Irish Stew

This stew is similar to the Beef Stew with Guinness.  Serve with Irish Brown Bread, a hearty red wine, or a pint of stout.  The photo above, was taken in a wonderful little pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1 leg of lamb, trimmed and cubed (I've been buying mine at Costco for years)
20 baby red skinned potatoes
6 large carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
20 pearl onions, peeled
3 large leeks (white and pale green part only), thinly sliced
1/3 cup minced parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
1 can beef broth
2 pints guinness or other stout beer
salt and pepper to taste

Trim all fat from meat, while cutting into 1 inch cubes.  In dutch oven, using about 2 tablespoons peanut oil, brown the lamb cubes on all sides (brown in small batches).  When browned, remove from skillet, and set aside.

Pour beef broth into dutch oven, and deglaze (remove small bits of browned meat from  bottom of the dutch oven, by scraping).  Add the meat, stout, leeks, parsley, thyme, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook on stovetop for one hour.  Add potatoes, and carrots and cook until the veggies are soft.

Before serving, remove half of the cooked veggies with a slotted spoon.  Puree in a food processor.  Return the pureed veggies to the stew and stir well.  Stew should be nicely thickened, and ready to serve.