Irish Beef Stew

Ingredients

• Beef chuck

  Arm pot roast, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/8" fat, choice, raw

  2 ¼ lb or 1.02kg

• Salt

  Table

  ¾ tsp or 5g

• Pepper

  Spices, white

  ½ tsp, ground or 1g

• Canola oil

  2 tbsp or 28g

• Onions

  Raw

  1 small or 70g

• Carrots

  Raw

  4 medium or 244g

• Celery

  Raw

  4 stalks, large (11 inches long) or 256g

• Tomato paste

  Canned, without salt added

  1 tbsp or 16g

• Beer

  Guinness, Draught - Guinness

  12 oz or 340g

• Thyme

  Fresh

  2 tsp or 2g

• Beef broth soup

  Bouillon, consomme, prepared with equal volume water

  4 cup or 964g

• Potato

  Flesh and skin, raw

  680g

• Cornstarch

  2 tbsp or 15g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  2 tbsp or 30g

• Parsley

  Raw

  2 tbsp or 8g

Directions

1. Sprinkle beef all over with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef; cook, turning to brown on 2 or 3 sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the browned beef to a bowl; repeat the process with the remaining beef and 1 tablespoon oil.
2. Add onion, carrots and celery to the drippings in the pot; cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add beer and thyme; cook, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any browned bits, until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add broth and the beef (with any accumulated juices in bowl); bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until the beef is mostly tender, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes; cover and cook until the beef and potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Whisk cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl. Increase heat to high; add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley. If desired, garnish with additional parsley.