Irish Stew
St Patrick's day, on the 17th March, wouldn't be complete without a hot bowl of Irish Stew and a chunk of crusty bread.
Celebrate with this easy-to-make recipe or share your own adaptation with us.
Many will argue over what makes a real 'Irish' stew - claiming only lamb will do - or mutton to be exact.
Others will want to add carrots and peas, whilst many will want to thicken the sauce to taste.
At the end of the day any recipe that creates a stew this tasty is OK with us.
If you want to keep it traditional - or mix it up and get creative - then have fun, and celebrate St Patrick's Day in style.
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- 1 lb lamb shoulder, cut into cubes
- 3 medium or 4 large potatoes
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 2 large carrots, cut into quite thick pieces
- 3 cups lamb stock (chicken or veg stock optional)
- Small knob of butter
- Fresh parsley
- 2 Bay leaves
- Sprig of Thyme
- Salt and pepper
Procedure
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC/Gas Mark 5).
- Melt the butter in a pan over a fairly high temperature and fry the meat until it is browned all over, about 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer to a large casserole dish- with a tight fitting lid.
- Fry the onions for about a minute or two in the same pan used for the meat, then add them to the casserole dish before they start to go brown.
- Pour half the stock into the pan you used for the meat and onions and turn up the heat so you can scrape the pan as the stock boils to get all the meat juices out.
- Pour both portions of stock over the meat and onions, add the bay leaves and thyme.
- Season with a little salt (not too much as stock cubes are already very salty) and pepper.
- Cover and put in the oven for about 45 minutes to one hour.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into medium size pieces.
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the stew.
- Return to the oven and cook for another 40-45 minutes (check by testing if the potatoes are cooked through).
- Before serving, remove and discard the thyme and the bay leaves.
- Stir in a handful of roughly chopped parsley.
- Serve with fresh bread rolls to mop up the delicious juice.