When on the road I tend not to cook elaborate meals for a multitude of reasons not least of which is that there is very little enjoyment of eating a meal alone when you live in a frozen, cold water, walk up flat. Last night I decided that enough was enough. I was going to pull out all most some of the stops and make a pot of Guinness stew, garlic mashed potatoes, and some pan wilted cabbage. I stopped into the local butcher (I'm lucky enough to live between to family owned butchers who source their product locally, and process the meat in house) and bought about a pound of chuck steak nicely cubed for stewing.
You'll need:
1-1.5 400 mL Cans of Guinness (Pint to pint and a half)
1 large onion diced
1 large carrot sliced into rounds (or your favorite shape)
3 celery stocks sliced into small bits
2-3 cloves garlic smashed
1-2 lbs chuck steak or other cut for stewing cut into 1.5 inch cubes
flour to cover steak
seasoning of your choice for flour (I went with red chili, salt, and pepper)
Neutral Oil that can withstand high temp searing (general purpose olive, or veg / peanut)
Method:
Warm about a table spoon of oil in a dutch oven, or other oven proof pan, over medium / high heat while dredging the steak bits in the seasoned flour. Preheat the oven to 300˚. Add the meat, being careful not to crowd the pan, and sear on all sides, and remove from the pan. You may have to do this step in batches. Once all the meat has been browned add a splash of oil to the pan and toss in the diced onion. Add the carrot and celery to the pot once the onions begin to turn translucent. Cook the veggies, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until the celery goes a little soft, and add the garlic. Return the meat to the pan, and pour at least a pint of Guinness over the whole mess. Turn the heat up to to high, bring the pot to a boil, and put into preheated oven for 2-3ish hours. You can also cook this on the stove top by simmering for 2 hours.
The garlic mash is made better with a whole bunch of gruyere and a chopped green onion or two. I pan wilted the cabbage with butter and a hit of salt and pepper.