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Irish Beef Stew

Zola Gorgon

My friend's name is Duane. By day, most days, he's an insurance executive with about 90 employees reporting to him. On March 17th each year, he's a completely different guy. Lucky him. On St. Patrick's Day, Duane is a leprechaun. You see, Duane is 2'7" tall. For the "season," as they call it (St. Patrick's DAY has been stretched to about a week), Duane dresses at night in a perfectly tailored leprechaun suit and goes "on tour." His larger friends carefully carry him on their shoulder from pub to pub. They put him on the bar where, amongst the glassware, he deftly dances a jig or two and gets his picture taken with everyone who wants one. And who wouldn't, because no one would believe you've seen an honest to goodness REAL leprechaun back home! Duane (I mean, the leprechaun), also gets to kiss just about a zillion pretty girls --cheeks only--and then off he goes on a protective shoulder to the next pub. Each visit takes about an hour to complete.

Some would think this is taking advantage of little people. I haven't discussed this with Duane. I don't need to. You can just look at the smile on his face. He's in heaven in his green top hat, white tights, little green pants and his little green vest. He's the center of attention and a mighty good dancer. He's a mini-version of John Travolta on that bar. He's paid handsomely and he just plain has a great time.

I asked Duane why I don't see him during the summer. I only run into him around St. Patrick's Day. "I'm a family man," he answered. "When I'm finished with work, most days I go home to play with my kids." He's got a 5-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old. His 5-year-old is little like him. I hear she's not yet two feet tall and scrambles on the bus each day to go to kindergarten. Visualize that one--and smile.

I hope you had a fun St. Patrick's Day. This year I was on a cooking mission for St. Patrick's Day. I had a hankering for my mother's Irish stew. It's another one of those recipes I forgot to ask for before she died. In my mind, I could sort of see her make it but I didn't know exactly what to do. I sent an email to all of my brothers and sisters thinking maybe one of them had been smarter than me. Maybe one of them had coerced my mother into giving them the recipe, and maybe they would share it with me. It's a simple recipe. It had to be because my father didn't like complications in his food.

No luck. One brother, John, wrote back, "I don't even remember how Mom boiled water," and then went on to tell me the foods she made that he missed. My sister Beth wrote to say she watched Mom make it once, but that Mom told her it was never the same twice. Beth wasn't quite sure of all of the details, so I told her if what I came up with tasted even close, I'd pass it along. One other brother, Paul, just wished me luck. The others (I think) are still digging in their recipe drawers.

I was on my own.

When we ate the results, I was transported back to North Street, Appleton, Wisconsin, circa the '60s and, boy, it tasted good. I hope you like it too. By the way, I found out in a Chicago Tribune article that the corned beef and cabbage combo is not indigenous to Ireland. They don't serve it there. I HATE corned beef and cabbage. Now it makes sense. I'd rather have my Irish beef stew.

Special notes: When my mom made beef stew, she made it for a "crowd"--our family--in a large electric fry pan. She'd throw all ingredients in and let it cook on low for hours, sometimes all afternoon on a Sunday. This was before slow cookers or "Crock Pots." You can do yours in the slow cooker. I've done mine on the stove so you can see how to do it the old-fashioned way--the way they would have done it in Ireland years ago.

Irish Beef Stew

Serves 6

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 pounds beef stewing meat cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cups beef broth
4 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
12 oz gravy (from a jar or you can make it yourself)
1 tsp sugar
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 Tbl dried thyme
4 or 5 large baking potatoes (about 3 lbs), peeled and cut into large cubes
3 cups baby carrots or regular carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
1 large onion cut into chunks
Water, if necessary
Parsley

Get out your large soup pot. Seven- or eight-quart size will do it. Pour in your vegetable oil and put in your meat. Brown the meat on all sides quickly over medium high heat. Stir often to toss the meat around. You're not cooking it all the way through, just lightly browning the outside. (Five to six minutes.)

Pour in the broth, Worcestershire, gravy, sugar, tomato paste, salt and thyme. Stir this all up and bring to a boil. Then turn down to medium low. Let simmer covered for 45 minutes. Stir once in awhile to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. You'll open the pot and be amazed at how much gravy you have!

Now it's time to peel your potatoes. (If you peel them ahead, they will turn brown.) Add the potatoes, onion and carrots to your pot. Bring to a boil again. You're going to simmer 15 to 30 minutes more until the potatoes are soft but not mushy and the carrots are cooked. If the liquid is not covering everything, you can add up to 2 cups more water and stir it into the gravy. Don't worry. The sauce will thicken up again.

Chopped parsley just adds a little color at the end as a garnish. Serve in soup bowls or other big bowls with some nice bread to soak up the sauce. This is a simple, Irish meal. Don't try to make it fancy. You'll spoil the intention. Comfort food. Enjoy!

Zola

This news arrived on: 03/21/2005

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