I like celebrating holidays. All sorts of holidays, whatever their cultural or religious significance. I'm all for partying, whatever the cause. So when St. Patrick's day snack on me, I wanted to do something to mark it. Corned beef and cabbage is just not my style, but I had a great Irish stew at the Wilkenny Irish pub & restaurant in my home city of La Plata and I figured it'd be enjoyable to make it myself. And, as we were going to spend St. Patrick's evening with a bunch of friends at a cabin in Truckee, I'd get to share it as well.
I found this highly rated
IRISH BEEF STEW Recipe at Epicurious.com and made some of the recommended modifications, such as using more beef, reducing the amount of beef broth, adding salt and a guiness. The stew was certainly better the next day, but I was all in all disappointed with it. It's not that different from the stew I usually make (except that rather than broth and beer I use tomato sauce and wine, and add a bunch of different herbs and spices) but more work (in that you have to cook the veggies separately) and the results are definitely less tasty.
Oh well, at least we had a little of the Irish on St. Patrick's day.