Easy-as Beef 'n' Guiness Stew

This weekend I'm inviting my workmates over to my home to mark Food Revolution Day.  Most of us are foodies or at least love eating food, so gatherings with us and food are always fun ones.   What's so great about our gatherings over food is also that we represent so many backgrounds - Filipino, Malaysian, Spanish, Venezuelan, Indian, Middle Eastern - and of course me - a bit of everything.  The challenge is for all my guests to bring something that they love to eat or cook that's made from scratch.

Food Revolution Day is about getting back to basics, reinforcing or discovering where our food comes from - and raising money to go into programs that helps educate kids to make healthier choices and have that understanding about where food comes from - you all know a cause I am most passionate about!

So given this is a revolution run by and inspired by Jamie Oliver I thought I would try and spread the world and inspire you also to register a dinner party an even or go along to one..

So onto the recipe - This is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution Cookbook 'basic stew' recipe - beef and ale variation.... I found a lovely blade roast reduced at the supermarket so used that - you can use any kind of stewing steak - blade steak, gravy beef etc.  

Ingredients:

1kg blade steak

2 large onions, diced

4 large carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 bay leaves

2 tb plain flour

1 420g tin peeled tomatoes

500ml guinness or stout of choice

Using a blade roast meant I could dice it consistently.. Luckily I got two - because I like doing it that way!

Good right?

Try and dice all your veges at roughly the same size, helps them cook evenly.. (carrots are from our garden, soo sweet and lovely!)

Ok, so get started and slosh some oil in the bottom of a heavy based pan or frypan with a lid.  Add your veges and cook them until the onions become transparent and the veges have 'sweated' (i.e. glisten)

Add the meat, bay leaves and flour, toss it around well.

Whilst that is cooking, add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until meat is totally browned..

Next add in your Guinness - or stout.. it will foam up a little at first and then simmer down.

Turn down the hob to it's lowest and put the lid on, or put in the oven (again with lid on) at 160 degrees c.. your choice!

Cook for about 2.5 hours - give it a bit of stir at the 1 hour and 2 hour marks...

I served mine with baked garlic and rosemary potatoes, but you could do mash or rice if you like..

Have I inspired you at all?

Maybe you could make it at your own Food Revolution Day dinner party?

If you can't go along to one or can't host one, you can still contribute - you can donate here to the Food Revolution via my dinner party!

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