The best meal I ever had in my life was Irish Stew made for me by my Irish mother, right after my son Michael was born. I had had a tough pregnancy and had been barely able to eat but I was starved right after Mike was delivered. This recipe reminds me of that very stew. It has been many years since I had that special meal and my Mom has passed, some thirty years ago, but I think of her and that stew often. When I get to heaven I hope that is the first meal she makes for me . Thanks Mom for the stew and the memories.
Thanks for sharing your heartfelt story! Our loved ones live on through the memories we share that knits are all together throughout humanity! God bless you and your family… I am very sorry for your loss ❤️🥰
I am a Bengali girl and we make many dishes with potatoes. When the gravy needs to be thickened a bit, we also do the same- mash 1-2 pieces of potato! Simple. Good to see that the simple tricks are universal.
As a retired professional, I was delighted to see my Irish stew was exactly the same as yours. Right down to the parsnips, rutabagas, and gold potatoes (though I add more thyme and plenty of black pepper). You made my day. Cheers.
Being a French (sorry about that) amateur cooker, I find in this recipe all the simplicity in combining basic products to realize a fantastic, tasty and beautiful typical family dish. I love it. Please Sir, keep going inspiring us.
My mom's from Ireland and I can tell you she made so many variations of Irish stew all delicious, but her classic salt and pepper Irish stew was the best with radish, carrots, leeks and potatoes sometimes she'd use pork or chicken but the mutton variation was the best. Rest her beautiful soul♥️🙏
Oh, i Love Ireland! I always enjoy, when i am there. The rough western countryside is my favourite! And the stews are delicious! Greetings from Bavaria!
That's a perfect date to have lived 20 good years at the end of 19th century and then 76 good years of prosperity at the 20th century. I was born in 1985 so if I live to be 97 I will have that same good luck of seeing 2 centuries and their peak. If we get through the 30s and 40s coming up.
My mother's Irish stew was very traditional, at least in Cork. Scrag end or mutton chops, swede and carrot, a couple of diced potatoes which cooked down and thickened the stew, water and that was it! Served with a big bowl of floury potatoes boiled in their skins, a loaf of bread, farmhouse butter and plenty of white pepper...happy memories.
White pepper, is that milder, or just different from black pepper? I just can't remember the last time I had any, nor that the stores here sell it. I totally love black pepper.
In our house (Tipperary) stew was made from whatever root veg was in the fridge, there would be a spud or two in it but the mother would cook a big pot of floury spuds too. Mam always used to throw in a whole spanish onion too, sometimes dumplings if she had time to make them. I used to stand beside the pot as a small child with my little bowl and she would give me some soup from the bubbling pot and I'd eat it with big chunks of bread smothered in kerrygold butter. Yum, great memories.
When I was first married I made a mutton stew; it was so yummy. My husband said ; I'm not eating mutton stew. So the next time I told him it was lamb casserole and he couldn't eat enough of it. Funny how a name can change a persons perspective on a food!😊 Loved this simple, easy recipe; it's making my mouth water just looking at it.
LG…it is the preconceived ideas we have. My mom used to make a pilaf with tomato paste, a lot, and to this day (after 40+yrs) I hate rice even if plain white.
Ever make steak & kidney pie? My dad would make filling & I made crust. Marvelous rich dark gravy. I never thought to get his recipe. Hope you could show how. After he died I tried to recreate. No idea how to clean kidneys. Was done before I arrived ☹️
In North Afghanistan popular among Persian speaking people we have exact similar stew dish called shorwa, made exactly with similar ingredients and lamb. It's common in most Afghanistan households and throughout history travelled to different regions of middle East.
Hello from Ireland! Majority of Irish people eat Irish Beef Stew. Lamb stew is very very vintage recipe but extremely yummy! I am a Chef and I work in good few restaurants in Ireland ...no lamb stew! Beef stew made with Angus beef , potatoes, parsnips, onion and skin on baby potatoes and homemade gravy! I love your videos!
TBH most Americans make beef stew. We tend to just use potatoes, carrots, onions, green peas along with the beef and preferred spices. We're just not a lamb/mutton eating nation.
My grandpa, an 87-year-old Chicano from East L.A., makes a similar lamb stew but with chiles and corn on the cob sat in the stew which, of course, soaks up the juices. He'll have his spoon in one hand and his warm tortilla in the other. After he devours the lamb, carrots, and potatoes, he dives into that corn on the cob. Naturally, he has a cerveza nearby. !Salud!
Yes as far as I know alot of Irish switched side from america to Mexico in the old west and alot of Mexicans have irish blood as a result nice to see there take on an Irish stew 💯🔥
@@DublinSoulja They moved due to there being more work and the fact a lot of Americans (back then) were of English descent and they didn't like the Irish (basically bringing the beef between the Irish and the English from the old world to America) A perfect example would be people like Louis CK (who's grandparents are Mexican but are complete redheads like him) or Canelo Alvarez who clearly has Irish blood.
