Ingredients for Irish Lamb Stew

• Lamb Shoulder. The lamb shoulder is best for stews. It becomes nice and tender when cooked long and slow. The shoulder has a bit more fat on it that you can trim off. I like to trim it off but then add it to the stew for the extra flavor. Before serving I take as much as the fatty timing and the bones out.

• Potatoes. You can use any type of potato you have for this stew but I prefer small red potatoes. They are soft and creamy, yet hold their shape well. I also just love the flavor of red potatoes, especially paired with rosemary.
• Carrots. We want our veggies cut large for this stew. You can use whole baby carrots for easier prep work.

• Cabbage. This is optional. Some people really don’t like cooked cabbage or cabbage at all and If that’s you, leave the cabbage out.
• Onion. An onion will add so much flavor as well as rich nutrition. Onions are rich in antioxidants and immune system building properties. They are great for you and great tasting.
• Garlic. Garlic also add a lot of flavor with some of the same nutritional benefits. Improving immune system and great for blood flow and heart health, garlic is a great addition to your meals.

• Broth. You can use any type of broth you want but lamb broth will be the best choice for this lamb stew. Beef broth and chicken broth also taste great in the stew. Vegetable broth will also work. The only thing I don’t advice is plain water, that will diminish the flavor greatly.
• Flour/Cornstarch. For a little thicker broth add about a 1/4-1/2 a cup flour or cornstarch to the broth. The more you use the thicker the broth will get. I advice add the flour half way (or later) through cooking the stew. We want the meat and vegetables to soak in the flavor of the broth while cooking. If the broth is to thick it will not soak in and you might will be tough and the flavor of the vegetables will be weak. You can add the flour in 20 minutes before serving and that should be long enough to thicken up.

• Rosemary. The only seasoning (besides salt and pepper) we will need for this recipe is rosemary. I like to use fresh rosemary but dried will work as well.
• Salt and Pepper to taste. If I am using homemade broth I typically need to add a lot more salt than if I’m using store bought broth. So as I am making my stew and get it a taste or two and add the needed salt and pepper to my liking.

How To Make Irish Lamb Stew

• Chop Vegetables. Cut your potatoes in quarter or large chucks, same with your carrots, onion and cabbage. Large chunks. Dice the garlic in small pieces.
• Chop Lamb. Cut your lamb shoulder into 1-2 inch pieces. Large is good but not to big.

• Saute. Get you pot nice and hot. I like to use cast iron, it works best but if you don’t have cast iron your normal pot should work just fine. With a little cooking oil in the pot sauce the onions first. As they soften add the garlic and lamb. Once the lamb is seared, not cooked though, but as soon as it is brown add the potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Stir in and cook for a few minutes.

• Add Broth. Pour in the broth till it just covers the meat and vegetables. Cover with a lid and let simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you let your stew simmer the more flavor your stew will have. I will often turn it on low and leave it for 2 hours or longer.

• Temper Flour. To thicken the broth add about a 1/4 cup flour to your broth. To do this without having cooked flour chunks you will need to temper the flour with the broth. To temper the flour and broth you will first add the flour with some room temperature water or broth at a 1:1 ratio. Then ladle some of the hot broth from the stew into you flour and water and mix together. Keep adding broth till the flour and broth are well mixed and hot. To make sure not flour chucks I strain the mixture while adding it to my stew. Simmer for another 20 minutes to thicken up before serving.

Irish Lamb Stew

Yield: 6 Servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs lamb shoulder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 carrots
• 10 small red potatoes
• 6-8 cups broth
• 1/4 cup flour or cornstarch
• 2 rosemary fresh sprigs or 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop Vegetables. Cut your potatoes in quarter or large chucks, same with your carrots, onion and cabbage. Large chunks. Dice the garlic in small pieces.
2. Chop Lamb. Cut your lamb shoulder into 1-2 inch pieces. Large is good but not to big.
3. Saute. Get you pot nice and hot. I like to use cast iron, it works best but if you don't have cast iron your normal pot will work just fine. With a little cooking oil in the pot saute the onions first. As they soften add the garlic and lamb. Once the lamb is seared (not cooked though) but as soon as it is brown add the potatoes, carrots, cabbage and seasonings. Stir in and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add Broth. Pour in the broth till it just covers the meat and vegetables. Cover with a lid and let simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you let your stew simmer the more flavor your stew will have. I will often turn it on low and leave it for 2 hours or longer.
5. Temper Flour. To thicken the broth add about a 1/4 cup flour to your broth. To do this without having cooked flour chunks you will need to temper the flour with the broth. To temper the flour and broth you will first add the flour with some room temperature water or broth at a 1:1 ratio. Then ladle some of the hot broth from the stew into you flour and water and mix together. Keep adding broth till the flour and broth are well mixed and hot. To make sure not flour chucks I strain the mixture while adding it to my stew. Simmer for another 20 minutes to thicken up before serving.

Crock Pot Simplified Version

Saute the lamb on the stove top then place in the crock pot with all the other ingredients. Turn on high for 4-6 hours and low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy!

The post Irish Lamb Stew Recipe appeared first on Embracing The Home.

