This recipe sort of happened by accident and ensuing necessity.
A little backstory: my mother likes Guinness. Now, my partner and I have a membership to a certain popular wholesale retailer who shall remain nameless, and it was on one of our epic monthly stock up visits that I spotted some bottled Guinness in a tray of 24 and thought I was doing a Good Thing when I hauled a pack into my trolley (which was nearly as tall as me so this was some feat).
Problem is, with my knowledge of Guinness being embarrassingly limited for someone of Irish heritage (think Temple Bar and the Cheltenham Festival and not much beyond), what I didn’t realise was that I was actually buying the Nigerian-brewed version of the drink – which as it turns out is a very different beast. Who knew…
So what’s the different, I hear you ask? Surely Guinness is Guinness is Guinness…right?
Wrong! Turns out it’s more of a distant cousin of the stuff that is the lifeblood of central Dublin’s tourism scene and a distant cousin with it’s own distinct character at that, brewed with sorghum rather than barley, with a very different flavour profile and – brace yourself – traditionally served very well chilled.
Yes. Cold.
Needless to say I tried some out of curiosity and I wasn’t displeased. The flavour is reminiscent of really high-cocoa level, bitter dark chocolate – certainly not unpleasant but perhaps not to everyone’s taste when the expectation is a smooth malty Irish draught version.
Basically, it’s designed to travel well and stand up to the bold and vibrant flavours of Nigerian cooking…and I suddenly had 24 bottles of it to either adjust to as a tipple or…maybe have some fun with in the kitchen instead.
So, during a summer that never really got started then turning into another autumn, my mind was, as it always does in mid-August, starting to turn to my favourite season. Autumn, fall, whatever you want to call it. I love the prospects and excitement of spring but autumn has always been special to me, and this is the first one in our new home, so I decided to try to make something to herald in the cosier evenings with some comforting soul food – and it struck me that this might be just the ingredient to give an autumnal stew a little edge.
Which it did! Adding a real punchy depth of flavour and bringing together herbs, beef, carrots and beans in a glossy, thick and rich gravy and coping admirably well with the long and slow cook that the beef really needed.
Over a few attempts at tweaking this recipe, that 24-bottle tray has slowly been disappearing, but I think it’s a fairly safe bet that, once the last bottle has been popped open and used (or possibly enjoyed as intended!), there might well be a repeat purchase – and this time I’ll not only know what I’m buying but also precisely why I’m buying it.
INGREDIENTS
500g good quality braising steak cut into generous chunks
1 x onion, diced
2 x garlic cloves diced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 x sprig thyme, left on stalk
2 x med / large carrots, cut into 1cm round
400ml stock, beef and vegetable mix
1 x bottle Nigerian blend Guinness
1 x tin cannellini bins
METHOD
- Sweat off onions and garlic and tomato paste in a large frying pan.
- Add stock and half the Guinness. Cook out alcohol on a slow simmer. Transfer to casserole dish (lidded) with thyme (leave on stalk and remove later when leaves have fallen away).
- Brown the meat thoroughly – you want to properly brown as much of it as you can – with a generous seasoning of black pepper, then transfer to casseole dish.
- Deglaze pan with remaining Guinness. Add to casserole dish.
- Cook at 180 fan for an hour, then add carrots and beans. Adjust liquid if needed.
- After another hour, check liquid levels. Carrots should be soft and meat starting to become very tender. Add cornflour with water to thicken, then return to oven, lid off for twenty minutes if required.
The Food Waffle 