As an Irishman, my grandmother always made Irish stew with potatoes, lamb or mutton, carrots, onions and on occasion peas were added. If you wanted a "white" stew corn starchor flour was added for thickening and if you wanted "brown" stew it was the granules
@@DCFunBud oh no just normal granules bought in the supermarket mostly beef or lamb. Back when I was growing up beer was really the only type of granules you could get in my town
My folks would flour the meat in flour with lots of salt and pepper in it. If you caught it just right, the browned meat just off the stove and before being added back was the best part. Onions and carrots always, sometimes celery, fresh peas the very last added. The flour off the browned beef made a roux that made a brown gravy or whatever you want to call it. The liquid was water and a bottle of beer. Lagers seem to work better than ales IMHO, not bittered by the hops.
My grandmother and mother only knew Irish Stew with shin of beef and also added pearly barley. Back in the day. lamb was more expensive than dirt cheap shin beef and therefore more accessible to those living in poverty. Hence, also, the addition of barley to bulk it out. You're bang on right about the simplicity ... water & boil. No thickening agent except for potato some of which was cut very thinly in order to melt down into the gravy. If it was good enough in1890's Waterford, it's good enough for me now! Love your vids, by the way. More power to your elbow!
The comments are as great as the video, Chef! I'm Irish-American, hail from Limerick. I always toss my lamb cubes in seasoned flour before searing them, then remove them to a bowl while I sweat off onion, garlic, celery and carrots in the same pan with all the fond still stuck in the pan.Then a glug of Worcestershire sauce. I scrape the bits off the bottom as they release. Then back in with the meat, and some stock, a bay leaf or two and yes, let it blip away slowly. Potatoes, unpeeled, in last half-hour.Then some frozen peas, salt & pepper. Never fails. I also use fresh Rosemary and thyme. My mouth is watering! Next time I will add rutabaga! Big Love to all!☘
Seasoned flour is flour you’ve added spices to, like salt and pepper, the reason for the flour is it thickens the stew nicely and the searing cooks the flour so it doesn’t taste starchy.
That is version I enjoyed in Kentucky. We had mutton aplenty. Face the fact you put in it what you had as all decent working folk. I bare no grudge to the royals for their simple honest traditional fair. God Bless them for it and holding basic virtuous.
My mother made it with lamb, potatoes (whatever kind we had,) carrots and just water for stock. If no lamb, we did use beef, but that’s the Irish-American version. Guinness sounds brilliant. Thank you, Chef. ☘️
My sister wanted Irish stew after reading a novel where Irish stew was eaten. She has asked me to make it for her. I found your recipe and am cooking it right now. I am cheating and using a pressure cooker. I bought it 3 years ago and use it several times every winter (it’s almost winter in Australia right now and we had a cold snap today). Update. It was delicious and I will definitely make it again. It was very warming on this cold night (cold by Australian standards).
(Cold by Australian Standards).... this means that the temperature fell to around 25 Degrees C and you needed to turn the A/C and / or fan off? hahahaha
I'm 81 and grew up on Irish stew, always on St. Patrick's Day when my Irish father rebelled against corned beef and cabbage--not Irish--until the 70s when CB/C became okay. We were poor, and my mother used some kind of mystery lamb in the stew--each piece came with a wavy band of fat. Couldn't eat it! BUT, she made the best dumplings which simmered in the stew, large with plenty of black pepper, just the way my father liked them! Me, too!
Loved reading this. Your father was dead right about the corned beef and cabbage, that was picked up in the US as Corned beef was cheaper than bacon. I live in Cork now and my fav Irish recepe is bacon and cabbage (and spuds 🥔) but Irish stew is a very close second.
@@oclarke31 My father-in-law (may he rest in peace) born and raised in Ireland said the same thing about CB/C. He never had it a day in his life until the came to the US.
this is my favorite kind of food. As a kid i used to love watching Keith Floyd on TV with my grandparents. He would cook lots of stuff like this; just big chunks of veggies, huge parts of meat just thrown into a massive pot, whole bottle of red wine in there and simmer it away for hours. It's so easy, and it's honestly the best tasting food because with all that time comes so much rich flavor.
I added Guinness and broth instead of just broth and instead of adding the potatoes to the stew, i made a cauliflower and potato mash. It tasted amazing, it was a month ago when i made it, it was my first time and i loved it. Definitely something i will make again, greetings from the Netherlands.
Great idea; a "cauliflower and potato mash" would absorb any fats which would give your thickened sauce wonderful texture and flavour. Thanks for the idea; John Perth Australia.
