Instructions

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop up the onions into rough chunks.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut each into 4 parts.
4. Scrape the carrots then cut into larger than normal chunks.
   • Click on the picture to enlarge it for an idea of how big to chop the vegetables. Part of the charm of Irish Stew is that ingredients are kept in large chunks. Plus it saves preparation time.
5. After 5 to 10 minutes, remove the fatty pieces from the frying pan and throw them away.
6. Fry each lamb chop in the fat for about three minutes at a medium temperature - turn half way through.
7. Put the onions and carrots over the lamb chops in the casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Add the Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrins), the pearl barley and the lamb stock.
9. Finally add the potatoes on top, don't mix them in with the other ingredients
   • The aim is to let them be steam cooked over the other ingredients.
10. Add some more salt and pepper to season the potatoes.
11. Put the casserole (covered) in the pre-heated oven and cook for 1 hour.
12. Roux is a mix of 50/50 butter and flour which will thicken the gravy in the casserole dish. It can be used to thicken all sorts of sauces as well.
13. Melt the butter on a medium heat in a pan, then whisk (or vigorously fork in) the flour.
14. Cook for 2 minutes whisking all the time to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan.

For step- by-step directions on how to prepare this stew, including photographs, visit http://www.cookuk.co.uk/meat/lamb/IrishStewAuthentic.htm.