Irish Stew

I really wanted to make a whole meal in the large Crockpot.  I wasn't in the mood for corned beef and cabbage for St Patrick's Day and found this to make instead.

What I found around the interwebs was that Irish stew is commonly made with either beef or lamb.  What makes it "Irish" is the beer.  I've never had Guinness, so I just bought a single bottle and felt guilty about it.  The checkers at the grocery store don't care.  They don't even check ID on me anymore.  (Thanks, grey hair and eye bags.)  I did not buy Worcestershire, since the last thing I want right now is another condiment in the fridge I can't use during Passover.  I subbed soy sauce.

The lamb came from Western Kosher, a surprising development.  I was in there for hamantaschen filling, but they didn't have the prune.  Does no one like it anymore?  Hoping the stop wasn't a waste, I went looking for lamb stew meat or shanks, and found neck bones for $2.99 a pound.  Had to get three pounds to have enough meat off them, but that still came out less than the two shanks I had expected to buy at Pavilions, and they would make their own protein-rich broth.

I'm starting a new broth bag.  I still have plenty of chicken stock left, but the veggie is out.  Beef may end up being cheaper to buy unless I find a killer deal on bones again.  All the mirepoix veggies I've been using the past couple of weeks are adding up fast, so I might as well.

I'm using the slow-cooker recipe from Seeking Good Eats.  The biggest change I made was using half as much thyme and salt.  Oh, and I added half a bag of green beans at the end because it's all root vegetables.  You can do the same thing in a pot on the stove set to simmer or in the oven at 225ºF for about four hours.  I needed something to cook all day and be ready when I got home.

1 lb lamb stew meat, 2 lamb shanks, or 3 lbs lamb neck slices
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
1 lb red potatoes, peeled if desired, cut in chunks
*1 Tb Worcestershire or soy sauce 
*1 Tb tomato paste
*2 tsp dried thyme
*1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp kosher salt (one if using salted broth)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tb parsley flakes or 1/4 C fresh chopped parsley
1 Tb flour, optional
1-1/2 C water or broth
1 C Guiness

1.  Spray or line a large slow cooker.  The fatty meat is going to be hard to clean off.  Arrange meat in the bottom of the crock.  Sprinkle with thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, and pepper.  If using flour to thicken the sauce, sprinkle on top so it mixes with the fat off the meat.

2.  Add onion slices, carrot chunks, Worcestershire, and tomato paste.  At this point, you are at the make-ahead stage and can refrigerate everything overnight.

3.  When ready to cook, chop up potatoes and add to the crock, along with the water and beer.  All the alcohol will cook off.  I did this part at 3am in less than 5 minutes.  It's very easy.

4.  Cover and cook on the low setting for about 8 hours, stirring halfway through if able, to make sure the potatoes are cooking.  The onions are going to disappear into the meat and lower the level of the stew, but the potatoes may still not be in the sauce.  I did this when I got home from work, dumped in the green beans, and let it finish while I took a shower.

5.  Serve in a bowl with plenty of juices and bread or noodles on the side.

Difficulty rating  π