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Annabelle White
Annabelle White shares a recipe for Irish stew...
Here is the classic recipe but NZ chef Blaine Tripp of Cork gave me a few secret ingredients that locals may say are not authentic, but add anyway, as it is delicious and nothing a Guinness or two shared over the discussion will not sort out!
Irish Stew From Ballyknocken
Serves 8
900g trimmed and diced shoulder of lamb
8 slices streaky bacon (the thicker the better!)
60g butter (and oil if required)
2 kg potatoes thickly sliced
8 carrots, sliced
6 onions, sliced thickly
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
Sprigs of thyme
Chopped parsley to decorate
Trim excess fat from lamb. Cut bacon into short strips. Melt butter in a frying pan and brown the lamb on both sides. Set aside. Add bacon to the frying pan and cook till crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Arrange potato, onions, carrots, bacon and lamb in layers. Add thyme and stock. Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer gently 1 hour or until lamb is tender.
Additions - Chef Tripp adds fresh bay leaves, extra thyme and celery, turnip and swede to the recipe with great success. He cooks his stew on a slow simmer covered for 2 hours (he makes a large quantity and larger pieces of meat) and says don't be afraid to add extra thyme. He uses leg of lamb trimmed down and adds some barley to the stew for thickening and texture.
His secret ingredient - a good slurp of Worcestershire sauce and he prefers to add the potatoes towards the end of cooking, say, the last 30 minutes to keep them intact and he uses a waxy potato.
