Slow Cook Irish Lamb Stew

Irish Lamb Stew is such a hearty dish that a salad and rustic bread is all you need to complete a meal. Slow cooking the dish couldn't be simpler, regardless of the method you use, and gives the stew time to develop a rich, complex flavor. Don't feel constrained to cooking a traditional Irish stew, which uses very few vegetables. For extra nutrition, as well as flavor, add more vegetables to your stew.

Method

An electric slow cooker is the easiest way to cook lamb stew. All you have to do is combine all the ingredients in the cooker, set it on low and let it cook for eight hours. Add fresh, chopped parsley before you serve. You can also slow cook lamb stew in a heavy Dutch oven. Dredge the lamb in flour and brown in the pot, add vegetables and liquid, cover the pot and let cook in a low-heat oven for two to three hours.

Meat

Not all parts of a lamb are created equal, so consider what type of meat you want to use. A really traditional Irish stew uses lamb necks, with the bones helping to flavor the dish but they aren't easy to find in grocery stores. Pre-packaged stew meat is already cut into chunks, making it very convenient. For the lowest fat content use the meat from a leg of lamb, recommends Jim Romanoff in an article in "The Seattle Times". You don't need high fat content for tenderness when you slow cook meat.

Vegetables

A traditional Irish stew does not contain carrots, claims Monica Sheridan in a classic Irish cookbook, "The Art of Irish Cooking". All you need to do is add potatoes and onions to the pot. Carrots do show up in modern versions of the stew, as well as other vegetables. Consider using any combination of celery, leeks, mushrooms, turnips and peas to increase the nutritional content of the stew.

Nutrition

Some recipes call for broth as the stew liquid. Use low-sodium versions if you go that route but water is the traditional liquid and perfectly acceptable, particularly if you're watching your sodium intake. A 1.25 cup serving of stew cooked with low-sodium beef broth contains 618 mg of sodium.

Trim the fat from the meat you use for a healthier stew. A serving of stew using low-fat leg of lamb contains 266 calories, 7 g of fat, 65 mg of cholesterol and 23 g of protein.