Today’s post comes from my sister-in-law, Meg and her boyfriend Russell. A dangerous combination in the kitchen, these two love whipping up healthier alternatives and testing out Paleo recipes on the weekends. When my friends at Sapporo reached out, offering samples of their beer, I initially kindly refused, knowing that it’s far too difficult to ship beer to Switzerland. But, within seconds, I realized that Meg and Russell would love using the beer as recipe inspiration. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, this beer beef stew recipe will warm you right up!
Happy Spring everyone! I hope it is is sunny and warm wherever you are, but here in New York, the cold weather has lingered a bit. Yesterday, Russell and I found it a bit too cold and windy for outdoor adventures but not cold enough to continue winter hibernation. So, we decided to spend the day cooking.
This recipe takes a while but, the majority of that time, the food is in the oven. This is a great stew to make during a Netflix binge and since the new season of House of Cards is out, that’s exactly what we did.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 (1-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 (22-ounce) Sapporo beer
- 1 bay leaf
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 9 ounces small turnips, peeled and cut into wedges (or one large turnip cut into chunks)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 3-4 Parsnips, peeled and cut into ½-inch thick slices
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 300°.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Season beef with salt and pepper. Then coat with flour.
- Add beef to pan; cook until brown on all sides.
- Add the broth, half of the beer, garlic, and bay leaf. Keep scraping pan to remove browned bits.
- Bring to a boil. Cover and bake at 300° for 1 1/2 hours.
- While the beef is in the oven, I chop all of my veggies
- Add carrots, turnips, parsnips and onion and bake (covered) an additional 1 hour and 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender and beef is fork-tender.
- Remove beef and vegetables from pan; discard bay leaf. Cover beef mixture; keep warm.
- Strain the cooking liquid.
- Put the liquid back into the Dutch oven, uncovered on the stove.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Add the second half of the beer and allow the liquid to reduce for 20 -30 minutes or until it has reached a consistency that you like.
- Serve the vegetable and meat mixture in a bowl, and pour desired amount of liquid on top.
*Thank you to Sapporo for the complimentary product samples and inspiration!
One of the most annoying things in the kitchen is doing prep work with a dull knife. It is less efficient, you end up crushing things rather than cutting them, and it is actually more dangerous. Even if you don’t want to spend $1,000 on a full set of high-end knives, spend around $20 on a simple sharpener and keep your knives sharp.
I will readily admit that I likely wouldn’t have one of these if it weren’t for Ashley. My mother never had one and I originally saw them as old-fashion and unnecessary. However, I now know that this is one of the most useful pans in the kitchen. It’s high specific heat means that it takes longer to bring up to temperature but it also looses heat slower than copper or steal. It is perfect when you need to brown meat, its great when making an integrated sauce and goes perfectly into the oven. I even use it rather than a roasting pan when I make roasted chicken as I like the way that it radiates and helps brown the skin.
This is an incredibly useful kitchen tool. Use it to grate ginger, Parmesan and nutmeg as well as to zest citrus. The texture is unlike anything you get with any other tool.
I have always loved strong coffee and I think that the flavor that is produced by a French press cannot be replicated by any other means. I would also love to own a really nice espresso machine but I can never seem to bring myself to spend the money. 
This is a bit of a silly one but I LOVE popcorn. I also love having the ability to make it fresh, hot, and to control the amount of oil used. I remember trying Healthy Choice popcorn once and thinking that it was the most disgusting thing that I had ever put in my mouth. The stuff that comes out of here is just as healthy but tastes great!