Guinness Beef Stew

I got together with my friend Nate to cook dinner the other night. He suggested something 'wintery' due to the cold weather and stew popped in my head. My dad makes a very good stew which I'd made before but I wanted to make something different. My housemate, Heather, told me about a stew her family makes that used Guinness, so I asked her for the recipe. It had very few ingredients and was very easy to make.

Below is the recipe and directions with my input.

Ingredients: 
1 kg rump steak (I just used normal stewing beef)
2 tablespoons drippings (I used some bacon fat that I had lying around)
2 large brown onions (I just noticed the recipe calls for two, I only used one!)
2 cloves of garlic (I through in a little extra, because why not?)
1/4 plain flour
1 cup beef stock (definitely did not seem like enough liquid, I ended up using 2 cups)
1 cup Guinness (I used a whole 'tall can')
2 large carrots, sliced
2 bay leaves,
1 sprig fresh thyme (I through in a couple)
ground pepper

Additions this time:
Salt
Potatoes

Additions next time:
Green beans

Directions: 
1. If not already, cut beef into 1 inch cubes or bite size pieces. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of drippings in a pot (which you will use to cook your stew in) and cook onions until pale golden. Add garlic. Cook for another minute. Remove from pan, set aside.
2. In the same pan, heat the remaining drippings and add meat. Cook quickly until the meat is brown on all sides. Reduce the heat and stir in the flour until the meat is coated.
3. Pour in beef stock and stir - should turn into a thick smooth sauce. Add the Guinness and stir. Let the mixture simmer and then add in the onions, carrots and herbs (I also add some bite sized potato pieces at this point).
4. Simmer gently for 1 and 1/2 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally. Sauce will reduce and thicken.

The stew was good, but I think it was missing a green vegetable. Hence my suggestion for green beans! I'm also really glad I added the potatoes. The meat was perfectly tender and the vegetables were cooked at an hour and we were bored of waiting so we ate it!

Great mix up from traditional stew. The Guinness provides an interesting taste!