The beauty of using Guinness is that you are only going to use about half a bottle, and It's a shame to waste it. Mum used to put a bit of barley and an OXO cube in there too.
Just a further comment to earlier. I had only a 3 quart cast iron pot so really no room for added potatoes, however I served with mashed lovely yellow Agria potatoes and my stock was NZ chef's Simon Gault's lamb stock concentrate. Am so thrilled to have found your recipe. Thank you.
I just finished making this amazing stew. I've made stews before but OMG!!!! lol, This is as Mr. McGrady say AMAZING GOOD!!! Give it a try. It's so easy to make and turns out so delicious!!
I'm Irish and Irish stew was a family favourite, one of my fondest memories as a little boy was helping my late mother (who was a great cook) prepare everything and she'd be showing me how everything should be done to get the best result. Thanks for this great vid. Edit: My mom would do nearly the same as you've done (only difference, no rutabagas), Lamb for Irish stew, but sometimes beef too (which probably be an 'beef' stew and not an 'Irish' stew).
Me too but the meat is so expensive here I just buy whole animals and butcher them myself. It seems the store carries few cuts of lamb single lamb chop and leg roast is all I have ever seen and two leg roast are almost the same price as the full animal.
Lamb was only used for a Sunday dinner as working class we cooked all the veggies and then added cubed corned beef to warm through and dumplings to stretch out the meal ,try it ,lovely!
Hello from Northern Ireland 😃👋We used to use either lamb or beef. I remember mum using both. The only other things that were put into it were onions, carrots, potatoes and beef stock. One of the nicest stews I have eaten apart from my mothers, was in Dublin. When I was in Dublin with a friend, we went into this little place they was like a pub that served food, and we had the Irish stew along with Guinness bread. It was delicious. The other time was on St Patrick’s day in the local town in a restaurant. The stew was beautiful that day as well. I have only one complaint about it, and that is they didn’t give you enough of a portion lol 😅😅🤣
My daughter just came back from Ireland ☘️ and she found a place in Dublin that she said had the best Irish stew made with lamb it was so good she went back a few days later and had some more🥰 thank you for your video you made it look so easy!!🙂
As an American living in Ireland my first bowl of Irish stew and soda bread was memorable. I grew up on beef stew and it's wonderful how different the taste is by using different meats. I know your channel focuses on the Royal family, however, I would love to see recipes you have created or made your own.
As a Swede, I also grew up on various beef stews, with potatoes. Now the food culture has really changed, not all for the better. I still love a lovely homemade meal..
Our American recipe is very similar however we use smoked ham shoulder because it is more suited to our pallet and it is much cheaper an readily available here. In addition to the potatoes, rutabagas, onions, and carrots we add turnips, and frequently sweet potatoes and cabbage. Mad respect for chef Darren! Many of us here respect the Royal Family of Great Britain and our fellow patriots across the pond! Carry on!
Stew kind of goes with the spirit of "add whatever protein and produce you've got" and then balance out the flavor on a case by case basis. Pints up to all good stews.
Sounds tasty, whilst not Irish stew however it pretty much is the same thing without the mutton, but what ever is available and as we all know, nothing can go wrong with the left over ham on the bone or boneless ham :) I'm a great fan of shepherds pie with minced beef (ground beef) since lamb/mutton is more pricey :) But I do love a lamb stew, aka Irish stew which I am hoping will happen soon, otherwise its going to be beef or something if the price of lamb is too high ;)
We call that guisado in Portugal, or jardineira if we add pees. We also use beef instead of lamb, but the rest of it is cooked in practically the same way. I guess every country has a version of this. The Hungarians have the Goulash, also pretty similar. The Turks also make it with beef instead of lamb, and add a dash of cinnamon to it, which makes it taste even more delish. It’s a red meat stew, a stapple and global classic of comfort food, I guess.
All I can say, that stew looks amazing, it has thickened up perfectly, simple ingredients and none of those 1000 other ingredients the supermarkets add. Will try this this.
My Irish immigrant great grandmother used to cook me all her famous recipes she learned from her mum in the 1910s and 1920s. She loved Irish stew, but when the great depression hit America in 1929, lamb became nearly nonexistant in American cooking. She would use beef and renamed it “boiled dinner.” Maybe not too appetizing of a name, but then, many foods from the British Isles sound a bit funny, so why shouldn’t my Irish-American family’s food sound funny? 😅
I simply love Irish stew, and I am certainly going to try this. Thank you so much for this video, Chef. It’s so good to see you in good health and cooking up a storm. Happy new year to you.
@@DioneN it all comes to relativity. I can say the same about your extreme heat (40°) it is the equivilant of a nice late spring day for us here. But in all seriousness Morocco isnt just suny warm weather. in the Atlas mountains during winter temperature goes below -10°C
When I was a child, we ate mutton as it was more widely available and affordable. In a way, I prefer it because although it is tougher than lamb, mutton prepared correctly like your gorgeous Irish stew, has a delicious depth of flavor. Thank you for sharing your recipe and Happy New Year!
