Exploring Irish Cooking: Vegetarian “Beef” and Guinness Stew

My protogrove’s Imbolc potluck theme was “get creative,” so I decided to do just that and play with a recipe for beef and Guiness stew in the Irish Traditional Cooking book.  To make it vegetarian, I first had to get the extra stout variety of Guinness brewed in North America.  It’s the only vegetarian variety.  Then, to be creative, I made seitan from scratch.  I used this recipe which is normally used for making vegetarian “ribs.”  The seitan comes out nice and chewy!  I chopped it into little cubes and added it to my stew of carrots, onions, and potatoes.  The book’s recipe said to serve with potatoes, so I just went ahead and made them a part of the pot.

It was a hearty dish with enough to share at a modest potluck.  I’m really happy with how it came out, but my husband, who never seems to get enough salt, felt it needed more of a savory flavor.  Definitely something to play with, but I generally try to limit the sodium we consume.