The leaves are falling and not from the drought but because there’s a nip in the air come the dark of the evening. No more of this blazing sunlight at almost 9 pm. Nope. By 6 o’clock, it’s time to be inside and contemplating what’s for dinner that is comforting and cozy. I love Autumn because all my comfort foods are the kind just perfect for a chilly night. Today’s recipe is spot on, IMO.

classic

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time: 3 hrs
Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
• 2 ½ pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided, or more to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste (pepper is always optional cuz I don’t like the taste)
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (14.9 ounce) can dark beer (Guinness is my go-to!)
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste–or none at all!
• 2 ½ cups beef stock, or as needed to cover
• 4 cups mashed potatoes (Optional) (I’d make extra because who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?!?

Directions

1. Prep ingredients.
2. Cook bacon in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat stirring until bacon is browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer bacon into a large stew pot, reserving bacon fat in the skillet.
3. Season beef chuck cubes generously with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to high under the skillet and sear beef pieces in the hot fat on both sides until browned, about 5 minutes. Place beef in the stew pot with bacon, leaving fat in the skillet.
4. Turn heat down to medium; cook and stir onions in the retained fat in the skillet until lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes.
5. Cook garlic with onions until soft, about 1 minute. Pour beer into the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up and dissolving any browned bits of food into the liquid.
6. Pour the liquid from the skillet into the stew pot. Stir in tomato paste, carrots, celery, thyme sprigs, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or not!), and enough beef broth to cover.
7. Bring stew to a gentle simmer, stirring to combine; reduce heat to low and cover pot.
8. Simmer stew until beef is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
9. Stir stew occasionally.
10. Remove cover and raise heat to medium-high. Bring stew to a low boil and cook until stew has slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
11. Arrange mashed potatoes in a ring in a serving bowl; ladle stew into the center of the potatoes. Serve.

Note: You can put chunks of potato in the stew but seriously, try the mashed potatoes first! Just sayin’…

A bit ago, faithful reader Patti asked for an Irish Stew recipe and I offered to poll the book’s characters to find one. Well, leave it to Finn, the “long-suffering” bartender at Clancy’s to step forward. “And don’t be knockin’ the mashed taters. M’stew is all kinds of tasty pub food. Hearty eatin’ it ’tis. While yer readers won’t be havin’ a handy way t’pull a pint of Guinness, the canned or bottled stuff works fine. Don’t be leavin’ it out now!” Let it be known that Finn had his stern face on. I’m not about to argue with the man. Anyway, you can grab your copy of MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON and go hang out at Clancy’s Irish Pub with Finn and the gang. All the Wolves gather there, especially since Ronan and Mick have offices right upstairs. Just click on any pic with the cover or the title to head over to Books2Read to find the on-line bookseller of your choice. So, readers, what’s your go-to comfort food when there’s a nip in the air?