Melina’s Guinness lamb and beef stew

Melina and Brandon are two of our favorite BHF clients. Melina often shares photos of her amazing creations, using BHF lamb and beef. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re sharing her very own recipe for Guinness lamb and beef stew — using our delicious meat, of course. It’s hearty and plentiful enough for the whole family to enjoy!

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Melina’s Guinness lamb and beef stew

Time: 2 1/2-3 hours
Prep work: 30-45 minutes
Serves: a lot; easily 6

Ingredients

1 pound BHF lamb stew meat
1 pound BHF beef stew meat
Oil for browning the meat
1 cup leftover brewed coffee
1 TBS anchovy paste (optional but great for building flavor)
1.5 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 bottles or large cans of Guinness beer
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
2 bay leaves
1 whole red onion, chopped
1 whole head of garlic sliced in half so it stays together
6 yellow potatoes, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 cup or so frozen peas
8 oz sliced mushrooms, sautéed
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

On the stove, heat a pan or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Coat the bottom of the Dutch oven with oil and brown the meat in batches.

While meat is browning, stir together coffee, anchovy paste and Worcestershire sauce. Prep the beer. When meat is browned on all sides, remove from the pan and set aside.

In the empty Dutch oven, over medium heat, make a roux. If you need more oil, add butter and let it melt. Sift in the flour a little at a time, whisking to get out any lumps. Stir constantly until the flour color has darkened to a brown gravy color, about 2-3 minutes. Add your coffee mix to the roux and stir to scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Slowly, add the beer, still stirring.

Add whole red onion, head of garlic, bay leaves and meat (plus the juices) back into the Dutch oven. Put the lid on and place in the oven for about 1.5 hours.

An hour before you want to eat, remove the pot from the oven and set on the stove, over medium heat. Add potatoes and carrots and cook with the lid half off for 30 minutes. Add the yellow onions and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook with the lid off for 30 minutes, at a simmer. Check your potatoes and carrots, make sure they are at the tenderness you want. When they are ready, add peas and mushrooms.

Shut off the stove and cover the stew with the lid. By the time you slice your bread, pour a drink and set the table, the stew will be ready.

Melina’s note: This makes a huge amount of stew, make sure your pot will hold it all! I like a lot of vegetables in my stews. You can definitely get away with much less and change the kinds to suit your own tastes. You can add in other herbs too; this recipe is plain. Normally, I would have added fresh rosemary and thyme, but Brandon and I agreed it was delicious without.