← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 750 g lamb neck fillet or stewing beef, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 Onion, chopped
• 4 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 350 g Swede (rutabaga), peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 kg Potato, peeled; half diced small, half cut into large chunks
• 1 l hot beef or lamb stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs Thyme
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Toss the meat in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil in a large casserole over medium-high heat and brown the meat in batches, about 5 min each. Lift out.
2. Lower the heat, add the onions and cook for 8 min until soft. Return the meat, then add the carrots, swede and the small-diced potatoes.
3. Pour in the stock, add the bay, thyme and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently for 1½ hours, stirring now and then.
4. Add the large potato chunks and cook uncovered for 45 min more. The small potatoes will have broken down to thicken the stew; the big ones stay whole.
5. Season well and serve in deep bowls with pickled beetroot or red cabbage and crusty bread.

Tips

• Scouse is famously better the next day, so it is perfect for batch cooking; cool it quickly and chill.
• For "blind scouse" leave out the meat and use vegetable stock and a vegetarian Worcestershire-style sauce.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Olive Magazine BBC Food