To be honest, I don’t know that I will do this again. Mainly because my kids didn’t like the soup. I like it. When I blended the soup the next day my kids liked it better. Cooking it in the shell worked, but had some difficulties. I will share the process and to help you have success in your creative dinner making.

How to Cook Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin Shell

Choose Your Pumpkin

Choose a medium to large size pumpkin. You want the pumpkin to be big enough to fit all your soup fillings but small enough to fit in your pot or pan that you are baking it in.

Clean The Pumpkin

Wash the outside of the pumpkin. For cleanliness sake, we wash the outside of the pumpkin because we are using it as our bowl for out food.

Cut and Gut The Inside of The Pumpkin

Cut the top of the pumpkin off. Don’t cut to low or you will loose room for the soup. I cut the top off and the stem. I don’t want the stem catching fire in the oven and this also allows for a steam hole.

Saute Your Soup Ingredients

The recipe I used is a vegan veggie soup with jalapeno and coconut milk. The flavor was good but the texture did fit very well. It was too brothy and not creamy enough… I should have blended the bean with the vegetable broth to create a thicker, creamy texture. What every recipe you do try with your pumpkin shell make sure you saute and cook everything before putting it in the pumpkin. This will shorten the time you have it in the oven and assure everything got cook through. Especially if you are using meat.

Add Ingredients to The Pumpkin Shell

Pour you soup ingredients into your pumpkin shell. Broth, veggies, meat, beans. Leave any milks or dairy out until the end when its done baking.

Baking the Pumpkin Soup

Bake the pumpkin on the lowest rack in your oven at 375 degrees for 2 hours or until the shell is soften and the pumpkin is fully cooked. It may take longer depending on the size of the pumpkin. I did find out that at 375 my pumpkin skin did get a little brown so if you really want to avoid this maybe try 350 degrees for a longer time.

Scrape the Pumpkin And Serve

One the pumpkin is done baking, take a fork and scrape the sides of the soup from the inside getting the ‘meat’ of the pumpkin incorporated into the soup. Pour in your coconut milk or other dairy products your recipe might use. Serve your pumpkin soup from the shell and enjoy this fun meal!

Is Cooking Pumpkin Soup in the Shell Worth it?

Pros

There was too great benefits of serving the pumpkin soup straight our the shell. Number one was the appearance. It gets 5 starts for aesthetics. Secondly the pumpkin flavor in the broth was amazing. It wasn’t overpowering but it was defiantly there. It was a wonderful flavor but I do thing I could get that flavor with pumpkin chunks in a normal pot all the same.

Cons

It took a long time. Instead of just thought things into a pot and calling it soup this took a lot more prep work. Cleaning the pumpkin, with all the insides and seeds, took a good amount of work that in the end didn’t seem pay off as much as I wished it did. My kids loved making the soup with me but then wouldn’t eat it and that never feels good.

The texture with this recipe just did not work our quite right. The next day I blended the left over before heating it up for lunch and my kids ate some of it but not a lot. (I think it was may have been a little spicy for them).

Conclusion

It was very pretty and fun to do. More work for sure and kinda worth it. If ever I do this again it will be a different recipe. Something that my kids will enjoy, then maybe it will all be worth it for me.

How To Cook A pumpkin In the Shell

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Active Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

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Materials

• 1 Pumpkin
• Large pot or deep pan
• Recipe and Ingredients

Instructions

1. Wash the outside of your pumpkin
2. Cut the top of the pumpkin off and clean out the inside from all the guts and seeds.
3. Saute you soup ingredients, then add them into your pumpkin shell along with your broth.
4. Bake the pumpkin for 2 hours at 375 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven.
5. Once the pumpkin is cooked take a fork and scrape the insides of the pumpkin without puncturing it.
6. Serve straight from the pumpkin and enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Spicy Soup With Coconut Cream

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 Pumpkin Whole, or 3 cups cubed pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups cooked navy beans or 1, 15 oz can
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 onion
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 bell peppers
• 1 jalapeno (seeds optional)
• 1 banana pepper
• 1 cup chopped spinach or kale
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Instructions

In A Whole Pumpkin Shell

1. Saute onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, banana peppers, garlic, spinach, mushrooms with the thyme, cinnamon and salt.
2. Pour into your cleaned out pumpkin shell. Also add the broth and navy beans save the coconut milk for later. (For a thicker, creamier broth, blend the broth and beans together before adding the soup)
3. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 2 hours.
4. Once the pumpkin is cooked take a fork and scrape the walls of the pumpkin without puncturing it.
5. Pour in the coconut milk. Serve and enjoy!

In A Pot On The Stove

1. In a pot saute onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, banana peppers, garlic, spinach, mushrooms with the thyme, cinnamon and salt and the cubed pumpkin a
2. Pour in the broth and navy beans save the coconut milk for later. (For a thicker, creamier broth, blend the broth and beans together before adding the soup)
3. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 1 hour.
4. Once the pumpkin cubes are soft turn off the heat and pour in the coconut milk.
5. Serve and enjoy!

The post Can You Cook Pumpkin Soup In The Shell? appeared first on Embracing The Home.