HOUSTON – If you are staying in for St. Patrick’s Day, but you still want to be part of the festivities, get some lamb shanks, go into the kitchen and prepare a traditional Irish stew.
“We use the lamb shanks because everything is cooked better when it’s cooked on the bone,” said Chris Laurenson, from Satan’s Chicken cooking team, who stopped by our studio to share this classic recipe, which is a satisfying family meal and is very easy to prepare in a Dutch oven.
“You always want something with a nice heavy bottom, usually cast iron is good for stew-making,” said Laurenson, who won first place with Satan’s Chicken at the Rory Miggins Memorial Irish Stew Cook-off and Music Festival in 2011.
To see the complete interview, watch the video above.
Traditional Irish Stew
Ingredients:
1 pound bacon, for rendering
2 large 1015 onions, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 lamb shanks
2 pounds lamb stew meat
32 ounces beef stock
1 bottle Merlot
Bay leaf
1 handful of fresh thyme, loose
1 handful of fresh rosemary, loose
Kitchen twine
2 large carrots, slit down the middle twice and then quartered
1 cup pearl barley
2 medium Idaho potatoes, cubed
1 cup heavy cream
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions:
In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, render bacon until crisp and remove bacon pieces, leaving fat. Saute onion and garlic in bacon fat until tender. Add meat, stock, wine and bay leaf. Bundle thyme and rosemary together, secure with kitchen twine and place bundle in pot. Simmer for 90 minutes.
Remove lamb shanks, take meat from bone and dice. Place meat back in pot along with carrots, pearl barley and potatoes, and simmer 45 to 60 minutes until fork tender and lovely.
Remove from heat. Stir in heavy cream and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe provided by: Chris Laurenson