Irish Beef and Stout Stew

Is it just me or have I made a lot of soups lately? I must be in a soup-ish mood. I think its the changing of the seasons (or my deep desire for the seasons to change and their inherent resistance to do so). We had a flash thunderstorm recently in the early afternoon with the bright sun still shining. It was like 75 degrees out, sunny and raining like crazy.



It was pretty stinking cool.



I wish it were colder, but its getting there. I'm breaking out the crock pot early this year, and I won't apologize for it. (I just mis-typed Crock Pot as "crack pot" and it may as well be. I'm wholly addicted.)



Irish Beef and Stout Stew
Everyday Food, October 2008



It was a bit too ... stouty. I halved the recipe but I did lazy-man's math, which basically means I just threw in whatever I had around. Four pounds of beef chuck became one pound, 2.5 pounds of potatoes became 5 potatoes, total. (It was all I'd bought. It looked like a lot at the time.) And the rest of the recipe got halved, including half a can of Guinness stout. I think if I had used more meat-and-potatoes and less beef broth and stout, it would have been a more "stew" type consistency (which is what I wanted). The end result was too soupy for my taste.

But it actually tasted quite good.



And (you will be so proud of me) I froze the leftovers in single-servings for work lunches. I am shocked that I actually have TWO different frozen soups in the freezer now, ready to grab at a moment's notice for a lunch. I had a frozen minestrone today, in fact. (Nevermind that the potato had turned to complete mush after I microwaved it back from the frozen beyond. It still tasted okay. And as God is my witness, I made it myself and I will eat it all.)