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Updated March 15th, 2007
 Cooking
with Kristine Clark
Irish Lamb Stew
 It’s nearly that time of year again.
It’s the day when the 12% of me that is
Irish surges to the front of my consciousness.
St. Patrick’s Day is one of
my favorite celebrations.
I feel fortunate that I’m a bit of a
mixed breed. I have a little bit of a number
of different nationalities in my heritage.
That probably explains why I’ve
seldom met a cuisine I didn’t like. It’s
genetic!
I do have my favorites, though. I
wax eloquent when describing the Ravioloni di Zucca ala Salvia I often
enjoy at Milanos in Glendale. (It’s my
Italian genes that are probably responsible
for me enthusiastically talking with
my hands, too.)
St. Patrick’s Day makes me crave
the savory suppers that take a long time
to simmer on the stove while filling the
house with inviting aromas. While
corned beef and cabbage seem to get
most of the press, there are a number of
other offerings that showcase the flavors
of the Emerald Isle. How about
Irish Lamb Stew?
While perusing
AllRecipes.com
recently I found a recipe that was
described as “hearty and traditional.”
Now I can’t personally say that it is traditional,
but I figured that since it was
submitted by Danny O’Flaugherty,
chances were good. And it certainly
sounded hearty.
Last weekend was the ideal time to
give Irish Lamb Stew a try. Many lamb
stew recipes I have seen do not call for
browning the meat first, so the gravy is
quite light-colored. That’s what my
father remembers from his childhood in
New York. This one does, and I think it
adds a depth of flavor and a richer color
to the stew. I made a point to brown the
lamb in batches so as not to crowd the
pan. The color was lovely.
Unless you are a super-fast chopper,
this stew takes a bit of time to
assemble. But once simmering in the
pot there’s nothing to do for one-anda-
half hours until it’s time to add the
rest of the vegetables and herbs for the
final 20 minutes. It was suggested that
the stew is best made the night before
and refrigerated to allow the flavors to
marry. That’s what we did, and it was
delicious.
Corned beef and cabbage don’t
have to be the stars of your St. Paddy’s
Day feast. Irish Lamb Stew is a satisfying,
comforting alternative. Now I have
another Irish recipe to add to my repertoire.
My great-grandmother Flanigan
would be so proud.
Irish Lamb Stew
Servings: Ten
Ingredients:
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1½ pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
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6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder,
cut into 2-inch pieces
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½ teaspoon salt
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½ teaspoon ground black pepper
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½ cup all-purpose flour
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3 cloves garlic, minced
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1 large onion, chopped
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½ cup water
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4 cups beef stock
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2 teaspoons granulated sugar
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4 cups diced carrots
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2 large onions, cut into
bite-sized pieces
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3 potatoes, cut into
bite-sized pieces
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1 teaspoon dried thyme
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2 bay leaves
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1 cup white wine
 Preparation:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat
until evenly browned. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Put lamb, salt, pepper and flour into a large mixing bowl. Toss to
coat meat evenly. Brown meat in skillet with bacon fat.
3. Place meat into stock pot (leave ¼ cup of fat in frying pan). Add
the garlic and chopped onion to skillet and sauté until onion becomes
golden. Deglaze skillet with ½ cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture
to the stock pot with bacon, beef stock and sugar. Cover and simmer
for one-and-a-half hours.
4. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves and wine to pot. Simmer
covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
This recipe is reprinted with permission from
AllRecipes.com.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that you would like to
share with our readers?
If so, please write to Kristine at:
Outlook Newspaper, P.O. Box 578,
La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012
or e-mail it to:
outlooknews@earthlink.net |
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