Ingredients:
2 pounds stew beef 1 diced onion 2 diced celery stocks 4 peeled and diced carrots 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1/4 cup flour One 11.2 ounce bottle of Guinness beer 2 cups beef stock 2 teaspoons thyme 1 bay leaf 6 ounces dried prunes blended with one cup of hot water
Olive oil and salt and pepper 4 russet potatoes 5 tablespoons butter, divided 4oz sour cream 1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups chopped cabbage Salt and pepper Method:
Heat the oven to 350°. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large oven safe pot with a lid. When oil is hot sear the meat until it is browned on all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the meat and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Add oil if the pan seems dry. Season with salt and pepper. While the veggies cook blend the prunes with the hot water. I used my immersion blender. When the veggies are tender add the thyme, bay leaf and tomato paste. Stir around for one minute. Add the beef and the flour and stir again until the flour has been absorbed. Add the prune mixture, the Guinness and beef stock. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Bake in the oven for one hour. After an hour stir the stew and lower the oven temperature to 300°. Return the pot covered with a lid for another 30 minutes to one hour, depending on how large your beef chunks are. Remove and check to see if the meat is tender after 30 minutes. If it is not tender, bake another 30-60 minutes. Serve over colcannon or mashed potatoes. Recipe below.
Mashed potatoes:
Peel and dice 4 russet potatoes. Add them to a pot and cover with water by an inch. Season the water with 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and add the potatoes back to the pot. Add 4 tablespoons of butter, 4oz of sour cream and 1/4 cup of whole milk. Season with lots of salt and pepper.
Colcannon:
Cook 2 cups of chopped cabbage with 1 tablespoon of butter and salt and pepper until it becomes wilted and slightly brown. This only takes a couple of minutes. It wilts to about half the original volume. Combine with a few scoops of mashed potatoes, I like mine about half cabbage half potatoes. (I leave some mashed potatoes plain for my pickier eaters)