Irish Lamb Stew
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 04 2015|
A traditional New England dish, Irish Lamb Stew is best when served with mint jelly and hot biscuits.
Yield
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
3-pound lamb shoulder
4 cups cold water
2 onions, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup beef stock
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
3 to 4 onions, sliced
1 to 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, peeled and cut into
1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Trim meat from bones, cube, and set aside. Combine bones, water, onions, and celery in Dutch oven. Simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid. Discard bones and vegetables. Cool and skim fat from top of liquid. Dredge meat in flour. Melt butter in frying pan and brown meat on all sides. Place in Dutch oven, add stock, reserved liquid, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer gently, partially covered, 1 hour. Remove bay leaf and parsley. Add additional onions, potatoes, and carrots and cook, partially covered, 30 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.
Traditional Irish stew. like they make in Ireland, has no flour, the potatoes are sliced real thin, and everything goes into the pot at once, and simmers for a few hours. The potatoes brakd down, and that is the only thickener. Boiled potatoes are added when serving. And I have NEVER seen it served with mint jelly. A thick slab of brown bread spread with real Irish butter is best as an accompaniment!
Well the article does say traditional New England – nothing about Ireland other than the title. In any event, I’m looking forward to trying this out or at least trying to convince my wife to make it. She’s never been a lover of lamb whereas I grew up with it. It’s the English in her I suppose. I too won’t bother with the mint jelly though I remember it went well with my mother’s Sunday afternoon lamb dishes.
Thank you, Cathy, I agree! I learned to depend on the potatoes as thickener and omit flour in my Irish Stew.
My maternal grandma was from Dublin. Here’s how she made the lamb stew: lamb shoulder or thick lamb chops, thin sliced potatoes as well as quartered potatoes, carrots, diced onion, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, a cup of Irish butter, half glass of water. Place all ingredients in a 6 qt. Cast iron pot with lid, roast a few hours until meat is super tender. She didn’t measure and neither do I. You just have to eyeball it. She served with her Irish soda bread and made her delicious apple pie for dessert.
I love anything New England; especially BOSTON