Beef in Guinness
Preparation...10 minutesCooking...90 minutesServes...four
- 900g Irish beef topside, trimmed and in large chunks
- seasoned flour
- 175g flat mushrooms, wiped
- two tbsp oil
- one onion, peeled and finely chopped
- two fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- few sprigs thyme
- 300ml beef stock (plus extra to top up if necessary)
- 330ml bottle Guinness
- two tsp Irish wholegrain mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- one sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- one egg beaten, for glazing
- watercress for decoration
Toss beef in seasoned flour and shake off excess. Slice mushrooms on the slant to give wide slices. Reserve.
Heat oil in a pan and fry onion and garlic over gentle heat to soften but not brown. Remove and reserve. Add beef chunks to pan in batches over high heat and toss around to brown all over.
Return onions and garlic to pan with thyme and pour over stock and Guinness and bring to bubbling. Add the mustard. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Turn down to simmer and put the lid 'half' over the pot for one hour.
Add mushroom slices, and top up with stock if necessary. Cook beef, still with the lid at 'half' for a further 30 minutes, or until beef is tender.
Meanwhile, cut puff pastry into four rectangles. Score with the point of a sharp knife and glaze with beaten egg. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 200 deg C until crisp and golden.
To serve, divide beef and mushrooms between four warmed serving plates and perch pastry on the side. Decorate with watercress.
Supplied by the Bord Bia
