Irish Lamb Stew Veganized and Soda Bread

Irish Lamb Stew (Vegan Style) with Soda Bread

Saint Patrick's Day is just around the corner and I found the coolest site with traditional recipes and great information. Check it out here. I think I might experiment with Irish food for a bit since there were several recipes there that look like they'd take to veganizing really well. My initial attempts are above. I made a slight variation on my previous lamb recipe but tried to stay as authentic as possible. OK...I did add beer and apparently there is some discussion on whether carrots are true to the early days of lamb stew or not, but still.....it's more authentic than a lot of my recreations are.

Irish Lamb Stew
Seitan-
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 Tbsp garbanzo flour
2 Tbsp tapioca (I use "Minute Tapioca")
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp parsley
3/4 cup broth
2 tsp tamari
1 tsp kitchen bouquet (optional)
1 clove garlic, crushed

Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside. Then combine the broth, tamari, kitchen bouquet and garlic. Pour them into the dry ingredients and knead by hand for a few minutes until it holds together well in a uniform ball. Set aside while doing vegetables for the stew.

Stew
6 cups broth, cold
1 cup beer
1 onion, cut in large chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut in 1 inch pieces
2 russet potatoes, chopped in 1 inch pieces
3 small red potatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the broth and beer into a big soup pot. Chop the seitan into 1 inch pieces and add them directly to the cold broth. Add the onions, carrots, potatoes, dry herbs and pepper. I like to use both kinds of potatoes because the russets break down and make it stewy while the reds keep their shape. Bring to a simmer, making sure to never boil! Simmer for 2 hours or until the vegetables are tender.

Optional thickener-- use this only if you like really thick, stick- to- your- ribs stew. If you do, you'll need to add more broth on the second day for leftovers.
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup broth
Simmer these together until they pull away from the sides of a small saucepan while you stir. Then whisk 1 cup of broth (from the stew in the pot) into the mixture. Add bag into the stew.

Be sure to check out that site for some great ideas and information! By the way, in Ireland they don't call it Irish Lamb Stew. They just call it Lamb Stew....you'll learn more at that site. Try your hand at authentic Soda Bread, too! This is the no knead baking variation.

Soda Bread

Tonight's dinner - it's "clean out the fridge, we're getting ready to go out of town time." That means probably something Asian or Mexican.