Irish Stew Recipe
This authentic Irish Stew recipe doesn't take much preparation time but it makes a really tasty meal. The amounts of meat and veg can be varied to suit your taste.
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INGREDIENTS
| 4 lamb chops (see below ingredients for more details and alternatives) |
| 4 medium potatoes |
| 4 medium carrots |
| 4 medium onions |
| Sprig of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme |
| 450 ml / ¾ pint of lamb stock (hot water and two lamb stock cubes) |
| 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley |
| 2 good shakes of Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins) |
| 1 tablespoon of Pearl Barley (optional) |
| 50g / 2oz butter |
| 50g / 2oz flour |
| Salt and pepper |
PREPARATION TIME
: 20 minutesCOOKING TIME
: 1h hour 10 minutesDIFFICULTY LEVEL
: EasyFREEZE
? NoSERVINGS
: 4 portionsCOOKING EQUIPMENT
: 1 large oven proof dishPREPARATION
Wash the courgettes, slice off the top and bottom tips then cut the
courgettes into slices, roughly 1 cm / ½in thick.
Peel the potatoes then
cut them into small cubes (roughly 1cm / ½in).
Peel the onion the slice it.
Peel and finely chop or crush the garlic.
Finely chop the chives and parsley.
COOK'S NOTES FOR IRISH STEW
We have prepared it here in the 'authentic' way using lamb chops but we also prepared it later with chunks of lamb loin which made a very good Irish Stew. Beef is another alternative to lamb with excellent results. The vegetables used are traditionally onion, potato and carrots but almost any winter vegetable can be used as well.We used lamb chops (rack end chops to be specific). The good thing about chops is that they have some bone on them which enhances the flavour of the Irish Stew as it cooks. However, chopped up lamb is a very good alternative. For this Irish Stew recipe you will need an oven proof dish with a lid - a plate over the top of the dish will do fine.
Recipe by David Marks.
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
 |
Trim some of the fat from
from each of the chops and put the fat in a medium heated frying pan. This will
melt some of the lamb fat for use in the next couple of steps. Set the oven on at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. |
 |
Chop up the onions into
rough chunks. Peel the potatoes and cut each into 4 parts. Scrape the
carrots then cut into larger than normal chunks. Click on the picture to
enlarge it for an idea of how big to chop the vegetables.
Irish Stew is a rustic menu and part of its charm is that the ingredients are kept in large chunks. Saves on preparation time as well! |
 |
After 5 to 10 minutes,
remove the fatty pieces from the frying pan and throw them away. Fry each
lamb chop in the fat for about three minutes at a medium temperature - turn
half way through.
Enlarge the picture on the left for an idea of how browned the lamb chops should be. Put the lamb chops in the casserole dish and fry the carrots and onions in the remaining fat for two minutes - turn frequently. |
 |
Put the onions and carrots over the lamb chops in the casserole
dish. Season with salt and pepper. Add the Worcestershire Sauce
(Lea & Perrins), the pearl barley and the lamb stock. Finally add the potatoes on top, don't mix them in with the other ingredients. The aim is to let them be steam cooked over the other ingredients. Add some more salt and pepper to season the potatoes. Put the casserole (covered) in the pre-heated oven and cook for 1 hour. |
 |
Roux is a mix of 50 / 50 butter and flour which will thicken
the gravy in the casserole dish. It can be used to thicken all
sorts of sauces as well. Melt the butter on a medium heat in a pan, then whisk (or vigorously fork in) the flour. Cook for 2 minutes whisking all the time to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan. |
 |
Take the casserole dish from the oven and pour off most of the
gravy into the pan of roux (be careful, the casserole dish will be
hot).
Mix in the thyme. Quickly blend the gravy and roux together with your whisk or fork. Add the thickened gravy back into the casserole and scatter the top with the parsley. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. |
|
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Put the casserole dish (covered) back in the oven for ten minutes. Serve
onto hot plates. No other vegetables are needed, they are all
cooked and ready in the one casserole dish! Any red wine will go well with Irish Stew, but a glass of Guinness is probably the best accompaniment of all! |
Answer: Yes, we have added to the instructions to say the casserole dish should be covered. Thanks for your question, it has helped us improve this recipe.
Answer: Yes, although I would increase the initial cooking time from 1 hour to about 3 hours and at a lower temperature (150C) to make the stewing lamb tender.
Comment: There's not really a "right" way, just what tastes best for you. The recipe on this page is traditional so your mother was making a variant of it. The cornflour would thicken the gravy so that's quite common but the addition of milk is unusual. Maybe she was trying to make the stew as nutritious as possible.
Scottish gran used to make. We just loved it.
Answer: Yes, it can be left in the fridge overnight and then heated through the next day.
Answer: Yes, the Lea and Perrins is there just to give some extra background taste. Either you can leave it out or add something like half a teaspoon of paprika which will slightly warm the Irish Stew. I know many might disagree but a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (definitely not normal vinegar) will lift the flavour slightly.