Irish Stew

[Jinmyo]

jaybee, just an easy way to great rid of grease.

[Jason Perlow]

Guys:

Try to be civil, thanks.

Awbrig:

I'm guessing here that the "Irish Stew" you are looking for is really an Irish-American dish and may even be regional to the Chicago area and developed by the Irish-American immigrant population. The one Suzanne is talking about is the original, but you may not actually want to EAT that one.

[Simon Majumdar]

Awbrig

Irish Stew ( every one in the Uk will now say " in the name of the law" ) is a relative of The Lancashire Hotpot and, my favourite, the Welsh Cawl. They all use very simple ingredients and long cooking time.

They can be gussied up, but I think they are better in the form in which they were created ( slow cooked one pot meals using local ingredients to feed the workers )

My recipe involves ( i don't eat it so much now because of all the starches. Ho Hum )

12 lamb cutlets

5 potatoes Cut in big chunks

1 large white onion sliced

6 carrots cut in thick chunks

1 Swede ( rutabaga sp/) cut in big chunks

2 pints water

I bunch parsley finely chopped

Salt & Pepper

1 splosh of Jamesons or Bushmills

I fry the cutlets in lard until browned on both sides then remove the meat to a collander to drain off excess fat. I then soften the onion in the remaining lard and when soft but not cooked, add in the whisky until the booze boils off and the bottom of the pan is deglazed

Then add in the other vegetables and mix in with the onion. Add salt and pepper and the water and lay the cutlets on top. Cover the pan and cook for three hours on a low heat. When the cooking time is over, remove from the heat , allow to cool and pop in the fridge for at least two hours or better, over night

The next day, skim the fat off the stew and warm through on the hob for about 30 minutes. Finally throw in the parsley and serve with bread or mash

It is, as I said, incredibly simple, but it is by far the best recipe I have tried.

Oh and never, ever thicken the sauce. I am not sure what your original picture was of, but Irish stew it aint

S

Edited January 17, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[jaybee]

Guys:

Try to be civil, thanks.

Civil is as civil does. I just reacted to what seemed like unnecessary gamesmanship. But The thread has returned to Stew, thanks to Jinmyo and Simon.

Don't laugh, but I really do like Dinty Moore's tinned version. They get huge truckloads of farm fresh carrots and potatoes (I've seen them delivered up there in Austin MN), They use good grade frozen Argentine beef. Huge stew kettles make the gravy, then the stuff is cooked as you'd do it at home x 1000. It is sealed in the cans and retorted. It can be doctored and gussied up. Not EG gourmet practice, but good stuff.

[Suzanne F]

Isn't Dinty Moore now a brand name owned by Hormel? Uh-oh.

[Andy Lynes]

When I make Irish stew it's with diced shoulder or lamb and I never brown the meat. Traditionaly it goes straight into plain water with carrots, onions and leeks but I have taken to using chicken stock as it can be quite lacking in flavour otherwise. It cooks for 90 minutes - 2 hours and then is finished with cream and parsley.

[Adam Balic]

When I make Irish stew it's with diced shoulder or lamb and I never brown the meat. Traditionaly it goes straight into plain water with carrots, onions and leeks but I have taken to using chicken stock as it can be quite lacking in flavour otherwise. It cooks for 90 minutes - 2 hours and then is finished with cream and parsley.

Hmm cream and lamb. I don't think that Gav. would approve

[Fat Guy]

If you feel you have been the subject of a personal attack, there are only two appropriate courses of action. 1) Report the post to a moderator. 2) Send a polite PM to the offender asking for a revision. There is no other appropriate course of action. Anything else is simply escalation -- that includes any kind of response, no matter how polite. That includes things of the "for the record" and "okay" and "just in case anyone missed it" variety. On the public boards, if you do anything but ignore a personal attack, you will not receive our protection. All you will do is create a bunch of difficult-to-unscramble eggs as the thread derails and escalates. If you are a third-party and see what you consider to be a personal attack, there are also only two appropriate courses of action. 1) Report the post to a moderator. 2) Send a polite PM to the offender asking for a revision. It is honorable to defend a friend or a perceived innocent victim, but in this context such actions should be kept private.

I would like to add that in this instance there have been numerous outbreaks of hostility between Awbrig and Nina. In this particular instance, viewed in isolation, I would have to say Awbrig is the instigator. But I don't view conflicts between Nina and Awbrig in isolation. There have been too many fights; too many derailed threads; too many situations requiring moderator intervention. Both of them have been warned numerous times. This includes final warnings, really final warnings, and really-I-mean-it-this-time-it's-final warnings. This is the point at which the teacher says to the two students who always fight with each other: I don't care whose fault it is; the next time the two of you fight, you're both going to the principal's office. I value both Nina and Awbrig as eGullet users -- highly -- but there's a chemistry problem here plain and simple. In case there is doubt regarding proper conduct in a given instance, I'm afraid the best I can do is say that the default procedure for those who habitually clash should be to avoid engaging one another on the boards altogether.

Any further posts regarding this outburst will be deleted. Irish stew discussion is of course welcome.

[Andy Lynes]

Hmm cream and lamb. I don't think that Gav. would approve

I'm sorry Adam, you've lost me there. Before I defend my position on this, is there another thread I should look at first?

[Adam Balic]

Hmm cream and lamb. I don't think that Gav. would approve

I'm sorry Adam, you've lost me there. Before I defend my position on this, is there another thread I should look at first?

