A Recipe for Black Velvet Beef Stew (a.k.a. Snakebite Stew)

Okay, so here’s the story. Back in my pub night filled misspent youth I used to like ordering this drink which was a mix of hard cider and stout (usually Guinness). It’s known as a Black Velvet, or sometimes it’s called a Snakebite.

Last night I was making stew for dinner. I often add beer to our stew. This time, thinking back to the taste of that Black Velvet drink, I thought… Hey why not add stout AND cider? Luckily I still had a few Green Mountain Hot Apple Cider Mix K-cups on hand, so I was able to use my Keurig to brew up a hot cider lickety-split.

As the stew simmered away I taste tested the broth and thought it was the perfect mix of beef and stout with a bit of sweetness from the cider. The meat turned out very tender, not the least bit chewy. And the broth was just the Snakebite-flavour I was craving. The big test though was to see how my “Black Velvet Stew” went over with hubby and the kids. I was happy to find it got passing grades all around.

RECIPE FOR BLACK VELVET STEW

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound stewing beef, cubed
1 small onion, diced.
2 cloves garlic
1 can or bottle of dark or stout beer
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp Rosemary
1 small bag of prepeeled baby carrots
2 Green Mountain Hot Apple Cider k-cups
Beef broth, about 2 cups worth
4 tbsp cornstarch
About 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks.

DIRECTIONS

• In a medium or large skillet heat up the olive oil over medium-high heat.

• Added the cubed beef and brown it on all sides (a few minutes per side).

• Leaving the oil in the skillet, move the beef into a large pot (one that has a lid).

• Turn skillet down to medium, or medium-low.

• Add diced onions to skillet, cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently.

• Add garlic and cook until soft, about 1 minute.

• Add one beer, mins a few swigs, to the skillet.
  (I used Railway City Black Coal Stout because that’s what we happened to have kicking around the fridge. Any good dark beer or stout should do the job. I mean, pick something you like the taste of, obviously.)

• Stir well. Be sure to scrape up any browned bits along the bottom of the pan.

• Pour the beer, onions and garlic into the stew pot.

• Add thyme and rosemary.

• Give everything a good stir.

• Add carrots to the pot.

• Brew two 8 ounce ciders using the Green Mountain Hot Apple Cider k-cups and add those to the pot.

• Add enough beef broth that everything is covered in liquid (for me this was a bit less than two cups).

• Put the pot on the stove and bring it to a simmer.

• Give it a good stir. Reduce heat to low. Put a lid on it and cook for one hour.

• Dissolve 4 tbsp cornstarch in 4 tbsp cold water. Add this to the stew and stir, stir, stir. stir.

• Add potatoes to the pot. Put the lid back on and leave it cooking on low for another half hour.

• Take the lid off and let it cook for about thirty minutes more.

And, voila. Stew is served.

I suggest serving it with pints of stout for the grown-ups, and warm glasses of hot apple cider for the kids.

Disclosure: Keurig sent me some Green Mountain Hot Apple Cider Mix to sample, and I ended up using it in this recipe. As always my words and opinions are my own.