Savoring Sarah

**Voting Now Open- Closes Wednesday!**

First off, thank you all SO SO much for supporting me & my lil bloggie in Project Food Blog! I can’t believe this happened, but I actually moved on to the next round. I was so impressed with every other entry for challenge #1, and am overwhelmed & honored to have the chance to continue on.

So, for challenge #2, we were asked to tackle a classic dish from another culture, and go somewhere outside our cooking comfort zone. After pondering for a bit what I could make that be a little more outside the box than Italian pasta, Mexican tamales, or Chinese stir fry (even though I am the QUEEN OF STIRFRIES), it hit me.

Irish. Guinness. Stew.

Three reasons why this is perfect for me:
#1. I am Irish. Ok, that was an easy point.

#2. I love Guinness. Again, easy point.

#3. There is nothing more comforting in the fall than a thick, rich, hearty stew. Even though I am constantly hearing about unseasonably warm temperatures everywhere else in the US, here in Northern Michigan, we have been having ridiculously chilly days. I’m talking grey skies, 20 mph winds, and highs in the 50’s.

What, that didn’t convince you to come visit? Fine. I shall instead bribe you with my delicious Guinness stew. I promise to save you a bottle from the six pack (blatant lie- it will probably be gone by 5pm. It IS Sunday, and the Lions ARE losing playing).

Irish Guinness Stew

1 lb beef stew meat

Flour to toss beef in

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, cleaned & chopped

2 giant cloves of garlic (3-4 normal sized cloves)

2 cups carrots, chopped

1 heart of celery, chopped

1/2 head cabbage, chopped

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 bottles guinness

2 cups beef stock (homemade!! seriously makes all the difference in the world.)

1 bag frozen peas

1. Preheat your pot over medium-high. Combine flour, salt, pepper & beef in a plastic ziplock, then shake shake shake. Add floured beef to pot & SEAR. Make it nice and brown. Don’t stir too often! You want a nice crust on your beef.

2. Remove browned beef from pot, reduce heat to medium & add leek and garlic. Saute 2-3 minutes, or until you can really smell the garlic. Add in carrots & celery. Saute another 7-10 minutes.

Looks burnt, but that is ALL FLAVA!!

3. Add chopped cabbage, tomato paste, guinness and beef stock. Stir to combine. I highly recommend tasting the guinness to ensure its quality.

4. Add beef back to pot, throw a lid on it, and let it simmer. 20 minutes, 2 hours- it’s up to you. The longer it cooks, the richer & thicker the flavor will be.  The beef will also become more tender as it cooks down. Right before serving, stir in the peas. The great thing about this stew is the depth of flavor it presents even with its simplicity of method & ingredients. This also was my biggest challenge and what took me outside my comfort zone. As someone who prefers to wing things as they go, adding bits of this and dashes of that, I struggle sometimes with keeping things simple. It was a really nice change to breate something that only dirtied one pot (SCORE), cost less than $10 to make, and really required little tending.

Serve over horseradish mashed potatoes. I also added some fresh sharp white cheddar. What doesnt taste better with cheese? Devour. Feel the warmth seep into your bones. Ignore the cloudy skies & the fact that it is mid-September and you’re huddled up on the couch in your thickest sweatshirt, under all of your blankets.

Florida is sounding really good right about now.