Hearty Irish Stew

A thick earthy stew that will make you want to lick your bowl clean.
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 pounds of lamb shoulder, cut into bite sized pieces for stew
  • Flour to dredge meat
  • 3 Tablespoons of butter
  • 12 ounces of dark Irish Stout/Ale - There a choice of makers available in the marketplace.
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Dash of fresh ground black pepper
  • 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into large bites
  • 5 carrots, scraped and diced into large bites
  • 1 small onion, peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 cup hot water or broth
  • Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Directions
  1. Dredge the lamb pieces thoroughly with flour. Melt butter in Dutch oven, place in onion slices and brown until golden, remove and set aside. Place dredged stew meat into Dutch oven and brown on all sides.
  2. Place into Dutch oven along with the browned meat, sautéed onions and stout. Cover well and simmer for 45 minutes on medium heat.
  3. Uncover and add: salt, pepper, potatoes, carrots and water/broth, bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 30 minutes. Cooking liquid can be thickened further by addition of 1 Tablespoon of flour at this time. Remove cover and simmer uncovered for 10 - 15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.
  4. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Additional Notes
This recipe makes a thick and rib-sticking stew that you will have to use a fork to get all the bounty it contains. The rich earthy flavors of the lamb blend with the snap of the dark ale to combine into a pleasure for your mouth.