Irish Stew.
- 3 lbs. of lean beef—a sirloin steak is best.
- 8 parboiled potatoes.
- 2 onions, or one, if it be large, also parboiled.
- Browned flour for thickening.
- Thyme and sweet marjoram.
- Pepper and salt.
- A little pie-paste—not rich—for dumplings.
Cut the meat into pieces an inch wide by two long. Slice the parboiled potatoes and onions. Put a layer of meat in a pot; then one of potatoes, next one of onions. Pepper and salt each sparingly; scatter the herbs upon the onions; put in more meat, and so on. When all are in, cover—barely—with cold water, and stew slowly two hours. Strain out the meat, and put into a covered dish—a chafing-dish, if you have one. Return the gravy to the saucepan; thicken with browned flour; cut your paste into narrow strips two inches long, and drop, one by one, into the boiling gravy. Stew about eight minutes, and pour over meat, potatoes, etc., which await it in the dish.