Guinness Beef Stew

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef in batches to brown. Remove from pot and set aside on a plate.

Put Dutch oven back over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and celery and sauté until tender and lightly colored, about 5 minutes.

At this point, preheat oven to 360°F.

Stir tomato paste into onion mix in the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Pour in Guinness—careful, it will foam. Add minced sun-dried tomatoes and simmer over medium-high heat until liquid has reduced by half, about 5–10 minutes.

Add potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and beef stock to the Dutch oven. Add meat back in and stir well. Add bay leaf, if using. Firmly cover Dutch oven with its lid and put in preheated oven to cook for 1 hour. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as you like.

Give the stew some time to rest before serving. I prefer to let it cool almost completely, then reheating it to serve. But even a 10-minute rest will make the beef a lot more tender vs eating straight out of the oven.

Note: To make this in an electric slow cooker, follow the recipe until minced sun-dried tomatoes have been added. Then transfer the beer reduction, meat, vegetables and stock to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.