My Mum's Irish Stew

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day last night at the Hop Pole Inn, which was great fun.  This meant I had to put off cooking my version of my Mum’s rustic Irish stew until today.  I will keep it in the fridge overnight, as it always tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil

500g lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2.5cm chunks

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

750ml good-quality lamb stock, hot

450g potatoes, cut into 1cm slices

A couple of shakes of Lea and Perrins

A knob of butter

Finely chopped fresh parsley and crusty bread to serve (optional).

Method

Put a large, lidded flameproof casserole over a high heat. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and, when hot, brown the lamb, in batches if necessary. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the remaining oil and fry the onion, celery and carrots for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Return the meat to the pot, pour over the stock, Lea and Perrins, then season with salt and black pepper and bring to the boil.

Remove from the heat, and then add the sliced potatoes, pushing them down into the stock to moisten them. Dot the top with a little butter, then give a final seasoning of salt and ground black pepper. Cover the casserole, then transfer to the oven to cook for about 1½ hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes until the tops of the potatoes are crisp and golden.

Serve hot from the cooking pot, sprinkle over the chopped parsley.  I think it's best served in a bowl with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.