I cook beef stew for my family once a week and it’s our favourite. I like to add tomato purée, a little Worcester sauce and English mustard as well as fresh thyme with veg stock. I am going to do a irish stew though using the lamb.
It looks delicious. In Saudi Arabia we make the stew in similar way, but we add more vegetables like eggplant, pumpkins, okra, zucchini. While searing the meat we add chopped onions, tomatoes, and spices. The result is amazing
Darren. My mum always added pearl barely. Delicious. It just soaks all the flavour from the sauce. It has been years since I made an Irish stew. Much nicer then the beef stew imo. Looks like I will have to give it a go!
What a lovely idea to make Irish stew, especially this time of year when it's cold outside. Thanks for yet another wonderful video. I can listen to you all day long telling stories. Also, great to hear Winston making some noise! Happy New Year, wishing you health and happiness!🥂🍾🎊🎈
Stew in general is probably my favorite comfort food. I love just throwing all the ingredients in a crock pot and letting it cook all day, filling the house with that smell. That there looks delicious. I also like the idea of using Guinness. 👍👍
I love Irish Stew. I always used the leftover lamb from the day before and used the gravy as part of the broth. Looks like I will be making this in the coming weeks. Thank you for the recipe! Happy New Year to you and your family!
Darren, I love everything you cook. You make it look so easy to prepare and later cook. So happy to have found you and your cookbooks, which I love, by the way!
This dish looks wonderful and so easy to put together!! Thank you for this wonderful, winter time comfort food! For as long as we can still buy lamb or beef, anyway.
Thank you for sharing made Irish stew following this video for our local community (25 miles from Sandringham) to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and everyone loved it!
welsh cawl, irish stew, and scouse stew, are all practically the same thing, since it was a basic workers stew passed between celtic peoples duirng the victorian era. the little flurishes in differant regions really make it though.
My stew is on the stove now. Waiting for my sons to come home from work. Smells delicious. 30 minutes till we eat… First time using rutabaga and parsnips. Great flavor. Thanks for sharing. Dinner was a smashing success.
Wow, sounds delicious! I had Irish stew at college, and it was absolutely amazing! Yeah, I haven't made stew in a very long time, but perfect for a winter's night.
Lovely; always love to learn from you Darren! It is a consolation that the Royal stew is much easier to make and simpler than my own stew that contains herbs like rosemary, thyme. and Bayleaf’s, black pepper, garlic, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and some port!
never tried this but looks simple and hearty to try on a cold winters evening. also, as someone from across the pond, i never heard the word swede, its always a rutabaga
Wow, very close to my own recipe. But here in New England, we have ham for Thanksgiving, turkey and clams on Christmas, and lobster, shrimp, scallops, and rib eyes for new years.
Im an Essex boy, family in east anglia for dozens of generations...ive always called a swede...a swede. Only since moving to Germany have i known it as a Rutabaga.
Nice to know Winston brought the leg of lamb back. Guiness in stew . . . isn't the secret ingredient in Betty's 'ot pot a pint of Stout? Betty's 'ot pot would be a recipe I'd love to see!
Seems like too small of a pan for all the ingredients...but mine turned out exactly like this, great recipe . I used one of those big, orange Le Creuset pans.
Little trick I learned that I really like, roast the potatoes for 35mins at 450 and add them to the stew 10 mins before serving. Adds a nice crispy bite to the stew
Yup. That's exactly how I do my Irish Stew for many, many years now. Three teeny-tiny changes, though: I do peel my potatoes. I add two large bay leafs. I thicken the sauce a little because my family likes it better that way.
MY NAN WOULD MAKE THIS FOR US QUITE OFFTEN! SHE WAS FROM LIVERPOOL,HER MOTHER WAS FROM IRELAND. I HAVE TO TRY AND MAKE THIS MYSELF!! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING BACK FOND MEMORIES!!!!
Darren, love your cooking stories. I have ONE complaint: There is something going on with the brightness (or lack thereof) with these videos. They're really dark as of late. Happy New Year!!!
The best irish stew i ever had was from my gpa louis… he was such a good cook. i was a young adult .. and remember going to the store to get the ingredients with him. I judge all stews by that one, and i’m a stew and soup snob. i never knew he was such a cook. Talking about it makes me miss my gpa.
This is the stew that my mom used to make, the only difference being that she used beef instead of lamb, added celery. Thanks for sharing your recipes. Happy New Year!
Looks delicious! I lightly dredge the chunks of lamb in flour before searing … that serves to thicken the stew later. I also add some celery and I will admit to adding a little Guinness as well (6 - 8 ounces only).
