Irish Recipes - Irish Stew Recipe

Ingredients for Irish Stew

2 lbs.breast of mutton or 1 and a half lbs.gigot chops

5 medium sized onions

2 lbs. potatoes

pepper and salt

3 quarters pint of cold milk

1 teaspoonful chopped parsley

1. Cut the meat into neat pieces,removing the skin and superfluous fat. All fat is not removed because the potatoes will absorb a certain amount.

2.Peel the onions and chop one. Wash and peel the potatoes thinly. If small,leave whole,if large,cut in two. Slice one thinly.

3.Put the meat in the bottom of the stewpan, then put in the sliced potato and chopped onion well seasoned with pepper and salt. Add the water,bring to the boil. Skim. simmer for 1 hour.

4. Arrange the potatoes and onions on top, cover and simmer for a further hour.

5.When the stew is cooked, serve on a hot dish with the potatoes and onions around and the meat in the centre. Pour a little sauce over and serve the remainder in a hot sauce boat.Garnish with parsley.

Stewing is long slow cooking in a closed vessel using only a small amount of liquid. A stew is generally a mixture of meat and vegetables. it depends for it’s success on -

1. The rate at which it is cooked

2.Careful seasoning

3.Blending of flavours

Regarding 1 it must be remembered that ” a stew boiled is a stew spoiled”. The maintenance of low steady temperature 180 degrees is essential to the success of a stew.If stew boils for any length of time, the protein and gelatine of the meat harden, thus rendering the meat “tough” instead of tender.

Methods of Stewing

There are two ways of cooking stew

1. Over a gentle heat

2. In the oven.

In both cases the lid must fit the vessel closely to prevent waste through evaporation.

Preparation of Meat for Stewing

Meat is wiped with a damp cloth.

Surplus fat is removed and the meat is divided into neat pieces about 2 ins. x 2 ins..

It should not be more than half ins. thick.

Sometimes the meat can be lightly fried before it is stewed - this prevents escape of some of the juices. (This process is used especially when meat of superior quality is being used in stew.)

Preparatory frying also helps to brown the gravy.

The liquid to which meat is added may be either thin, or of the consistency of a stewing sauce. It is advisable to use a thin liquid for meat that is tough, as it penetrates and softens the fibres better.
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