Recipe Background
Satisfy both hunger and heart with a slow cooker Guinness stew, perfect for rekindling connections over rugby and rich flavors.
It was the first meal with my father after too many years apart. We'd grown distant while life marched on, but this weekend we decided to reclaim a tradition from my childhood: watching the Six Nations rugby championship together. It called for something hearty and Irish-inspired, so slow cooker Guinness stew was on the menu. While dusting off the stew meat with seasoned flour, I found myself talking about the small things in life—the kind that try to slip by unnoticed. Browning the beef reminded me how searing moments can really pack a punch, like seeing my father again that day. Now every time I sauté onions with garlic, I hear his voice recounting stories from his youth.
As the rich aroma of stout beer and beef broth filled the kitchen, our conversation deepened. The broth transformed the dish, much like our renewed bond was transforming us, pulling up fond memories from the past. I tossed in baby portabella mushrooms, a nod to my father’s love for earthy flavors, and urged him to share more tales. Slow cooked for hours, the stew transformed into a tapestry of senses—carrots' sweetness intertwined with thyme's soothing scent, just like the threads of our conversation gently wove together in harmony.
Eight hours later, I stirred in the peas. This simple act of addition felt like adding joy to an already wonderful day. We served it hot, spooning out the labor of love as much as the hearty meal before us. When he left, the stew lingered on in my kitchen, and the connection, rebuilt one bay leaf at a time, lingered in our hearts.
Ingredients
- 8-10 red potatoes skin-on, quartered
- 6 carrots peeled and sliced into thick chunks
- 2 stalks celery cut into chunks
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup flour
- salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more, to taste
- garlic powder to taste
- 3 pounds stew meat cubed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more, to taste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 (10.75-ounce) can beef broth
- 1 (8-ounce) carton baby portabella mushrooms halved
- 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (1-ounce) envelope onion soup mix
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle stout beer such as Guinness
- 1 cup frozen peas optional
Directions
- Put the potatoes, the carrots, and the celery into a slow cooker.
- Place 2 of the bay leaves into the slow cooker.
- Season the flour with the salt, the extra black pepper, and the garlic powder.
- Coat the beef in the seasoned flour mixture.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet on the stovetop.
- Add the remaining bay leaf to the hot oil.
- In batches, sauté the beef in the skillet until browned, about 3-4 minutes per side, adding the extra oil as needed.
- Transfer the beef to a plate and set it aside.
- Add the onion and the garlic to the skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour about 1/2 of the beef broth into the skillet to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom.
- Add the beef and the onion mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add the mushrooms to the slow cooker.
- In a separate bowl, mix the remaining beef broth, the tomato sauce, the onion soup mix, the thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper, the garlic powder, the creole seasoning, and the Italian seasoning.
- Pour the broth mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add the stout beer to the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook for 8 hours on low heat.
- Once the 8 hours have passed, stir in the frozen peas.
- Serve hot!
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