St. Patrick’s Day has come to be associated with everything Irish — anything green, shamrocks and luck. To those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide. It is celebrated on March 17 because that is believed to be the day that St. Patrick died. In America, St Patrick’s Day is a big deal; big cities and small towns alike celebrate with parades, the wearing of the green, music, and, of course, food and drink.
Stew is a filling, flavorful dish made with the most readily available ingredients.
The foods of Ireland have often been described as bland, primarily due to the prolific use of potatoes. Potatoes came to Ireland by way of South America and by 1688 had become a staple of the Irish diet. The Irish refer to potatoes as praties.
The potato has long been considered a staple for the poor. Potatoes contain plentiful carbohydrates and some protein, calcium and niacin. The diet and cuisine of the Irish was changed completely by the introduction of this one vegetable. To this day, the memory of the people of Ireland — their diet, their cuisine and their history — is tied up in events related to the potato. No other nation in the world has had its cuisine changed so drastically as have the Irish, with the possible exception of the effect of the tomato on Southern European cuisine.
Stew is a filling, flavorful dish made with the most readily available ingredients. Irish stew is traditionally made with lamb or mutton, which is less tender sheep more than 2 years of age, potatoes, onions and parsley. Irish stew was sometimes a meal thrown together with non-prime cuts and filled out with potatoes. More recently, Irish stew has been made with beef.
I am sticking to the tradition of Irish stew for St. Patrick’s Day, this recipe is made with lamb. Happy St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy.
Irish Lamb Stew
½ lb. thickly sliced bacon, diced
6 lbs. boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 t salt
½ t freshly ground black pepper
½ C all-purpose flour
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, peeled & finely chopped
½ C water
4 C homemade beef stock or canned
2 t sugar
4 C carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large yellow onions, peeled & sliced
3 pounds potatoes, peeled, quartered & cut into ½-inch pieces
1 t dried thyme, whole
1 bay leaf
½ C dry white wine
Parsley, chopped
Using a large frying pan, sauté the bacon. Reserve the fat and the bacon.
In a large mixing bowl place the lamb, salt, pepper and flour. Toss to coat the meat evenly. Reheat the frying pan. In batches, toss the meat in the flour to coat evenly, then brown in the reserved bacon fat. If you run out of fat, use a little oil. Transfer the browned meat to a 10-quart stovetop casserole, leaving about ¼ cup of fat in the frying pan.
Add the garlic and yellow onion to the pan and sauté until the onion begins to color a bit. Remove from the pan.
Deglaze the frying pan with ½ cup of water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the casserole, along with the reserved bacon pieces, beef stock and sugar. Cover and simmer for 90 minutes or until tender. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Before serving, taste to see if you need more salt and pepper. Top with the parsley garnish before serving. Serves 12.
