So, everyone has their own “ultimate” version of a classic dish or a local speciality, whether it is Spaghetti Bolognese, chilli con carne or chicken fried steak (seriously I don’t know what that is, someone needs to tell me).
I thought it might be nice to share them.
Mine is for (surprise!) Irish Stew.
Serves 2-4 people, prep time 20mins, cooking time 60-90mins.
Ingredients
1- 2tbps Vegetable oil, for frying
500g/ 1lb lamb cut into bite size cubes- a cheap, fatty stewing cut (neck or shoulder) is best
1 leek- finely sliced (you can use onion or shallot instead but I like leek)
1 clove of garlic- chopped
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and chopped very roughly
1 large floury potato per person (the kind you’d make into baked potato) roughly chopped, peeled if you like
2 parsnips peeled and roughly chopped (add extra carrots if you can’t get parsnips)
1/4 head of shredded curly Kale cabbage per person (optional)
Herbs- I use a sprig of rosemary and a big bunch of thyme, but Bay leaves and parsley are also good.
500mls (1 pint) lamb or vegetable stock (a rough estimate, depends on the size of your pot)
Method
Heat oil in a large pot (it needs to have a lid and would preferably be non-stick)
Cook lamb in batches until brown, remove from pot and put in a bowl- cover to keep warm
DO NOT DRAIN LAMB ON KITCHEN PAPER.
Add leek and garlic to pot, saute until soft
Add potatoes, carrots and parsnips to pot, stir briefly to mix with leeks and garlic
Add lamb and herbs to pot, stir to mix with vegetables
Add enough stock to cover lamb and vegetables
Put lid on pot, heat over low heat on stove or in moderately cool oven for 60-90 mins until lamb is tender and potato is soft and has partially disinteegrated into stock. Carrots and parsnips should be tender.
If using cabbage add this 2 minutes before serving and just allow to wilt, don’t overcook.
Season to taste, serve in bowls with bread and butter on the side to mop up the dregs (I use Wheaten bread, but any bread is good).
Good stew should need to be eaten with a spoon, not a knife and fork.
Enjoy!
Chicken Fried Steak
Round or cubed steak
Flour
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Poultry seasoning
Onions
Mushrooms
Fat of some sort (preferably butter)
Note on measurements: I rarely measure. I use about half a pound of steak per person, and it ALL gets eaten up.
Note on fat: I use enough to cover the bottom of the skillet to a depth of about 1/8 inch, and add more as I need it.
Slice onions and mushrooms. Fry in fat, remove, set aside. Keep warm. Can be served separately or added to the cream gravy when it’s cooked.
Mix flour, seasoned salt, and poultry seasoning. Use enough seasoning that the flour is sort of a light orangy-grey. Cut steak into small bite sized pieces. If using cubed steak, skip the pounding, otherwise pound with meat tenderizer (the utensil, not the enzyme) until QUITE thin. Dredge in seasoned flour, let rest, dredge again. Fry in hot fat, a few at a time, keeping a very close watch on the pieces. Turn once They will cook very quickly, due to being thin. Remove cooked pieces, keep warm, add new pieces until all the steak is cooked.
Make cream gravy from leftover flour and fat. Add more flour and fat if necessary.
VERY good with mashed potatoes.
irishgirl, thank you! My way of making Irish stew is very similar to what you posted, so I’m glad to know it’s close to the real thing. The kale is a new twist for me, and it sounds delicious.
Here’s my recipe for chicken and dumplings
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or a combo
A half cup of flour
A teaspoon of seasoned salt or poultry seasoning
Vegetable oil
A bag of frozen vegetables for stew
A can of non-fat cream of chicken soup
Chicken stock
Bisquick
Celery seed
Combine the flour and seasoned salt or poultry seasoning. Dredge the chicken in the flour. In a dutch oven or similar deep pan, brown the chicken in hot oil. When the chicken is brown, add the frozen vegetables and soup. Add enough chicken stock to cover the chicken and vegetables by a half inch or so. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or so, until the chicken is done.
When the chicken is done, use the recipe for dumplings on the Bisquick box, but add a teaspoon of celery seed to the dry mix before you add the milk. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the simmering stew. THIS PART IS VERY IMPORTANT! Cook ten minutes uncovered. Cover the pan and cook for another 10 minutes. Cooking the dumplings uncovered “sets” the surface of the dough. If you cover the pan from the outset, the dumpling dough will just disintegrate into the stew.
My Very Own Spicy Swiss Steak
I don’t measure, either. This is approximate:
About 2 lbs. of round steak, not too thin - cut into 8 pieces
2 14-1/2 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1 small onion and 1 small green pepper
flour
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
oil
Pound the steak with the edge of a saucer (or use one of those mallets, I use the saucer because I can never find the mallet) to make a diamond pattern. Moisten a bit with water and dredge it in flour, salt, pepper, and ground cloves. Heat the oil and fry on each side till lightly browned and lay out in a 9x13 baking dish OR put it in your slow cooker, with the bay leaves on the bottom. Dice the onion and pepper, mix with the tomato sauce and rosemary, pour it over OR (since we don’t like chunks of vegetables) whiz the vegetables and tomato sauce in the blender, and pour it over the meat. Cook in the slow cooker 6-8 hours on low setting. If you bake it in the pan in the oven, cover tightly with foil and bake 350 degrees for about 1-1/2 - 2 hours. When it starts to smell delicious, test it with a fork, it should be
tender. Remove the bay leaves when you serve it over mashed potatoes.