Beef, Carrots and Pearl Onions in Guinness Stout with Horseradish Dumplings

It is St. Patricks day and I was looking to make something using Irish stout when I stumbled across a recipe from British food writer Diana Henry in one of my cookbooks for a beef stew with Guinness.  Perfect!  I made a few modifications to suit my personal taste and hurried into the kitchen.

The result is a rich, deep and chocolatey beef stew perfect for a cool spring evening.  I particularly love the spicy horseradish dumplings which are the perfect replacement for potatoes in this dish.

I served this with buttered savoy cabbage for a wonderfully different Irish meal!

Beef, Carrots and Pearl Onions in Guinness Stout with Horseradish Dumplings
Serves 8

3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3lbs beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
1  lb baby carrots
12 oz. frozen pearl onions
1/4 cup dried barley
2 cups Guinness stout
3 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F

In a large heavy oven-proof pan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over high heat.  Add the beef, 1 lb at a  time and brown well.  Remove beef to a bowl between batches.

Add carrots and onions to pan and cook until lightly charred, about 5 minutes.  Add barley, stout, water, salt, pepper and sugar and stir until mixed.  Return beef to pan and bring just to a boil.

Cover pan with lid and transfer to oven.  Bake 2 hours. If your lid to your baking dish is not heavy and tight fitting, check after one hour to see if you need to add a little water to prevent the stew from drying out.

Drop dumplings into stew and bake, covered for 20 minutes, then remove lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently stir to mix dumplings into stew.

Serve hot with buttered savoy cabbage.

Horseradish Dumplings
1 small onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 3/4 cups dried breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 Tbsp creamed horseradish

Saute the onion in butter until tender.  In a bowl combine onion and remaining ingredients and mix until well mixed.  Form into walnut sized balls.