Holy crap post!
I need to start writing again.
Sooo, here’s a recipe.
Lamb Stew.
I have recently discovered the wonders of lamb. It’s not something that appears very often on my house, but when it does, I fall in love with it.
I sort of made this recipe up. I’m posting it in two parts, because I like to think it will work with both lamb pieces and shanks.
Part One.
Ingredients
Regular Olive, Canola, Vegetable, Engine oil. Use whichever you like. My guess is that the engine oil will taste rubbish, though.
1-2kg of lamb. Seriously. It’s a lotta meat but this is awesome. I used fillet the first time and mini-roasts the second. Both are chopped to 1cm cubey-type shapes. Size is completely arbitrary, of course.
2 carrots, chopped. Do all the chopping first, because it’s crap and no one likes doing it.
1 parsnip, chopped. Optional. I had never had parsnip in my life before this dish. Pretty sure I won’t use it again in anything else.
8 decent sized fancy potatoes, chopped. I like potato.
1 leek, chopped. Also optional, I just like the name and how non-onion-y it looks.
Maybe, like, 2 cloves of garlic. Garlic, like lamb, is rare in my house, much to my dispair. So, this is also optional. It’s more because one of my favourite smells is frying onion and garlic.
1 400g (ish) can of chopped/crushed tomato. I prefer to cut tomato myself and kill it in the awesome blender, but I also like to be lazy.
1 cup beef stock. Don’t be silly, just go and buy a box/bottle/whateveritcomesin of liquid beef stock. I have no idea how to make a real stock. This is just as good.
Red wine. A bunch. Maybe a cup. Or two.
Rosemary
Basil
Oregano
Sage
Method
1. Chop everthing if you haven’t done so already. If not, why the hell not? Don’t cut yourself. Don’t cry at me if you do. I told you not to and I even told you to cut everything earlier on. Why didn’t you listen to me? Now you’ve got blood all over my kitchen. Go bandage your hand in a plastic bag with gaffer tape.
2. Warm your pan up to high heat. I use a heavy Le Chasseur pan that I’ve just googled and discovered is called a French Oven. I call it a casserole dish.
3. Once hot, dump your lamb in. That’s right, aaaaaall of it.
4. Let it brown a little, move it about, dance to your favourite song. you can’t really go wrong at this step – once everything is brown rather than red, it’s ready.
5. Add your leek and garlic, if using. Cook it around a little bit.
6. Add…well, everything else. Carrot, parsnip, potato, stock, wine (be free with the wine part.), herbs (just shove a bunch in and use your nose.) and tomato.
7. Wasn’t that fun?
8. Now, stir it all around a little bit until it’s mixed well, then put the lid on, turn the heat down to a simmer and walk away. WALK AWAY, I SAID! Don’t touch it for at least 15 minutes. When that precious time comes, stir lightly, replace lid and leave it for another 15 minutes ir so.
9. A note here. Simmering is not hard. I thought it was, but it’s really not. Simmering, in my terms, just means “occasionally bubbling”. Watch it for one minute. You should see about 20 bubbles at most. That is simmering. It’s light heating.
10. Leave this for one hour. If you’re one of those weird people who can’t leave something alone, learn how to knit. I could use a new scarf.
11. Chuck in a few more shakes of sage. Take the pan off the heat and serve with fresh, crusty bread and a glass of the red you used in the dish.
12. Get a good movie and veg out. I, personally, am a fan of disaster movies for mindless escapism. Some Star Trek wouldn’t go amiss, either. Actually, come to think of it, it’s on now. Has anyone seen the remote? Bugger finishing this blog, I’m off to watch me some St—
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