Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread are a cold-weather classic that’s sure to warm you up!
Saint Patrick’s Day is almost here! A time for parades, wearing of green, and dying of anything and everything to match that brilliant shade of emerald.
Most people I know (Irish or not) celebrate St. Paddy’s Day in some way because after all, everyone is Irish on St. Paddy’s Day, right? ;)
The Chicago River, Dyed Green for St. Paddy’s Day (I originally found the image on Flickr, but it isn’t up there anymore!)
When you think of St. Paddy’s Day, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Corned beef and cabbage? Shamrocks? Green beer?
I think of hearty, warming foods. Slow-cooked, braised meat dishes…potatoes, root veggies, and comfort. Recently, I was looking through one of my new cookbooks, The Irish Pub Cookbook by Margaret M. Johnson. The book is full of lovely pictures and homey recipes. Simple, quality ingredients are combined with traditional cooking methods, and the result is food that withstands the test of time.
When I was thumbing through the book, I came across a recipe for Guinness Beef Stew. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you might know that Mike and I don’t drink alcohol…but that doesn’t mean I don’t like to use alcohol in recipes for the flavor and let it cook off. This stew basically jumped off the page at me.
I made several changes to the recipe. The original called for a turnip; believe it or not, I’ve never eaten a turnip in my entire life (and I was raised in a veggies-every-day household!). Despite that, I added a turnip to my shopping list and looked for it at the store. I couldn’t locate a turnip to save my life so I asked a grocer who told me they didn’t have any that day. Oh well.
I decided to add some celery and cabbage to bulk it up. (I cooked the cabbage along with the beef and the cabbage just seemed to melt into the broth, which was exactly what I was going for.)
The original recipe didn’t have any potato in the stew; instead, it suggested serving the stew with mashed or boiled potatoes. I just saved myself a step and added a potato to the stew.
Lastly, the original recipe called for quite a bit more butter and oil than the amounts I used (it originally called for 4 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup oil), but I found that the recipe was perfect without all that added fat. The end result was nothing short of pure comfort.
In The Irish Pub Cookbook, I also came across several fabulous-looking recipes for Brown Soda Bread. I couldn’t decide which one sounded the most delicious, so I made a variation incorporating the best of a couple different recipes. This bread is the perfect accompaniment (and utensil) for soaking up hearty Guinness Beef Stew.
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 lbs stew beef, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes (I like to use sirloin)
- ½ small head cabbage (I use Savoy), sliced into thin shreds
- 2 large white onions, chopped
- 1¾ cups (415 ml) Guinness Stout
- 6 cups low-sodium beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 4 medium parsnips, peeled and sliced
- 4 medium stalks celery (leafy tops included), chopped
- 1 starchy potato (such as Russet), washed and diced (not peeled)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Fresh minced parsley, for garnish (optional)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup wheat or oat bran
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons fine salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (plus more to grease the pan)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cups buttermilk
- For the stew, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat in a 5-quart pot. When the oil starts to ripple, add the beef and cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes (cook in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pot). Add the cabbage, onion, Guinness, beef stock, bay leaves, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Bring the soup up to a boil, then cover it, turn it down to a simmer, and cook until the meat is tender, about 60 to 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots, parsnips, celery, and potato, and bring the soup up to a boil; turn it down to a simmer, cover it, and cook until the veggies and meat are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, mix together the butter and flour until completely combined. Whisk this mixture (called a beurre manié) into the stew to thicken it. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve garnished with fresh minced parsley along with Irish Brown Soda Bread.
- For the bread, preheat the oven to 375F and butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Combine the butter and honey in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat bran, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir in the egg, then the butter/honey mixture, and then about half of the buttermilk. Gradually add just enough buttermilk so that a soft dough forms; be careful not to over-mix. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula that has been dipped in water or buttermilk. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and cool for about an hour.
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Update (February 8, 2015): I made this dish again and perfected the recipe and snapped a few pictures, so I decided to update both the recipe and the photos in this post.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Oh my God …Faith we really think alike coz as i hopped by my laptop …actually am with it right in the kitchen ,and the whole home is filled with the aroma wafting of yeah……i jus simmered the same Irish stew for dinner coz tomo is St.paddys and yeah with Irish SOda bread:-))))
Ha ha and yeah i will post it later but am so so tickle pink and excited and then i see Joanne also has posted the same :-)))))he he he….
