The most famous of Irish dishes, the Irish Stew. Irish Stew was recognized as early as 1800. It was originally a common food for the ordinary and poor people of Ireland as it used cheap ingredients and fed in bulk.

Cheap cuts of meat were used that needed longer to cook, most commonly beef, mutton or lamb. In most cases these cuts were actually more flavorful and the long, slow cooking times meant the meat was meltingly tender in the final dish. Traditional Irish stew is also known in Gaelic as Ballymaloe or Stobhach Gaelach.

Serves four.

• ¼ cup all – purpose flour
• 3 pounds neck of lamb, trimmed of visible fat
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 4 starchy potatoes, such as russets, white round or Yukon gold, quartered
• ½ teaspoon of dried Thyme
• 3 ½ cups of hot, beef stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped parsley to garnish

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 325˚F. 
• Put the flour in a plastic bag and season well with salt and pepper.Add the lamb to the bag, tie the top and shake well to coat.Do this in batches if necessary and then arrange the lamb in the bottom of a casserole dish.
• Layer the onions, carrots and potatoes on top of the lamb.
• Sprinkle in the thyme and pour in the stock, then cover and cook in the pre – heated oven for 2 ½ hours.
• Garnish with the parsley and serve straight from the casserole dish.
• Enjoy!