Scouse

Submitted by Amy82
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

½ lb. Stewing Steak ½ lb Lambs Breast
Large onion 1 lb. carrots
5 lb. potatoes 2 beef stock cubs
2 tsp. vegetable oil Worcester sauce
salt & pepper water

Directions

  1. Takes 4 hours of slow cooking.
  2. Cut the meat into large cubes & fry in the vegetable oil until lightly browned all over. You may wish to add some Worcester sauce at this point for added flavor.
  3. Transfer the meat to a large saucepan & add the onion that should have been chopped into large chunks. 
  4. Follow this by chopping the carrot into medallions & place this on the meat. Peel & then finely dice 1lb. of the potatoes & place on top of the carrots.
  5. Fill the pan with cold water until it is half full. Break up the beef stock cubes & sprinkle into the water. Add salt & pepper for seasoning. 
  6. Let the pan simmer gently, stirring occasionally. The large pieces of onion will start to break up & the potato will become soft & will make the final sauce thick.
  7. Simmer for a total of 2 hours, then add the remaining potatoes that should have been peeled & roughly chopped, along with a few splashes of Worcester sauce. Then simmer for another two hours.
  8. Serve piping hot with red cabbage, beetroot, pickled onions, & crusty bread. You may add ketchup & HP for flavoring.

Chef’s Note: Scouse was brought to Liverpool by Northern European sailors, it was originally called Labskause. This was finally shortened to Skause & over time the spelling changed to the more Anglicised version we have today, Scouse. The people who ate Scouse were all generally sailors & their families & eventually all sailors within Liverpool were referred to as Scousers. Time has now taken its turn & everyone from the region of Liverpool is known as a Scouser. Scouse holds a place in the heart of most Liverpudlian’s as the taste of their hometown & is still regulary eaten today by a great number of families, including my own. There are records showing that it was also served to the inmates of the Birkenhead workhouse way back in 1864. The recipe was much simpler then than today’s refined version but was predominately the same staple ingredients – meat, vegetables & potatoes. Scouse can be ready made & kept for up to 2 days. Keep it covered in a refrigerator & reheat in a saucepan. Most people prefer the added depth of flavor that reheating adds. Blind scouse was a variation on the above recipe & was eaten by the poorer people as it was cheaper to make because it did not contain meat.