And i jus added about that in my post and will post it this month too…am still giggling form the exprnce and now for some nice Irish music…..
I am going to make this for my neighbor Mary, an Irish from Chicago, and we will sit and drink Guiness with it! How fun, I am just excited just thinking about it!
Faith this is such a special meal!!! I’m serious- this is drop dead gorgeous and I imagine it’s tender, full of flavor, and hearty. I love it. I was thinking of making something similar in honor of St. Patty’s day! Now I know I need a meal like this. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Your photography and creativity is incredible my dear!
Mmmm delicious! This stew looks awesome. I still have a can of Guinness hanging out in the fridge and it would be great to try this recipe. As always your meal look delicious and if you could send me a bowl I would be very grateful…haha.
I’m torn between making this and making corned beef and cabbage… decisions, decisions…
Stew, beautiful stew! That bread looks amazing too! Your pictures are so rich and inviting!
This entire post is making my mouth water…and I don’t even eat meat! I even love the first photo of the green river…so amazing that they do that…am I the only one who had no idea?? :)
Perfect meal. Looks so tasty.
Mimi
As a Chicago native, I assure you the river stays THAT green for approximately 0.56 seconds! And then it’s just booger green! ;)
I love St. Patty’s Day! I always celebrate with green beer…the rest is just a bonus! I decided against a stew this year because it’s warming up so much here — but I saved that recipe for next year, it looks DELICIOUS!!!!
Gorgeous pictures, Faith!!
I so want to make that bread. It looks dense and chewy.. just how I like bread! :)
that picture of chicago river is amazing… stunning! :)
ha–i’ve never (knowingly) eaten a turnip either! wowza, what a hearty stew. and wowza, what a hearty loaf of bread. know what that makes this? a hearty meal. well done. :)
I don’t know anything about Irish food but this beef stew is a winner. I love it.
oh I love soda bread…..what a lovely post :)
What a hearty and delicious beef stew! I bet it was excellent with your Irish Brown Bread to sop up all those wonderful juices! A perfect St. Paddy’s Meal!
God, that stew and soda bread look fabulous! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!
What a nice change from corned beef. It looks delicious!
I just came from Joanne’s blog..I think she made this stew, too! Wow, all these lovely alcohol-infused stew is making me crave Irish!
Faith I love it and adding the Irish soda bread really upps the ante! Too true we are all Irish on March 17th :P
When can I come for dinner?
Thanks for the submission chica! I love how we are SO on the same page. Your stew looks so thick and delicious. And that brown soda bread? I need to make that…then we will have almost identical submissions :P
Thank you so much for your incredibly sweet comment on my blog! :-) Your stew looks AMAZING – I love cooking with Guinness! I’m also swooning over the gorgeous texture on your Irish soda bread…
Perfect meal for today! I love beef stew with Guinness and the soda bread! Happy St. Patrick’s day!
The stew and bread look great.
Can you believe that when I think of St. Paddy’s day I think of shamrock shakes from McDonald’s?!
I would love to see the river in person sometime. Fun! Your stew looks absolutely fantastic and so does the bread! Hope you had a fun St. Paddy’s Day!
I have to try soda bread! The stew looks comforting and delicious!
What a fabulous meal. We don’t drink either, but wine/beer etc. can add so much to our cooking. This stew sounds great. My hubs mentioned the other day that I should slow cook beef with some Guiness, thanks for the recipes here. The Soda Bread looks great too.
I made the Cooking Light Beef and Guinness Stew last night which was very good. Your version looks absolutely fabulous! I love that you made a homemade brown soda bread to serve with it. I could not get enough of that bread when we were in Ireland. I will have to try out your recipe.
Yum, your stew looks delicious! (I’ve never eaten a turnip either — good for you for giving it a go, even if the store didn’t have any.) I made some Irish soda bread, from an old Gourmet magazine recipe. It had raisins and caraway seeds in it — it was outstanding! In fact, I think I’ll go toast myself up a little slice right now :) Thanks for the yummy post.
The stew is so delicious! And the bread, too!
A wonderful meal! i’d love to see that colored water in Chicago…
Cheers,
Rosa
I made an Irish soda bread, but it wasn’t a brown bread. I read someplace online that is really isn’t Irish unless it’s BROWN bread! So I’m copying your recipe right now for next year!