Upgrade: Guinness Stew

I've recently found myself thinking about the earliest days of No Free Lunch. I was 23, in my second semester of grad school, and I didn't really know what I was doing. I had only been seriously trying to cook for myself for about a year and a half at that point, but I did my best. These days, I'm blogging with an enthusiasm I haven't felt since those heady days in 2012. Going back through my old recipes, there's a lot of room for improvement with all I've learned in the last 8 years. Thus begins a new semi-regular feature: No Free Lunch Upgrades. I'm going to recreate some of my old favorites, maintaining the overall structure of the dishes, but upgrading them with better technique and ingredients.

Guinness stew was my fourth-ever recipe, and represented an important step in the development of how I cook and write about cooking. It's my Goldfinger, if you will. The basic recipe is actually pretty good, and I didn't change it too much. Instead of generic "stew meat," I use a chuck roast and break it down myself. This has the advantage of full control over the size of the pieces and selection of a well-marbled piece. Instead of beef bouillon, I use chicken stock, pumped up with some tomato paste and soy sauce to add complexity. The last change is removing the potatoes from the actual stew and serving with mashed potatoes instead.

Ingredients

• 2 lb. (approx.) beef chuck roast
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 carrots, chopped into small chunks
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 Tbs. dark soy sauce
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 12 oz. bottle Guinness stout
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper
• Olive or vegetable oil

Roux

• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 Tbs. flour

Instructions

Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper. In a large saute pan or dutch oven, sear the meat on two sides with a little oil, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan (a mistake I made in my original recipe). Set the beef aside. Add more oil as needed and saute the vegetables until softened and lightly browned. 

Add the tomato paste and soy sauce and stir together. Deglaze the pan with the Guinness, scraping up any browned bits. Add tomatoes (with juice), chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer, covered, for one hour. Uncover and cook one more hour.

While the stew cooks, prepare the roux in a separate saucepan. Melt the butter on medium heat. Add flour and stir together. Cook until light brown and bubbly, then add to the stew and stir in. 

Also while the stew cooks, prepare your chosen starch. I made mashed potatoes, but pasta, rice, or a crusty bread could certainly be good choices. I used gold potatoes with melted butter, salt, pepper, and chopped Chinese chives mixed in.

Check the meat for tenderness. At this point, about half the meat was nice and tender, but some was not. Continue cooking until the meat is sufficiently tender, up to about another hour. To serve, ladle into bowls. If including mashed potatoes, add a large scoop to the stew.

Bonus Picture:

I joked about making a yinyang with mashed potatoes and stew, and Ariel obliged. She's a true artist!