# Traditional Irish Stew



## Red (5 Nov 2008)

With all these forums mentioning food I am getting hungry. Love a good old Irish stew. 
Has anyone got a great recipe for one ? Have a hankering for one.


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## Slash (5 Nov 2008)

Try here [broken link removed]

There's even an instructional video.


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## mathepac (5 Nov 2008)

*Jaysus, where's yer man going with his garlic and butter and flour and celery and chicken stock and diced this and chopped that and LAMB  in a traditional Irish stew. Rubbish, I say, that recipe is for poncy nouvelle cuisinists.*

There are two rules for traditional Irish stew :



Use mutton
Use spuds, plenty of them

Here is a link to Mrs Isabella Beeton's book on-line. [broken link removed]

I couldn't link to her recipes for Irish stew directly (they are under the heading for mutton dishes, Chapter 15) so I copied and pasted both versions here for convenience.-  

*IRISH STEW.*

*I.*

 721. INGREDIENTS - 3 lbs. of the loin or neck of mutton, 5 lbs. of potatoes, 5 large onions, pepper and salt to taste, rather more than 1 pint of water.
_Mode_.—Trim off some of the fat of the above quantity of loin or neck of mutton, and cut it into chops of a moderate thickness. Pare and halve the potatoes, and cut the onions into thick slices. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, then a layer of mutton and onions, and season with pepper and salt; proceed in this manner until the stewpan is full, taking care to have plenty of vegetables at the top. Pour in the water, and let it stew very gently for 2–1/2 hours, keeping the lid of the stewpan closely shut the _whole_ time, and occasionally shaking it to prevent its burning.
_Time_.—2–1/2 hours.
_Average cost_, for this quantity, 2s. 8d.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_.—More suitable for a winter dish.
*II.*

 722. INGREDIENTS - 2 or 3 lbs. of the breast of mutton, 1–1/2 pint of water, salt and pepper to taste, 4 lbs. of potatoes, 4 large onions.
_Mode_.—Put the mutton into a stewpan with the water and a little salt, and let it stew gently for an hour; cut the meat into small pieces, skim the fat from the gravy, and pare and slice the potatoes and onions. Put all the ingredients into the stewpan in layers, first a layer of vegetables, then one of meat, and sprinkle seasoning of pepper and salt between each layer; cover closely, and let the whole stew very gently for 1 hour of rather more, shaking it frequently to prevent its burning.
_Time_.—Rather more than 2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s, 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_.—Suitable for a winter dish.
_Note_.—Irish stew may be prepared in the same manner as above, but baked in a jar instead of boiled. About 2 hours or rather more in a moderate oven will be sufficient time to bake it.


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## Caveat (5 Nov 2008)

Are carrots a big no-no with traditionalists? 

Our family version was pretty much as mathepac's first one - but with carrots. Meat was maybe a bit on the lambier side of mutton as well in fairness.

I hate the gentrification of old recipes though - it's either an Irish stew or it's something else and should be called something else. It's like there's this insecure need to jazz it up and make it 'sophisticated' whilst simultaneously claiming it to be 'tradtional'. Having their cake *and *eating it.


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## mathepac (5 Nov 2008)

Caveat said:


> Are carrots a big no-no with traditionalists?
> ...


Musha, God help us, there were times when we hadn't got the mutton or the spuds not to mind the carrots. We'd just boil the water and pretend it was stew.


Caveat said:


> ... Having their cake *and *eating it.


Cake is it? Shure the only cake we saw was a cake of Sunlight soap of a Saturday night gettin' washed for Mass of a Sunday, God between us and all harm.


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## paddyjnr (6 Nov 2008)

mathepac said:


> Musha, God help us, there were times when we hadn't got the mutton or the spuds not to mind the carrots. We'd just boil the water and pretend it was stew.
> 
> Cake is it? Shure the only cake we saw was a cake of Sunlight soap of a Saturday night gettin' washed for Mass of a Sunday, God between us and all harm.


 This is starting to remind me of the old Monty Pyton clip.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE So Funny...


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## Bronte (6 Nov 2008)

Way too complicated, I had it last night, use the cheap lamb/mutton cuts with fat and bone on, simmer in water for an hour add onions, carrots and potatoes (no need to layer) and near the end to thicken it you can add a spoonful of floor mixed with cold water.  Salt and white pepper a must.  Delicious, cheap, nutritious and easy to make.


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## 3dolls (12 Nov 2008)

I usually take the chops out of the pot after an hour and remove the bones etc. Then put the meat back in. The bones tend to fall out during cooking and if there are small pieces of bone I don't want to inadvertently serve them up to my smallies. (Nanny state eh) Also, by cooking the chops first, you get a lot less waste than if you try to trim and debone before cooking.


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## oldhbh (20 Nov 2008)

Mathepac - you are so funny. Im laughing out loud here falling of my chair. What an enexpected tonic on this miserable winter's morning in the middle of Europe. Thank you


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## sallyann (20 Nov 2008)

oldhbh said:


> Mathepac - you are so funny. Im laughing out loud here falling of my chair. What an enexpected tonic on this miserable winter's morning in the middle of Europe. Thank you


 
Your easily pleased, must be a Tommy Tiernan fan or worse still a fan of the Panel


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## mathepac (20 Nov 2008)

oldhbh said:


> ... Thank you


You're welcome, and enjoy Mrs. Beeton's stew.


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## Celtwytch (20 Nov 2008)

All these years I thought it was Irish stew my mammy was making, but we never had any bits of sheep (young or old) in it - it was always made with beef.  Mind you, she never claimed it was Irish stew.  It was always just plain old stew.  I think I just assumed it was Irish stew cos she made it and she's Irish


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## carrielou (20 Nov 2008)

I use diced lamb, purchased butchers or supermarket.  Depends how many for dinner, how much I buy.  Chuck it in the saucepan.  Add onion.  Boil for an hour.  Add carrots, again depends how many dinner for. (If you have time, dice up potatoes now and add) Add your normal peeled spud and cook for another hour. (If you didn't have time to peel extra spuds and dice them, at the end add a packet of potato and leek soup to thicken)

I accidentally made this few years back and the first thing my Dad said to me, "where did you learn to make stew, this is the very same as what my mother used to make".

This is gorgeous, I promise. In my house people add their own salt and pepper to taste


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## mf1 (20 Nov 2008)

Celtwytch said:


> All these years I thought it was Irish stew my mammy was making, but we never had any bits of sheep (young or old) in it - it was always made with beef.  Mind you, she never claimed it was Irish stew.  It was always just plain old stew.  I think I just assumed it was Irish stew cos she made it and she's Irish




No - that was Brown Stew - did everyone else have Brown Stew also? I think its now known as Goulash or Boeuf Bouguignon!

mf


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## carrielou (21 Nov 2008)

Yep, I had the brown stew and when I first stumbled on my recipe my dad called it white stew!


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