Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Irish Beef and Guinness Stew

I'm not one to make New Year resolutions. Not necessarily because I think that self improvement should be a year-round thing. Maybe I agree with Tyler Durden's line from Fight Club, "Self-improvement is masturbation." (I joke, of course)

But I did promise to myself that I would try to experiment more frequently and get more content on this thing. I've been falling into a recipe-rut, where I make the same things pretty frequently. Granted I was trying out a pretty strict workout schedule for the past few months that didn't leave me much time when I get home from work. But that's over with, and I'm ready to get creative again.

That being said, this is a recipe that I spent some time on over the past few months, working from a recipe posted by a more established Austin food/recipe blogger. It was great because I could get it started before working out and let it simmer during the workout. And remember that I'm a big fan of braising/stewing.

Things that I learned while trying to get this recipe down pat:

  1. Fattier pieces of stew-cut beef are ideal. If it's too lean, the meat gets too dry in the end. Some time I'll try some cut of beef that's not pre-diced and experiment with some chuck vs. round. I also want to try this with a more traditional Irish meat: lamb.
  2. The more time you have, the better.
  3. Parsnips are freaking delicious. It's like a cross between a carrot, a potato, and a turnip. They're especially great when roasted.