turnip&bean: Braised Beef & Roasted Root Vegetable Irish Stew ft. Wellington Brewery Dark Ale

Being Irish (my last name is McMahon...C'mon!) my family celebrates St. Patrick's Day, like any holiday, with good food and uses it an an excuse to drink slightly in excess. In my expert opinion, the holiday is not the same without a hearty Irish stew. It's been tradition for the past few years that I make up a stew to share with family and friends, enjoyed with a cold beer. This year was, of course, no exception!

So, call up your friends and family, tell them to come over and bring some beer, and cook up this awesome St. Patty's Day classic.

Braised Beef & Roasted Root Vegetable Irish Stew ft. Wellington Brewery Dark Ale

3 lbs stewing beef, cubed

2 lbs baby red skin potatoes, whole

3 parsnips, sliced into 1 inch pieces

3 carrots, sliced into 1 inch pieces

1 leek, sliced

1 large onion

1 bunch of kale
1 cup of frozen peas

10 cloves of garlic

4 cups No Salt Added Beef Stock

2 tall cans Wellington Brewery Dark Ale (or a dark beer)

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Extra virgin olive oil

Fresh parsely (optional)

Dash cayenne pepper (optional)

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper. In a roasting pan, add the seasoned beef, one onion quartered, five cloves of garlic, one of the cans of beer and approximately one cup of the beef stock. Place lid firmly on roasting pan and place in the oven. Cook at the low temperature for 3 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare all of the vegetables: the red skin potatoes, parsnips, carrots and leeks. Place the vegetables on a baking pan, season with salt and pepper and coat with olive oil. Once the beef has been in the oven for 3 hours, increase the temperature to 400°C. With the beef in the oven still, place the baking sheet of vegetables in the oven as well. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized.

Remove the beef and the vegetables from the oven. Place the vegetables in a large stew of stock pot and remove the beef from the liquid in the roasting pan; reserve the cooking liquid and onions from the bottom of the pan.

In a blender, place the reserved cooking liquid with garlic and onions, add the rest of the stock and blend until smooth. Add it to the stock pot with the vegetables, beef and also add the other beer. Mix in the Dijon mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper. On a medium heat, bring the stew up to a boil and add in the chopped kale and frozen peas. Turn down the heat to very low temperature and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Taste the stew and season to your liking with salt and pepper. Once you are ready to serve add in the 4 tablespoons of butter.

Serve with some fresh chopped parsley on top and with Irish soda bread, biscuits or rolls on the side. And don't forget to enjoy this stew with your favorite cold beer!