Drunken Irish Stew

It's Secret Recipe Club time and I got a FABULOUS blog this month.  In fact, the day we were assigned our blogs, I started reading it.  And, that evening on the way home we stopped at the grocery to buy stew beef so I could make this fantastic recipe. 

Don't you just want to grab a spoon and sit down with a bowl of that deliciousness?  I did and you can too!

Typically, I sit down with a blank piece of paper and make a list of the recipes I want to try.  Then, I go back through them and print half a dozen or so for Connie to read.  Then, once we've decided on one, I make it.  In the event we don't like it, I go back and make a second recipe...  I realized about 20 recipes into Amy's blog that I'd written down every one I'd read...  Hmmm, my normal method was not going to work. 

So, what is it about another blogger that makes you want to try everything on their blog?  Similar tastes.  In Amy's case, she's got such a wonderful way with seasoning.  All the flavors just pop off the page at you.  Her recipes are super approachable.  For example, Salisbury steak.  When I went back to get the links to her blog that's what her most recent post was.  Something I've never been terribly fond of because it's kind of blah.  But, in reading her recipe, she's got pizzazz in there.  It's a recipe we'll be trying.  Along with MANY others from her blog.

Here's how you find Amy:  The Savvy Kitchen.  I hope you'll enjoy Amy and her hubby Chris as much as I have!  Then, you can see other recipes from my fellow Secret Recipe club members below and at Secret Recipe Club.  To see Amy's original recipe go to Drunken Irish Stew.

What did we think?  Well, I was tempted to just stand at the slow cooker and eat dinner, but manners won out.  I did omit flouring the beef cubes prior to browning them and instead thickened the stew when I got home from the office.  This is the kind of dish slow cookers are made for.  That being said, this would also be wonderful tucked into the oven in a dutch oven for a few hours. 

Drunken Irish Stew

Ingredients:

3 cups diced russet potatoes, peel them if you prefer
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
2 lbs stew beef, cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T olive oil
2 c low sodium beef broth
3/4 c red wine
3/4 c Guinness beer
4 oz can tomato paste (the recipe called for 2T)
1 T white sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper  to taste
2 T cornstarch

Directions:

Put the vegetables in the bottom of your crockpot.  Brown the beef cubes in batches so they'll brown and not steam. 

As you're browning the last batch, add the garlic.  You want it to bloom and not brown.  Put the meat in the crockpot

and add some oil to the pan.  Add the sauce ingredients.  Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the fond.  Pour the sauce over the vegetables and meat.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours and low for 6-9.  About 30 minutes prior to serving the stew, thicken it with about 2T of cornstarch mixed with an equal amount of water.

adapted from The Savvy Kitchen.  Thank you so much Amy!!!