Traditional beef or lamb stew
This is a recipe for a typical Irish stew. This is traditionally made with lamb
since it’s cheaper however, beef tastes a lot better and is more readily
available in North America I’ve been told. This is good if you want to feed a
family or if you just want to be lazy and eat the same thing for 2 or 3 days.
Besides browning the meat this is really just throwing stuff into a pot in a
certain order. This is the kind of dish that tastes better the next day so it’s
ideal for making on a Sunday and eating for the next 2 or 3 days.
Serve with mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
Lamb shoulder or beef chuck
Onion, celery, carrot and garlic
Thyme, rosemary and some bay leaves.
Beef or chicken stock
(Optional) a bottle of stout or porter for some extra flavour.
Directions
1. Cut up the onion, carrot and celery into bite-sized chunks roughly the same
size as the meat. The garlic can go in whole.
2. Brown the meat on all sides. Get a large pot with some oil and sear the edges
of the meat. Do this in batches and try not to overcrowd the pot. Browning
the meat on the outside will give it a much nicer texture when you go to eat
this and should not be skipped for convenience.
3. Remove the meat and add in the vegetables. Adding some salt will help remove
the moisture in the veg and will help deglaze the caramelised bits at the
bottom of the pot.
4. (Optional) If you have a Guinness or some other stout add the meat back in an
deglaze with about a third of the can. This will add some extra flavour.
Wait until the alcohol has completely evaporated until you stir or continue.
5. Add back in the meat and add in the stock and herbs. Lower the heat and allow
to simmer for about 2 - 2.5 hours.
6. After 2 hours the stew will be a bit thicker but probably still watery. The
easiest thing to do is add some cut up potatoes for the last half hour. The
starch will help thicken the stew considerably. Otherwise you can mix a
teaspoon of flour with water in a cup and slowly add this to the stew while
whisking.