Irish Stew

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day we had some "Irish Stew".  I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as Giant Eagle didn't have "lamb stew meat" and "pork stew meat."  I actually bought what they had labeled as "Pork and veal for city chicken", took it off the skewers and cut each big cube into two or three pieces.  Two pounds seemed like a ton of meat, but actually was very well proportioned once everything was put together.  The only other thing I changed from the original recipe was to use bullion cubes instead of a can of beef broth.  

This recipe marks my first time buying, cooking, and eating parsnips and a turnip.  It's kinda funny going to a grocery store and looking very closely at the labels trying to figure out what the heck a parsnip looks like.  To all you turnip and parsnip skeptics out there, I purposely dug some out of the cooked stew to see what they taste like.  Pretty much nothing.  They taste like a vegetable in a stew.  Who knows, maybe they contributed a ton of yummy, or maybe none - just added a root veggie to my dinner.

Enjoy your Saint Patrick's Day with some Irish Stew!

Irish Stew

(makes about 8 servings)

• 2 T olive oil

• 1 small sweet onion, diced

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

• 1 T dried Italian seasoning

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 lb. pork and/or lamb stew meat

• 1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth

• 3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 medium turnip, peeled, quartered, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 medium sweet onion, cut into large chunks

• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 can beer (12 oz)

• 8 small red potatoes, quartered

• 2 T cornstarch

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place diced onion in skillet and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Mix in garlic.  Cook and stir until tender.  Mix in meat and cook until brown.  Reduce heat to low and pour in beef broth.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.  

2. Transfer the skillet mixture to a large pot.  Mix in the carrots, turnip, parsnips, peppers, remaining onion, and celery.  Pour in the beer.  Cover and cook for 2 hour over low heat.

3. Remove 1/2 cup stew liquid.  Stir potatoes into pot and continue cooking for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  About 15 minutes before serving mix cornstarch into the reserved liquid.  Stir into the stew to thicken.  

Enjoy!

A leprechaun stopped by and liked it so much he left us this....

Source: Allrecipes.com - Irish Stew, My Way by CLWEST47

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/irish-stew-my-way/detail.aspx