Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So, Cupcake and I have church tomorrow so we are having St. Patrick's Day dinner a day early. I told her the options, and she chose Beef and Guinness Stew and Colcannon. So we ran to the store this morning and got what we needed. And here it is:

Beef and Guinness Stew
1.5 lb beef chuck (I got a steak, as roasts are twice as big, and way more than two if us need), cut into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound baby carrots
Salt, pepper and dry thyme
1 bottle Guinness
2 teaspoons vegetable base (no extra liquid)
Dry instant potatoes

Layer beef, onions and carrots in 2.5qt crock pot, seasoning with salt and pepper after beef layer. Sprinkle thyme over the top, then pour the Guinness in. Then swirl the vegetable base paste into the Guinness. Cover, turn on high and cook 4-6 hours (or low for 8-10).

Turn cooker off, and sprinkle in enough potato flakes to thicken as you desire.


Colcannon
1 bunch kale, pulled off stems and torn into small pieces
1 stick butter (I used Kerrygold garlic and chive butter)
1.5 cups potato flakes
Water and milk

Melt butter in a pot and add kale. Cover and cook until tender.

In a large bowl, mix potato flakes and enough water to make very dry potatoes. Add kale and butter from pot. Stir, then add about 1/2 cup milk (more or less to taste). Then add enough water to make potatoes desired texture. Season with salt and pepper.

It is good and warm on this cold, drizzly St. Patrick's Eve. Enjoy!

First crock pot of the season

I bought a new crock pot. Not because there was anything wrong with the one I already had. It was just too big. For a family of two (me and my girl M), 5.5qts was more food than we needed, or didn't cook properly when not full enough. So when I saw a 2.5qt on sale, it was a go. It is a cute, seasonal one with owls on it :)

So today I cooked my beef and Guinness stew. Since we were home all day, and I didn't get my mojo moving early enough, I cooked it on high for about 3 hours. The recipe is my mental amalgamation of several different recipes I've gotten out of books and online. Here is what it was tonight:

1 3lb boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-2 in cubes
1/2 bottle Guinness (dispose of the other half as you see fit ;) )
Salt, pepper, dry thyme
Chopped onion, celery and carrot (I used half of a carton of pre-prepped mirepoix)
A big handful prunes, cut in half

Put everything in the pot, put on the lid, turn it on, and walk away. As I said, on high it was about 3 hours. Low maybe 6-8.

When it was done, I then added 1/2 to 3/4 cup instant potato flakes to thicken all the yummy stuff up. I was going to put in chopped red potatoes, but one was bad, and there wasn't room in my new little pot. Maybe I should get a smaller roast next time :)