Sorry mate, should have linked.

From the "Keeping it Simple" or what happens to the middle-aged male thread.

"I no longer try and cook lamb with a cream based sauce for example - I know that was just bad taste not complexity." Gavin.

[Gavin Jones]

Dr. B probably referring to my comments here.

In no way intended to reflect on your way with a lamb.

[jaybee]

Isn't Dinty Moore now a brand name owned by Hormel?   Uh-oh.

It has been for many years. Full disclosure: I am a consultant to Hormel (among other companies), and I have worked on the Dinty Moore brand. I was impressed with what I saw at the Austin MN. facility where they cook the stew. Based on my dealings with them, I wil say that Hormel is a company that has integrity and high standards.

No one is claiming a tinned product is equal or better to scracth made. But the product is (surprisingly) good tasting.

[Jason Perlow]

I'll agree with you on the quality level of Hormel, Jaybee. Their Dilusso brand of Genoa Salami is really quite good, even when compared to the real deal.

[Andy Lynes]

Adam, thanks, I hadn't seen that. I think the flavour of the poached shoulder of lamb goes very well indeed with the light cream enriched broth. Roast chump or lamb or braised shanks also go very well with haricot breans in a garlic and rosemary cream (recipe : Henry Harris).

Gavin - any instances in particular which have led you to your opinion?

[Gavin Jones]

Gavin - any instances in particular which have led you to your opinion?

Andy my own misjudgements involved a sorry saga of chops, overcooking, underseasoning and cream sherry. More years ago than I care to reflect upon.

I personally would tend to avoid a cow butter (or cream based) approach to Lamb on the basis that lamb comes with enough tasty fat of its own. (the garlic/rosemary thing I'd tend to the evoo option if I had to use some extra lubricant).

I now bore myself with char-grilling those culinary go-faster stripes onto my middle-aged delusion of simplicity.

I expect I will find 'A year in Provence' acceptable reading matter in the near future. A stairlift beckons.

[Adam Balic]

No worries Andy. BTW, is it Irish cream that you use? I feel that this would be a bit rich for lamb.

[Simon Majumdar]

Andy

I am not going to comment on the cream thing

but, is the fact you don't brown the meat and then deglaze the pan the thing that leads to a lack of flavour?

My, more simple I'll grant you, recipe doesn't seem to need stock as water works just fine

S

[Jason Perlow]

Andy

I am not going to comment on the cream thing

but, is the fact you don't brown the meat and then deglaze the pan the thing that leads to a lack of flavour?

My, more simple I'll grant you, recipe doesn't seem to need stock as water works just fine

S

I think its the deglazing the pan juices with the Jamesons....

[Adam Balic]

I now bore myself with char-grilling those culinary go-faster stripes onto my middle-aged delusion of simplicity.

I expect I will find 'A year in Provence' acceptable reading matter in the near future. A stairlift beckons.

Gavin, anybody that has had the pleasure of meeting you knows you are far from middle-age. All middle-age quips were squarely directed and Simon only (it's my birthday pressie to him, as this must be comming up soon from his comments).

[Simon Majumdar]

Andy

I am not going to comment on the cream thing

but, is the fact you don't brown the meat and then deglaze the pan the thing that leads to a lack of flavour?

My, more simple I'll grant you, recipe doesn't seem to need stock as water works just fine

S

I think its the deglazing the pan juices with the Jamesons....

That certainly helps

S

[Andy Lynes]

is the fact you don't brown the meat and then deglaze the pan the thing that leads to a lack of flavour?

It is in essence a version of the classical blanquette, where the meat is usually sealed but not browned. It is meant to have a lighter flavour than something like a navarin for example where the meat is browned.

[Andy Lynes]

is it Irish cream that you use? I feel that this would be a bit rich for lamb.

I usually use whipping cream in all my cooking unless jersey cream is called for or I think double would be more appropriate.

[Wilfrid]

I am totally with Andy on this one. The key fact I don't see on the thread is that traditional Irish stew is a white stew, not a brown stew. You'll see it described as such in standard works. You don't want to be browning and caramelising things. It's much more like a blanquette. The cream is not, I am pretty sure, traditional, but it's a evolution consistent with the logic of the dish.

That's not to say Simon's dish wouldn't be tastier. Many find blanquettes bland. But they are what they are.

[Andy Lynes]

The cream comes courtesy of Belfast chef Paul Rankin as far as I'm aware and is therefore not traditional.

[Suzanne F]

Isn't Dinty Moore now a brand name owned by Hormel?   Uh-oh.

It has been for many years. Full disclosure: I am a consultant to Hormel (among other companies), and I have worked on the Dinty Moore brand. I was impressed with what I saw at the Austin MN. facility where they cook the stew. Based on my dealings with them, I wil say that Hormel is a company that has integrity and high standards.

No one is claiming a tinned product is equal or better to scracth made. But the product is (surprisingly) good tasting.

My "uh-oh" was political, not culinary. (Confession: I've tried to duplicate the flavor at home, but never could.) I still remember the strike against Hormel, and how it tore families apart and ruined people's lives (on both sides of the line). I didn't want to go into that too much, since I've already mouthed off on "morality."

But if that situation has healed, and the production is really top-notch -- what the hell, I eventually started eating grapes again.

Wilfrid -- I did say "No browning" but maybe that got lost in the ... unmentionables.