Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Of course corn beef and cabbage is the typical meal on St. Patrick's Day but really do you need a recipe for that?  Here is a great Irish Stew recipe handed down through my family.

Thanks to my mother, Julie Kane, I can bring you this.  For an Italian girl she sure can make some great Irish Stew!

This is "Grammy Kane's" recipe. She, too, was an excellent cook and she taught her Italian daughter-in-law a few of her irish recipes. She was an entrepreneur in her own right. She ran a boarding house and also had a side business serving lunches out of the boarding house to factory workers from the Smith-Corona and the Cresent Corset. I ate very well while staying with her in those days. Such fond memories for me and I'd say I definitely had and still do have the luck of the Irish!

Irish Stew

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. of chuck stew beef

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 medium potatoes - cubed
3 carrots - sliced into 1/4 in slices
1 medium onion - rough chop
6 c. beef stock
salt and peper
Wondra flour

Directions:

In a large soup pot add the olive oil and the stew beef over medium heat. Salt and pepper the beef to your taste and brown it, add the onions and the beef broth and simmer for about an hour and a half.
Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot after simmering for about an hour and continue to simmer for the remaining time. It is now time to thicken the stew with Wondra. Slowly add the Wondra while continually whisking. This must be done carefully not to over thicken the stew. If you prefer you could also use cornstarch mixed in water to thicken the stew. After the stew is thickened cook until the carrots and potatoes are completely cooked.

Serve over fresh hot biscuits. This is definitely a comfort food that warms my heart and soul!