Irish Stews & Your Slow Cooker

I don’t know about you, but the idea of corned beef and boiled cabbage isn’t my idea of a delicious meal. This Saint Patrick’s Day, we have some hearty and delectable dinner ideas for you.

Recently, I discovered my slow cooker, as known as crock pot, and I love, love, love it! It makes making dinner so easy and for some reason whatever I cook in the slow cooker becomes an instant family favorite.

Irish Beef Stew from Simply Recipes.com:

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients:

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)

·         6 large garlic cloves, minced

·         6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth

·         I cup of Guinness beer

·         1 cup of fine red wine

·         2 tablespoons tomato paste

·         1 tablespoon sugar

·         1 tablespoon dried thyme

·         1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

·         2 bay leaves

·         2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

·         3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)

·         1 large onion, chopped

·         2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots

·         Salt and Pepper

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1.       Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

 

2.       While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

 

3.       Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

 

Irish Lamb Stewfrom cdkitchen.com

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

·         1 pound diced lamb

·         4 carrots sliced

·         3 stalks celery, sliced

·         2 parsnips, sliced

·         2 onions, chopped

·         8 small potatoes, quartered

·         4 cups vegetable stock

·         1 tablespoon chopped herbs, such as rosemary and oregano

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

 Directions:

1.       Heat oil in sauté pan. Add lamb and herbs and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

 

2.       Sauté carrots, celery, parsnips, and onions in olive oil and sauté for 10 minutes. Add to lamb in slow cooker with vegetable stock. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours.

 

3.       In last half hour of cooking, add potatoes to slow cooker. Ten minutes before serving, mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and stir into stew. Stir and cover. Cook on high for 10 minutes and serve.

O’Irish Stew from cdkitchen.com

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

·         2 1/2 cups chicken broth

·         3 carrots, scraped and thinly sliced

·         2 onions, thinly sliced

·         1 pound potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

·         2 pounds lamb neck pieces, trimmed

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         Finely chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1.        Place the chicken broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Put all the vegetables in the crockpot; arrange the lamb on top.

 

2.       Add boiling stock and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours on HIGH or 7 to 9 hours on LOW.

 

3.       Sprinkle parsley over the stew and serve hot with thick, crusty bread.

So this St. Patrick’s Day ditch the boiled cabbage and pull out your slow cooker instead!