Irish Stew
Irish Lamb Stew- Yield
- Serves 4 to 6
- Active
- 30 minutes
- Total
- 2 1/2 hours
- Difficulty
- Easy
The story
Irish stew, stobhach Gaelach in Irish, is counted as a national dish of Ireland. Purists hold that it needs only neck mutton chops, potatoes, onions and water, simmered slowly for up to two hours. Mutton, from sheep more than a year old, was cheaper and fattier than lamb, and because sheep were kept for their wool and milk, usually only old animals went into the pot. Potatoes reached Ireland around the 16th century, and the food writer Alan Davidson dates the recognized dish to about 1800. Whether carrots, turnips or pearl barley belong in it is still argued. Bord Bia, the Irish food board, simmers boned lamb neck or shoulder with onions, carrots, leek and turnip, adds the potatoes for the last 25 minutes and serves the stew in deep bowls with soda bread. Darina Allen, who runs the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, layers lamb, onions and carrots under the potatoes, bakes the covered pot at 350°F for about an hour and a half and finishes it with parsley and chives. Cook it a day ahead if you can, since the fat is easy to lift off once the pot is cold.
Ingredients
- 3 lb bone-in lamb neck slices or shoulder chops, about 1 inch thick
- 2 1/2 lb russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 3 medium onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (optional)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 cups water or unsalted lamb or chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Order from a butcher, halal or Middle Eastern market; bone-in lamb shoulder chops work just as well. Mutton is sold online and at some halal butchers.
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Trim any thick pieces of fat from the lamb, leaving the bones in, and cut large chops in half so each piece has some bone.
- Peel the potatoes. Cut about one-third of them into 1/4-inch slices and the rest into large chunks of about 2 inches.
- Spread the sliced potatoes over the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven. Add half the onions and half the carrots, then the lamb in a snug layer, seasoning each layer with some of the salt and pepper. Tuck in the thyme sprigs and cover with the remaining onions and carrots.
- Arrange the potato chunks on top, season them with the remaining salt and pepper, and pour in the water or stock; it should come about two-thirds of the way up the contents of the pot.
- Bring the stew to a boil on the stovetop over medium-high heat and skim off any gray foam that rises.
- Cover the pot with a sheet of parchment paper and then the lid, and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the lamb pulls easily away from the bone and the potato chunks are tender; the thin slices underneath will have collapsed and thickened the broth.
- Tilt the pot and spoon off the fat from the surface of the broth. Discard the thyme stems, taste, and add more salt if needed.
- Ladle the stew into deep bowls, giving everyone meat, potatoes and plenty of broth, and scatter with the parsley and chives.
Note: Purists use only lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions and water; the carrots are a common addition and can be left out. The stew is even better the next day: refrigerate it overnight, lift off the hardened fat and reheat gently.