irish

Yeah.  I did it again.  I just can’t help myself when it comes to double chocolate stout.

But you can’t say I didn’t warn you the other day with the Double Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake!

So when I was perusing Jennifer’s copy of Food & Wine I became inspired at the mention of Irish Stew.  I haven’t made Irish Stew in quite some time and right now it seems we are all about everything Irish for my upcoming birthday holiday upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday.

This Double Chocolate Stout Irish Stew was inspired by and similar to the Irish Stew in the magazine and based in part on the way I make beef stew and pot roast.

Not only is is made with beer, but for the most part it is done all in one pot.  I say for the most part because if you don’t get distracted about going day drinking for a pedicure with Lisa and , you would remember to add flour when you put the meat back into the pot after deglazing.  But if you forget, no worries!  Just remove some of the broth to a saucepan, put it over some heat, and mix you up a slurry to thicken it up.  Serve it up with some crusty bread or biscuits and you are good to go!

See this guy?  We had it with him.  It is a caramelized onion and gruyere biscuit posted in the recent past at Smitten Kitchen.  I highly recommend it.

Inspired by Food & Wine

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Double Chocolate Stout Irish Stew

Ingredients

• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds lamb shoulder cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups double chocolate stout I used Young's
• 1 large onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2-3 small turnips peeled and cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch pieces
• 12 or so fingerling potatoes
• 6 cups beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 4 sprigs thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons corn starch

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown lamb in batches careful not to over crowd the pan or they will steam and not brown. Reserve the meat in a bowl until all is browned. 6-7 minutes per batch (I also browned the pieces of meat with the bones)
3. Pour the beer into the pot, cook for a few minutes scraping up all the brown pieces
4. Add the lamb with any liquid in the bowl, onions, garlic, stock, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, cover and cook in the oven 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
5. Add the carrots, turnips, and potatoes and cook until tender, about another 45 minutes to 1 hour
6. Remove pot from oven, take out the bay leaves, and transfer a few cups of the liquid from the pot to a saucepan over medium-high heat
7. Mix together milk and corn starch and add to the hot liquid in a slow stream,stirring until thickened. Transfer back into the pot with the stew, stirring it in slowly until combined
8. Serve hot with crusty bread or biscuits