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.

Beef (Lamb) Stew with Guiness

This robust stew has a wonderfully thick gravy, made without adding any starchy thickener.  If you choose to make this with lamb, you may have to ask the butcher to cut you some meat for stew.  Make sure its a good quality cut of lean lamb.  Serve with Irish Brown Bread, or a crusty white bread.


4 pounds lean beef or lamb, cut into cubes, fat removed
4 large potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups baby carrots, or the equivalent cut carrots
1 large, sweet onion, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons, fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon crushed or minced garlic
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
3 small cans beef broth
1 can or bottle of Irish stout beer like Guinness or Murphy's
olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Trim any excess fat from beef or lamb cubes.  In large dutch oven, heat a small amount of oil.  Brown the meat by small batches, in oil, over medium-high heat.  Remove meat and set aside.

Add another small amount of oil to dutch oven.  Add onion and garlic.  Reduce heat to low, and cook onions until they are golden at edges.  Add tomatoes, seasonings, and browned meat.  Add half the potatoes and carrots to the stew.  Finally, add 2 cans of broth (reserving the third can), and the stout.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

When the potatoes and carrots are tender, remove them from the stew with a slotted spoon.  Set aside.  Add the remaining, uncooked vegetables, and the remaining can of broth, to the hot stew.  Bring to boil again, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Continue to simmer for an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until veggies are tender.

In the meantime, puree the cooked vegetables in the bowl of a food processor, or vial of an immersion blender.  Before serving, stir the pureed veggies, back into the stew.  Stir well.  Bring the stew back up to temperature, and serve.