Irish Beef Stew

2-1/2# beef
1/4 c flour
salt and pepper
3 T oil
1 lg onion
4 lg cloves garlic
1 lg turnip
5 med potatoes
5-6 stalks of celery
12 carrots
1 beer

~put the cubed meat in a bowl
~generously sprinkle with salt and pepper
~add the flour and stir well, to coat the meat
~heat the oil in a dutch oven
~brown the meat in small batches (leave space between the cubes or the meat will sorta steam instead of browning. remove each batch before adding another)
~drain off any excess oil, but do NOT discard the little brown bits in the bottom of the pan!!
~return the meat to the pan
~pour the beer over the meat and let it simmer for a few minutes. the little brown bits will start to soften and come free from the bottom of the pan. gently scrape them up and stir them around.
~add all of the veggies to the pot
~add enough water to cover the whole thing
~bring it to a boil
~reduce the heat to get a nice little simmer going
~put the lid on, slight askew, and cook for several hours
~stir occasionally and add water as needed (you know how stew looks and how thick it should be, so don't add a bunch of water just before you serve it because it will not have enough time to cook down!)

This recipe will serve a lot (family sized)
Mimi's recipe.

Serve with Brown Soda Bread and Champ.
Oh Yum!!

Note: stew meat is fast and easy, but you can almost always get a roast on sale for less than the cost of stew meat. The cut of roast does not really matter because you are going to cube it up yourself and cook it long and slow.