Leinster Hot Pot

St. Patrick's day is just around the corner, and naturally we need a good old irish stew. Ireland somehow never made it to the top of the culinary wonders list but it is my understanding, that a lot has changed in the last few years. Even Ireland moved away from food being a necessity to slow food made with the highest care. Today i share this recipe and hope you will try it out. My family loved it! This is what you need:

1 Pound beef cubed 1 pound Lamb cubed OR

use 2 pounds beef cut into cubes as I did for this recipe 3 med onions sliced

oil 3 cups of beef broth 1 cup celery root cubed (if you can't get it, celery stalk is just fine) 3 large carrots, cubed

1 stalk of leeks

1 can diced Tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, optional

1 Tablespoon Thyme

4 bay leaves

Salt pepper to taste

1 can peas

4 potatoes thinly sliced

This is how you make it:

Preheat you oven to 180/350 F

Wash, dry and cut all your ingredients.

In a skillet, brown the vegetables and the meat in oil. Do not add the potatoes and peas, unless you like them cooked in and mushy.

Brown little by little so there is not too much in the pan. Place the done veggies and meat in a dish that can go into the oven.

When you are done browning, add the broth to release the roasting aromas from the pan and to heat the broth as well. Pour over the browned ingredients and add the seasoning to it. Place a lid or cover with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour at 180 C/ 350 F, then reduce the heat to 150 C/ 300 F and continue for another hour.

In the last hour, peel and wash your potatoes, slice very fine, and fry in a pan to a golden brown, almost like chips. 10 min, before the baking time is up, add your canned peas to heat them up in the stew. When the time is up, take out your hot pot and taste it. Add more salt and pepper to round out the hearty flavor. Serve with the potato chips on top and with bread.