Walking off the Guinness!

We bought a six pack of Guinness Extra Stout last week to be prepared for today, but weren't quite sure what to cook up with it. A run down to the base to get honey a new ID card gave us an excuse to do a little shopping and we found some Kerrygold Dubliner cheese from Ireland to enjoy as a little side snack.

But for the main course, we opted for this Guinness Pork Stew.

I started with a Lamb Stew recipe from Closet Cooking. But, we didn't have lamb and I didn't want to take the time to run around looking for it. So, I pulled a chunk of pork roast out of the freezer and came up with this.

Once I had the pork and onions simmering, I took off for a walk around the Academy near our house, about 5 miles total.

I got home a few minutes before the stew was ready to add the carrots and potatoes. After stirring them in to the stew and bringing them to a boil, I hit the shower to clean up and got back just in time to catch the timer and check the potatoes. The potatoes were fine, but the carrots which I added at the same time as the potatoes were still a bit crunchy when we ate.

But, overall we really liked how this stew turned out. The bottle of stout and the beef broth deepened the flavor so it didn't have quite the usual pork taste. In fact, we both thought it was delicious!

Usually, I would make an Irish Soda Bread as well. But, since it was just the pair of us dining and we don't need the extra starch, we just enjoyed a slice of dark rye bread to dip in the broth.

Guinness Pork Stew

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oil

2 pounds pork, cut into small chunks or bite-sized pieces

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped (about 4 teaspoons)

2 Tablespoons flour

1 12 ounce bottle Guinness Dark Extra Stout

1-2 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

6 medium or small red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

4 carrots, cut into bite sized pieces

1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the pork and brown on each side, stirring several times.

2. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.

4. Sprinkle in the flour and stir thoroughly to make a thick mixture. Add the bottle of Guinness and 1 cup of beef broth to cover the meat and onions.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the pork is fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Add the carrots and simmer for about 15 minutes. The carrots need a little more cooking time than the potatoes, at least if you cut them in fairly small pieces like I did.

7. Add the potatoes and some more beef broth, up to 1 cup to cover. 

8. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium or a bit lower and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

9. Serve the stew in a bowl and garnish with the fresh parsley.