“Meat Likes Guinness” — Four Sisters Serve Up Irish Comfort in a Florida Strip Mall
About 15 miles outside Jacksonville, Florida, in the beach town of Atlantic Beach, four sisters turned their family dream into reality. Mary Jane, Michelle, Linda, and Ana Cohan opened Cohan’s Irish Pub in a strip mall, and according to Guy Fieri, they’re “running the real deal Irish pub” with recipes passed down from their mother and grandmother in Ireland.
The sisters brought in longtime friend Olive Davis as head chef — though as Mary Jane admitted, “I tricked her. I was like, come on, I just need you part time, and then I threw her in.” Now Olive’s cranking out all the family favorites, and the Guinness Stew had Guy declaring, “This is rich, flavorful, full of depth — it’s outstanding.”
The House Seasoning Blend That Goes in Everything
Before diving into the stew, Guy got a lesson in Cohan’s secret weapon: their house seasoning blend. This isn’t your standard salt-and-pepper situation. Olive walked him through the ingredients: white pepper, black pepper, dry oregano, dry basil, garam masala, curry powder, clove, nutmeg (a lot of it, as Guy noted), kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, granulated garlic, roasted granulated garlic, dried mustard, sugar, and Montreal steak seasoning.
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“Who made this recipe?” Guy asked. “I did,” Olive replied proudly. And yes, you can buy a jar of it up front.
Building the Guinness Beef Stew From Scratch
The stew starts with top bottom round — “a lot of flavor, a lot of connective tissue,” the kind of meat you trim clean and cook long. The cubed beef marinates overnight in Guinness beer with the house seasoning and fresh thyme, tenderizing enough to cook in three to four hours.
But the real depth comes from a serious demi-glace. Olive roasts veal bones with carrots, onions, leek, and celery for an hour and a half. She deglazes with red wine — “to get the fond off the bottom of the pan” — then transfers everything to a stock pot with more wine, water, a bouquet garni of rosemary, bay leaf, and peppercorns, plus tomato paste. This simmers six to eight hours, getting strained, cooled, and skimmed.
For the final stew, the marinated meat hits a screaming hot pan. “You can’t tell there’s any Guinness coming out of it,” Guy observed as the meat seared. “Meat likes Guinness.” In go onions, carrots, and cremini mushrooms, sweating down for about an hour. Flour creates the roux, barley thickens it further, and that labor-intensive demi-glace ties it all together. “You could run your Hemi on that Demi,” Guy joked.
The result? “Really nice rounded roasted flavor, the carrots playing perfectly, little velvety texture from the mushrooms, and the meat completely just dissolves in your mouth.”
Beyond the Stew: Lamb Sliders and Dingle Fish Pie
Guy also tackled the lamb sliders — fresh ground lamb mixed with minced red onion, whole grain mustard, minced garlic, fresh oregano, and that house seasoning. Olive weighed each patty at three ounces (“we’re liberal”), cooked them on a hot flat top for two to three minutes per side to medium, then built them with curry aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and chipotle aioli.
“I could eat a hundred of those,” Guy said. “There’s nothing about that I would change. Hands down perfect.”
The Dingle Fish Pie — named after an Irish fishing village 80 miles from where the sisters grew up — featured salmon, cod, and shrimp. Guy’s verdict: “Rich and flavorful, it tastes fantastic.”
Similar to how Bourbon Barbecue Pork Chops showcase the power of a good marinade, or how Scallops and Pork Belly demonstrate layered flavor building, Cohan’s proves that patience and quality ingredients make all the difference.
Tips from Olive’s Kitchen
Don’t overwork your meat: When mixing the lamb sliders, Olive handled the mixture gently so the patties wouldn’t expel their fat during cooking.
Marinate overnight: That Guinness marinade needs time to tenderize tough cuts properly.
Invest in your demi-glace: Six to eight hours of simmering creates the foundation for exceptional depth.
Find Cohan’s Irish Pub and more Triple D destinations in our restaurant directory.