• Starter Recipes
•  
• Main Course Recipes
•  
• Dessert Recipes

Beef and Guinness Casserole

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas 4

Heat the butter and oil in a casserole dish over a medium to high heat. Add one third of the meat and brown on all sides for 3-4 minutes. Don’t add all the meat at once otherwise it will stew. Brown it in stages, seasoning with salt and pepper as you do and transferring to a separate dish once complete.

Don’t worry if some of the meat sticks to the base. This just gives the finished dish extra flavour. Place one third of the Guinness into the empty pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the residue from the bottom of the pot, this is called deglazing. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for 1-2 minutes to cook out the puree.

Return the meat to the pot along with the rest of the Guinness, the stock, add Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Bring the mixture up to the boil, place the lid on and transfer to the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Take the pot out every 30 minutes and stir, in case anything catches on the bottom.

After 1 hour and 15 minutes add the carrots and onions. Put the lid back on and cook for a further 30 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and stir well to coat. Place back in the oven with the lid off. The mushrooms release a lot of moisture at this point and some of it will need to escape. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes.

When ready, remove from the oven and stir in the chopped parsley. Then season again to your taste. Serve into warm bowls with some creamy mash or tasty colcannon. Comfort food at its best. YUM!

If you want the sauce to become a little thicker, pour the sauce out of the pot and reduce until it is thick and glossy. Alternatively you can add cornflower.