Hi All,

I'm looking for a recipe for a very simple stew that my mother used to make
when I was a boy. She was english and she once told me that the bases for
this stew was during the war when food was scarce - they would make this
from meat and potato's. She called it "lobbies" but I don't know if that
was a widespread name used in England or not.

From memory it contained "skirt" beef, potatoes and onion, although I really
can't remember too much. As my mother passed away some years ago, I can't
ask her about it!

If anyone out there knows of this recipe, I'd really appreciate some info.

TIA

Martin wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking for a recipe for a very simple stew that my mother used
> to make when I was a boy. She was english and she once told me that
> the bases for this stew was during the war when food was scarce -
> they would make this from meat and potato's. She called it "lobbies"
> but I don't know if that was a widespread name used in England or not.
>
> From memory it contained "skirt" beef, potatoes and onion, although I
> really can't remember too much. As my mother passed away some years
> ago, I can't ask her about it!
>
> If anyone out there knows of this recipe, I'd really appreciate some
> info.
>
> TIA

If your mother called it 'lobbies' then it sounds as if she was making
'lobscouse' or 'scouse' stew, popularised around Liverpool.
It really is nothing more than a basic stew made with any ingredients to
hand.
'Blind scouse' is a variant made during meat shortages which was essentially
the same stew but without the meat.
Arguments have raged over the original and best recipes, but I like this one
as it seems the most traditional.

http://www.scouser.com/recipe/

"Steve O" > wrote in message
...
> Martin wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I'm looking for a recipe for a very simple stew that my mother used
>> to make when I was a boy. She was english and she once told me that
>> the bases for this stew was during the war when food was scarce -
>> they would make this from meat and potato's. She called it "lobbies"
>> but I don't know if that was a widespread name used in England or not.
>>
>> From memory it contained "skirt" beef, potatoes and onion, although I
>> really can't remember too much. As my mother passed away some years
>> ago, I can't ask her about it!
>>
>> If anyone out there knows of this recipe, I'd really appreciate some
>> info.
>>
>> TIA
>
> If your mother called it 'lobbies' then it sounds as if she was making
> 'lobscouse' or 'scouse' stew, popularised around Liverpool.
> It really is nothing more than a basic stew made with any ingredients to
> hand.
> 'Blind scouse' is a variant made during meat shortages which was
> essentially
> the same stew but without the meat.
> Arguments have raged over the original and best recipes, but I like this
> one
> as it seems the most traditional.
>
> http://www.scouser.com/recipe/
>
>
>

Thanks for that. I know the version my mother made was very basic, with
just one type of meat, potatoes, onion, but while the basic ingredients are
fairly easy I guess it was the rest of the mix that stumped me!

Now I have those other references you mentioned I might be able to find some
more info on searches.. thanks again.

Cheers


>

"Martin" > wrote in message
...
> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking for a recipe for a very simple stew that my mother used to
> make when I was a boy. She was english and she once told me that the
> bases for this stew was during the war when food was scarce - they would
> make this from meat and potato's. She called it "lobbies" but I don't
> know if that was a widespread name used in England or not.
>
> From memory it contained "skirt" beef, potatoes and onion, although I
> really can't remember too much. As my mother passed away some years ago,
> I can't ask her about it!
>
> If anyone out there knows of this recipe, I'd really appreciate some info.
>
> TIA
>
>

To those that replied to this - thank you.

I finally managed to track down a family member that actually knew mum's
recipe for this. Looking at it I presume it is indeed a variation of the
Lobscouse recipe. Here it is - if anyone would like to comment, please do
so. I know for a very simple recipe it was extremely tasty indeed...

1 - 2 large pieces of Skirt beef (or other cut that is good for gravy, but
skirt best)..
Large white onion
2-3 Potatoes
1-2 carrots

Cut meat into cubes place in saucepan with chopped onion. Cover with water
(approx. twice the volume of water as there is meat). Bring to boil and
simmer until meat is tender (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 hours).

Add diced potatoe and grated carrot. Simmer until potatoes are cooked.

That's it! Always tasted better re-heated the next day, but still very
tasty straight away. Trick was always to find a butcher that had skirt, as
it wasn't an overly popular cut...

Cheers, and thanks again to those that helped. Any comments (or further
refinements/details) appreciated.