Guinness Beef Stew

So I made a wedding cake this weekend. And survived.

I consider that a win.

I was planning to document the whole process and write a big long post for y’all with lots of pictures and tips and hints.

But as it turns out, my camera was lost in the sea of frosting and my will to blog this experience was lost somewhere between the breakdown I had at hour 4 and balancing the final tier at hour 7. In fact, the only pictures I have were taken with my iphone. That’s how ready I was for this to be over.

So today, you just get one picture of the finished product.

And beef stew.

Because after 9 hours of seeing, smelling, and tasting only strawberry cake and cream cheese frosting, all I wanted was a bowl of the savory-est soup I could find.

And this fits the bill.

I found this recipe in a cookbook called Clodagh’s Kitchen Diaries, which I received from Kerrygold as part of their St. Patrick’s Day party in a box.  The cookbook is full of beautiful photos and tempting recipes, but when I saw this stew I knew it would be a winner.

Any dish that begins with a saute of bacon, butter, and shallots has to be a good thing. Add to that beef, carrots, and 2 cans of Guinness and you’ve got yourself the makings of one awesome Irish stew.

I’m not a beer drinker myself, so I was worried the beer flavor might be too strong. Turns out, it was just right. After two hours in the oven, the flavor mellows and deepens, leaving the beef fall apart tender and juicy.

This meal requires little else but a hunk of good bread to sop up the juice.

It’s the perfect dish to celebrate St. Patty’s Day, or cure a serious wedding cake hangover, whichever happens to come first.

Recipe adapted from Clodagh’s Kitchen Diaries