Monday, March 16, 2009

Crock Pot Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Coffee



I am going into Manhattan tomorrow to see a little of the 248th Saint Patrick's Day Parade marching up 5th Avenue in New York City, so I will be making and serving my traditional corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda bread today, so that my husband and I can re-heat leftovers tomorrow evening for dinner.

Another favorite crock pot recipe that is wonderful to make for Saint Patrick's Day, or any day when you are busy, and don't have time to spend in the kitchen, is Crock Pot Guinness Beef Stew.

Crock Pot Guinness Beef Stew

3 pounds beef chuck roast cut into one inch cubes one cup all purpose flour
oil for skillet
1 large onion sliced into wedges
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 pound each carrots, and potatoes, cut into chunks
12 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 Tbsp tomato paste
I bottle Guinness stout beer
1 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Evenly coat the meat with the flour. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil When a drop of water sizzles once dropped in the skillet, the pan is ready to have the meat added. Brown each side of the meat without allowing it to stick.

Meanwhile add all other dry ingredients, except mushrooms, to the crockpot and turn on low.When meat is browned, place in the crock pot. Pour over the broth, stout and tomato paste

Cook for 4-5 hours on high heat, or 8 hours on low. About 30 minutes before the cooking time will end open the lid and add the sliced mushroom and stir well. Remove bay leaves at this time, return lid and continue cooking until mushrooms are soft

This stew is wonderful served with a side of hot biscuits!

Another variation I enjoy is using egg noodles instead of potatoes. I cook all the same as the recipe above, leaving out the potatoes and adding a pound of cooked egg noodles instead, along with the mushrooms, for the last 30 minutes. I sometimes also added a 10 ounce box of defrosted frozen peas in the last 30 minutes of cooking time.

The Guinness adds a deep richness to the stew broth, and you can add any spice combination you like to suit your own tastes. It is a hearty, versatile stew!


If you are having a party tomorrow you might consider making an Irish coffee for dessert.

This is the famous Irish coffee served at The Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco, where America's first Irish coffee was made in 1952.

Here is the story of how it was invented as told by Wikipedia:

"The original Irish coffee was invented by Joseph Sheridan, a head chef at Foynes, County Limerick. Foynes' port was the precursor to Shannon International Airport in the west of Ireland; the coffee was conceived after a group of American passengers disembarked from a Pan Am flying boat on a miserable winter evening in the 1940s. Sheridan added whiskey to the coffee to warm the passengers. After the passengers asked if they were being served Brazilian coffee, Sheridan told them it was Irish coffee

Stanton Delaplane, a travel writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, brought Irish coffee to the United States after drinking it at Shannon Airport, when he worked with the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco to start serving it on November 10, 1952, and worked with the bar owners Jack Koeppler and George Freeberg to recreate the Irish method for floating the cream on top of the coffee."

The recipe is on the Buena Vista web site --they serve as many as 2,000 of these famous Irish Coffees each day! They also have other beverage selections and a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.

There is a lot of showmanship that goes on at the Buena Vista bar as a multitude of hot sweetened coffees are lined up and the barista pours the whiskey from up high quickly into each glass, and then tops them off with lightly whipped cream. As fast as he can line them up and make them, another round is soon begun.

My husband and I enjoyed visiting San Francisco in 2007, and of course we had to drop by Buena Vista and try an Irish coffee. It is a wonderful way to warm up after a cool day spent sightseeing at Fisherman's Warf.

Tomorrow, I will also be meeting two blogger friends, Diane, of A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words, and Laura, of Shorehouse Chic for lunch. It's going to be an exciting day!

I hope you all will have a wonderful Saint Patrick's Day!

"May you be poor in misfortune,
rich in blessings,
slow to make enemies and quick to make friends.
And may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward."

~ a traditional Irish toast


29 comments:

Proud Italian Cook said...

Happy (soon to be)St. Patricks Day Pat! Your stew sounds so good! I just bought some fresh baked soda bread today with Irish butter, heaven!! I wish I had one of those Irish coffes with it!

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

I am dancing a little jig in excitement over our meet-up! If only I could have a mid-day Irish coffee. Sigh...

:-)

Anonymous said...

I could live on Irish Coffee! Happy St. Patrick Day to you too.

Kathy said...

Hi Pat, thank you for the irish friend(ship) toast, it was perfect. Your stew looks pretty perfect too, Vanni will love it. I am awaiting your return to SF. It sound's like you and DH are going to have a busy St Patrick's day tomorrow, hope you have a fun day with fellow bloggers and at the parade. We fly back tomorrow so I hope they are serving irish coffee on the flight :-). have fun, hugs, Kathy.

Anonymous said...

This recipe sounds wonderful! Thank you so much. Happy Saint Patrick's Day ♥ I hope you take pictures of the parade.

Tracy said...

