Beef and Guinness-Style Habitant Pea Stew

About This Recipe

This stew draws on the tradition of Quebec's habitant cooking, hearty rural dishes built around dried legumes and whatever cut of meat was on hand, meant to feed a large family through a long winter. Yellow split peas simmer for hours alongside chunks of beef until both break down into a thick, cohesive stew, with the peas naturally thickening the broth without any flour or cornstarch needed. A simple base of onion, carrot and a bay leaf keeps the seasoning restrained, letting the long simmer do the work of developing flavor rather than relying on a long spice list. Browning the beef well before it goes into the pot builds a foundation the hours of simmering can draw from. This is unpretentious, deeply warming rural cooking, the kind of one-pot stew meant to be ladled generously over bread and eaten slowly on a cold winter night in the countryside outside Quebec's cities.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 lbbeef chuck(cut into chunks)
• 2 cupsdried yellow split peas(rinsed)
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 1yellow onion(diced)
• 2carrots(diced)
• 8 cupswater or beef stock
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 2 tspfine sea salt(to taste)
• 0.5 tspblack pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the beef

   Pat the beef dry and season with salt. Heat oil in a large pot and brown in batches, about 5-6 minutes per batch.

2. 2

   Cook the aromatics

   In the same pot, cook onion and carrots for 8 minutes until softened.

3. 3

   Add remaining ingredients

   Return the beef to the pot along with split peas, water or stock, bay leaves and thyme.

4. 4

   Simmer

   Bring to a boil, skim any foam, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1.5 to 2 hours until the peas break down and the beef is fork-tender.

   Stir every 20-30 minutes during the long simmer — the peas can settle and stick to the bottom of the pot if left completely undisturbed.

5. 5

   Check consistency

   The stew should be thick enough to coat a spoon heavily; if too thin, simmer uncovered a bit longer.

6. 6

   Season

   Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. 7

   Serve

   Serve hot with crusty bread.

Variations

• •

  Add a smoked ham hock alongside the beef for extra depth, a common regional variation.

• •

  Use lamb instead of beef for a different, slightly richer flavor.

• •

  Add diced potato in the last 30 minutes of cooking for extra heartiness.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 5 days; the stew thickens further as it sits, so thin with water or stock when reheating. Freezes well up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions