Top of the morning to you

"Kiss me I'm drunk...or Irish...or whatever"
Seen on a T-shirt

Ahhh, St. Patrick's Day - the day where everyone is a little bit Irish, and uses the day to get as drunk as an Irish lord. In the midst of all the parades, and shamrocks, and the wearing of green, I've heard that some people even manage to head to church services to honour Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. A lot of people, however, head to their local tavern. Back when I had the time for that sort of thing, I went to the Irish Village in the Market as soon as it opened one St. Paddy's Day. I had to see what all the fuss was about after hearing someone had been pulled over for drunk driving before nine that morning. Is it better to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day with an early morning buzz?

I remember slowly itching my way through the packed to capacity Heart and Crown, finally managing to score a seat at the bar at the Snug Pug. As it was the busiest day in the drinking calendar, it took some time before I got the stout I ordered; it was a bit too early for a shot of whiskey. People were shoulder-to-shoulder enjoying the live bands playing various Irish shanties, but as my tastes in Irish music is limited to U2 and House of Pain, I just sipped my beer. Maybe it was because I was by myself at the time, but I didn't see the big deal about drinking that early while listening to "Danny Boy" - it was barely tolerable in the evening, as far as I'm concerned. Even when I hooked up with some friends later in the evening, our drinking was far from the epic proportions that St. Patrick's Day is known for. It reminded me of a lot of the build-up and letdown that surrounds New Year's Eve. This year, I'm going to take it easy and spend the day with my wife and our little leprechaun, and some homemade Irish stew.

This recipe is based on the one on allrecipes.com, with a few personal changes.

Ingredients

410 g thickly sliced bacon, diced
1.6 kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 g salt
0.6 g ground black pepper
40 g all-purpose flour
1-3/4 cloves garlic, minced
5/8 large onion, chopped
70 ml water
285 ml beef stock
1 can Guinness stout
5 g white sugar
305 g diced carrots
1-1/4 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
1-3/4 potatoes
0.9 g dried thyme
1-1/4 bay leaves
140 ml white wine

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
3. Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with the water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with the bacon pieces, beef stock, all of the Guinness, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and the wine to the pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.