Irish Stew

One of the few upsides of the horrendous weather we’ve been having lately is how good big, hot dinners taste at the end of a pissing-wet day. Namely, my favourite winter meal: stew.

Irish stew traditionally uses lamb or mutton, but beef is generally acceptable these days. Throw it in a pot with winter vegetables and water (the peppers are kind of cheating but they add a bit of flavour) and simmer for about 2 hours. Boil a pot of potatoes and serve in ridiculously large portions. Taste explosion.

Like most two-day meals stew tastes better on the second day. Flavours have time to “stew” a bit more. I remember reading about poor Irish families of yore who would keep a never-ending stew on the fire, to which would be added any vegetables or meat that came into the house.

One of the great things about this meal is that it feeds you for days but takes about fifteen minutes to prepare. Do you know there are people who think convenience food is actually convenient?