Irish Stew (I)

Ingredients

• 3 lb the loin or neck of mutton
• 5 lb potatoes
• 5 large onions
• pepper and salt to taste
• rather more than 1 pint of water

Instructions

1. Trim off some of the fat of the above quantity of loin or neck of mutton, and cut it into chops of a moderate thickness.
2. Pare and halve the potatoes, and cut the onions into thick slices.
3. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, then a layer of mutton and onions, and season with pepper and salt;
4. proceed in this manner until the stewpan is full, taking care to have plenty of vegetables at the top.
5. Pour in the water, and let it stew very gently for 2-1/2 hours, keeping the lid of the stewpan closely shut the _whole_ time, and occasionally shaking it to prevent its burning.