Please pass me one of those Irish coffees, Pat! :o) My hubby would love the food here...Have fun at the parade tomorrow! Hubby and I will be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow--yes, on St. Patrick's Day! Happy Days, my friend ((HUGS))

Bo said...

Hi pat...your stew photos have my mouth watering! How fun for you blogging girls to have a meet 'n greet! Wish I could be there...
;-) Bo

Vee said...

How cool to provide the recipe in time for St. Patrick's Day. If I had a crockpot, I'd be trying this one for sure. It looks wonderful.

Have a lot of fun tomorrow, Pat. I know that you enjoy meeting new bloggy friends.

RoeH said...

I love beef stew. And that looks so good. If we ever get another cold day here in AZ, I'm totally making it.

supplies overflowing! said...

Have a wonderful day in the city, and just to add a note, (not that anyone is counting) here are more calories in a pint of orange juice, than a pint of Guinness! Happy St. Pat's Day, Pat!

Elisa Day said...

Sounds wonderful! I love Ireland, I have been there three times

Linda Lou said...

Have a great time with Laura and other gal--Laura always cracks me up!! I am gonna have to check out that bar in San Francisco when I go up for a visit in a few weeks-Happy St. Patricks Day!

Nola said...

I'm making stew for dinner; I MIGHT sacrifice a bottle of Guinness to it! This is the only time of the year I buy Guinness, but I gotta have one on St Paddy's day. Have a great time tomorrow; can't wait to see the photos!

SmilingSally said...

I like the idea of substituting noodles for potatoes. Your stew looks good.

Meeting Diane for lunch? Watching a St. Patrick's Day parade? Okay, I'm officially GREEN!

About Blue Monday: just get your post ready ahead of time, and you'll find how easy that day goes.

Just A Girl said...

Hi Pat,
Happy St. Patty's day early!! I hope you enjoy the day!

Judy said...

What a wonderful Irish 'toast'...I like that.

Have a fun time meeting your new bloggy-friends...and celebrating St. Patricks Day.

Willow said...

All these things about my state I never knew! The origin of Irish Coffee in San Francisco...

Thanks for your birthday wishes. I'm off with Ellen to celebrate with tea.

Carol Murdock said...

Pat...wonderful Irish post and toast! I did an Irish post myself to celebrate my Irish Ancestry.
Your stew looks so good I plan on cooking it for tomorrow.Have to send hubby for the beer though.
Have fun with your bloggy buddies, wish I could have lunch with you guys!
Carol

Kat Mortensen said...

Great idea with the egg noodles! I made a Guinness Irish stew once and it was a huge hit. I followed it up with homemade gingerbread and whipped cream.
I've been doing a series for St. Pat's for a few days as well. Come on over when you get a minute.

Kat

Anonymous said...

Oh! That stew looks mad good! Happy St Paddy's!

Sue said...

Hi Pat....I'm so jealous!! I want to join in for lunch...I love Miss Laura!! Give her a big hug from me please...and maybe soon if i ever get to move back to Jersey I can join you guys....Have a wonderful time....Sue.

CatHerder said...

yum yum yum!!! I have to work tomorrow, so i just set up the crockpot....i layered the corned beef, cabbage potatoes and onions...its in the fridge till 5 am when i get up....i will get it on around 6 or so...so when i get home the house will smell good! ....Guinness? OMG only my favorite...im making Guinness beer bread to go with dinner tomorrow as well...HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!

Susie Q said...

Your recipe looks just so good. Love a wonderful beef stew!
How wonderful that you will meet with two bloggy friends! What fun and on St. Patrick's Day too!

Have a sweet day...I am wearing a green with envy face over you seeing the parade!! *smile* have fun!! I know you will share it all with us!!

Love,
Sue

~Cheryl said...

Geeez....another post where I'm about ready to lick the computer screen! Have fun on your outing!

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

That beef stew sounds wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Pat,
I've been having technical difficulties so I'm behind on my blogging. Hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day--that stew looks great! Don't forget to wear green tomorrow or somebody will pinch you!!

Junie Moon said...

I love the stories you tell, I always learn so much. I've never had so much as a sip of coffee in my whole life and your post is tempting me to give it a try.

I really appreciate the recipe you've shared. I have all the ingredients and have been pondering for the last hour what exactly to make for tomorrow's festivities. You've saved me! I'm going to make your recipe. Thanks!

Louise said...

We often have stews and casseroles, infact we had lamb stew only yesterday, with dumplings! Your beef Guinness stew looks absolutely delicious, and I often throw a few peas into ours. What are hot biscuits Pat? x

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Pat, I'm starting to think I'm going daft. I thought I had posted on here, and I went back to say that I loved reading this again to find I hadn't. HELP! The gremlins have teamed up with the leprechauns against me! ;-) I do love all of your recipes. I love to read recipes, and I dream of what it would be like if I could actually cook! LOL! :-)

XO,

Sheila