with the full list of ingredients:

Ingredients
• olive oil
• 2 red onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbs. butter, plus extra for greasing
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
• 4 large mushrooms, sliced
• 1 package stew meat
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 can of Guinness Stout
• 2 heaping tablespoons plain flour
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 package puff pastry

In a large pot, heat a about 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium low heat. Add the onions cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat up, add the garlic, butter, carrots and celery. Cook this for about 10 more minutes.

In a separate pan, quickly brown the stew meat. Add it to the veggie mix along with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Fry fast for 3 or 4 minutes, then stir in the flour (it'll make a thick gooey paste.) Pour in the Guinness, plus 1 1/2 cans full of water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. If it looks like it needs to thicken up, uncover it. If it gets too dry or thick, add 1 cup of water.

Add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 more minutes (this way they don't turn into mush.) Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Fill oven-proof bowls about 2/3 of the way with the hearty stew.



Cover with puff pastry and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or, serve with thick slices of a good crusty bread.



Enjoy!