Well good morning spring chickens!
I LOVE this time of year- I am getting up early and FILLING my day to the brim of wonderful things… dog walking, gardening, songwriting, exciting meetings and COOKING… so much cooking, I can hardly believe it… I have gone from take aways and freezer/ready meals girl to proper gourmet food ‘chef’, ok not chef, but I am loving being in the kitchen and cooking up a feast. Even my bedtime reading has changed a lot…
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| The bottom is my ipad that I’ve been filling with apps and notes on cooking and gardening too! |
So I have recipes to share and although I have been following recipes, mostly in my Julia Child’s (‘Mastering The Art Of French Cooking’ book that Stephen got me for my birthday) I am getting more adventurous and adding things, changing ingredients and generally going with the flow. I love testing sauces, adding seasoning and herbs and the sauce coming to life and yesterday I set fire to Cognac! So I’m learning a lot and this week alone I have made – Leek & Potato soup, Ratatouille, Bread Rolls, Avacado & Bacon Omlette, Beefburgers, Chicken Asparagus Flambé (which I will share with you soon- it’s amazing) and Lamb Stew… which brings me nicely onto why I am here… to share the recipe.
SPRING LAMB STEW
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INGREDIENTS
- 300g or more of diced lamb
(I wanted to use the neck, as it’s the best part for stew but ended up with diced stewing lamb which was perfect) NB, Use as much meat as you want, I could have easily doubled it as I had more veg than lamb but it’s up to personal choice
- Casserole Vegetable Selection (3 medium carrots, 1 turnip, 1 small swede, 1 large white onion)
- 2 large white potatoes, diced
- 2 gloves of garlic
- 1 can of tinned tomatoes
- A big squeeze of tomato puree
- A handful of frozen peas and/ or beans
- 1 pint / 475ml of lamb stock (can be vegetable stock)
- Olive oil for cooking
- Herbs (I used a Bouquet Garni and Rosemary from the garden)
- Big Casserole Dish / Any big heavy, lidded pan will do – I did this all on the hob, starting with a high heat
Ready?… COOK!
- Heat up a generous splash of oil in the casserole (about 2 tbsp) and add the diced lamb.
Peel the potatoes, chop up all the vegetables into sizeable chunks (apart from the peas & beans) and once the lamb is cooked through throw them in the pan to soften them all for a few minutes (3/4mins), I did this with the lid on.- Add the tinned tomatoes and puree to the mix and start boiling the kettle for your stock.
- Mix together 3 stock cubes with you pint of boiling water and pour into the casserole.
- Mix together and add crushed garlic, seasoning, herbs any additions you might like – taste it and make it yummy! A lot would add red wine so maybe try that, it doesn’t NEED anything else though you might like it that way!
- Turn down the heat and replace the lid, let the whole thing simmer and soften for as long as possible (I left it for about 10-15mins with the occassional stir and taste). NB, A good way to test if its ready is to stick a fork in each of the vegetables and if they are soft and the fork goes through easily- they are ready.
- Taste again and add more seasoning if needed then chuck in your peas and beans, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes while you get ready to dish up.
- Serve hot with a french bread, potatoes in butter and parsley or by itself!
VOILA!
Stephen and I absolutely loved this and I made enough to freeze a batch for another day!
Happy cooking
Xox Gabstew xoX
