irish lamb stew!

i am very excited to share this recipe with you! i adapted this recipe from the book irish food and cooking by biddy white lennon & georgina campbell. the book was a present from the irishman’s mom while i was in ireland last summer. it has great recipes and a few process photographs which make it a favorite of mine.

one of the recipes is for irish stew. the irishman had told me that irish stew is the best of the stews. he kept talking about it and would bring it up when chatting about something completely unrelated. i took the very strong hint he wanted me to make some stew. i love making stew, because you can just set it and forget it (remember that catchphrase?!). while i made this stew i also made the carrot & parsnip soup and worked on the blog. so here it is, recipe for irish lamb stew!!

INGREDIENTS:
8 medium potatoes
1 1/2lb lamb chops or lamb chump chops
1 large white onion, sliced
small bunch of parsley
small bunch of thyme
small bunch of rosemary
salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
wash and peel the potatoes; cut them into thick slices and chunks.

in a casserole or heavy pot, arrange the potatoes at the bottom.

roughly chop half of the herbs and tie the rest into a bundle.

sprinkle a portion of the chopped up herbs on top of the potatoes.

place the lamb on top and season with salt and pepper.

add half of the onion.

and repeat the layering with the remaining potatoes, herbs, lamb and onions. top with the herb bunch. add about 2 cups of water and cook covered, on medium-low heat.

check the water level while you cook to ensure the food does not burn. cook for 2 hours, occasionally stirring very gently to avoid the food from sticking to the pot and burning.