Ingredients:
3 medium onions, roughly chopped
1 lb stewing beef, cubed
1/2 cup white flour
2 tablespoons cooking oil
12 ounces beer, strong ale or guiness is good
1 beef stock cube or 1 lamb stock cube, dissolved in
1 cup water
1 vegetable stock cubes, dissolved in
1 cup water
3 tablespoons tomato paste ( or a half a cup of tomato sauce)
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
ground black pepper
salt
1 packet green string beans, cut in half
1 packet carrots, sliced into circles or rectangular chunks
5 whole potatoes, cut into quarters
Directions:
Coat the beef cubes with the flour and add them along with the onions and cooking oil into the pot.
Cook this over a medium heat until the onions are softer (almost see-through) and don’t worry about the flour turnig into a paste on the bottom of the pot the next step will see to that- just don’t burn it.
Add the beer, beef/lamb stock and vegetable stock and stir until the bottom of the pot is clean.
Add the tomato paste/sauce, the nutmeg and some salt and pepper to taste. The more pepper you add to the stew the hotter it will be.It is actually quite good at a medium spicy level. You can also add some dried herbs if you like.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Turn the heat down and simmer at a low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour. (You can’t really overcook a stew.)
Add the vegetables (green beans, carrots and potatoes) and bring it all back to a boil- you can add as many vegetables as you like just use water to cover them if they stick out of the liquid in the pot. The more potatoes you add, the better the stew will be on it’s own.
Simmer on a low heat for at least another hour (remember, you can’t overcook a stew), stirring occasionally.
If, after an hour you find that your stew is too juicy, you can take the lid off and try to steam away some of the liquid or, for a quick fix, add a little cornstarch mixed with water to thicken it up (the directions for how to do this should be on the pack.)
Serve with rice, or as is if you have added a lot of potatoes.
Servings: 6-8
Time preparation: 30 min.
Time total: 150 min.