Irish Stew is a bit different from many other slow-cooked stews as it’s not required to reduce the broth into a gravy-like sauce. Broth is best people! Irish stew could be described as being more of a chunky soup if you will!? For me, it’s just perfect, but if a gravy sauce is more your thing, just reduce the broth on top of the stove by simmering (lid off) after removing it from the oven until you get the desired consistency. Alternatively, try adding a peeled potato with the carrot at the prep stage. Before adding the baby potatoes, remove the potato, mash thoroughly and stir back through. It will thicken things up a little and give you a more gravy-like consistency.

Depending on the cut of meat and the amount of fat on it, it may be worth browning your meat in a frypan suitable for high heat as opposed to an enamel Dutch oven. To get the best result with poorer cuts of meat you need to render the fat by browning /searing the meat on a high heat. This ensures the meat becomes palatable in the stew. I love my cast iron pot (we have a relationship!) – Most of my cookware is Le Creuset enameled cast iron. This stuff is the bomb for slow cooking, however, it just hates high heat and if I really want to render that fat good and proper, I will sometimes use a frypan for this step!