Solstice Lamb Stew With Port And Cider Food

LAMB & RED WINE STEW

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
• 2. Trim the ends off the celery and roughly chop the sticks. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel the carrots, slice them lengthways and roughly chop. 3. Put a casserole pan on a medium heat. Put all the vegetables, bay and rosemary into the pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry for 10 minutes. 4. Dice the lamb into roughly 2cm cubes (if it isn't already), then add to the pan with the flour. 5. Pour in the wine and tomatoes. Give it a good stir, then season with a pinch of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper. 6. Bring to the boil, put the lid on and cook in the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes, or until the meat is tender and delicious, removing the lid for the final 30 minutes and adding a splash of water if it looks too dry. (You could also simmer over a medium-low heat on your hob if you prefer.) 7. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary stalks, season to taste, then serve. Or finish it off with one of these toppings... TO MAKE THE DUMPLINGS 1. Preheat or turn the oven up to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. 2. Put the flour and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper into a bowl, then grate in the cold butter. Using your fingers, gently rub in the butter until it begins to resemble breadcrumbs. Then add a splash of cold water to help bind it into a dough. 3. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and gently roll each into a round dumpling. The dumplings will suck up quite a bit of moisture, so if your stew looks dry, add a cup of boiling water and give it a good stir. 4. Place the dumplings on top of your stew and press down lightly, so they're half submerged. Cook in the oven, or on the hob over a medium heat, with the lid on for 30 minutes. TO MAKE SHEPHERD'S PIE 1. Preheat or turn the oven up to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Transfer your cooked stew to a large baking dish. 2. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half into even-sized pieces, and put them into a pan of salted, boiling water. Boil for about 10 minutes or until tender, then drain, steam dry and return them to the pan. 3. Add the milk, butter and a pinch of salt and pepper, then mash until smooth and creamy, adding another splash of milk if necessary. 4. Roughly top the stew with the mashed potato (don't worry about it being smooth and even), pick over a few rosemary leaves and lightly push them into the potato. 5. Drizzle with some olive oil, lightly coating the rosemary leaves, then cook in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

MINT LAMB STEW

Steps:

• In a large shallow dish, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add the meat, a few pieces at a time, and turn to coat. In a large skillet, brown meat and shallots in oil in batches., Transfer to a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Add wine to the skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes. Add to slow cooker., Stir in the broth, potatoes, sweet potato, carrots, parsnips and garlic. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Stir in jelly; sprinkle with bacon. If desired, sprinkle with fresh mint before serving.

LAMB WITH ROSEMARY AND PORT

Steps:

• Mix together the oil and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl, then smear this over the steaks, either with a pastry brush or by dipping the steaks directly into the bowl.
• Heat a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the steaks for about 3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the steak and how you like it done. If you prefer to use boneless lamb sirloin or noisettes, I'd advise 2 per person, and less time for their cooking.
• Wrap the steaks in aluminum foil to rest on a warm plate or in a warm place, while you make the sauce. With the pan still on the heat, but turned down low, add the butter and let it melt, then finely chop the needles from the rosemary sprig and add them to the pan.
• Peel and crush or mince the garlic clove and add it to the pan, then pour in the port, letting it sizzle and reduce slightly. Unwrap the steaks and add any juices from the foil parcel to the sauce. Arrange the steaks on serving plates and drizzle them with the sauce.

LAMB STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
• Cut the onions and turnips into quarters. Toss the onions, and turnips, carrots, and fennel lightly in oil and place them on baking sheets. Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. When vegetables are a dark caramel color, remove them from the oven. Reserve 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, and the stalk of fennel; set aside. Put the remainder of the vegetables in a large pot with the chicken stock, garlic, orange juice, apple cider, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, star anise, cumin seeds, orange zest, salt and pepper. Cook the broth over high heat until reduced by about half.
• While the broth is simmering, remove the skin and excess fat from the leg of lamb and cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Put the cubes on a wire rack to drain or on a clean towel to soak up excess moisture. Add some of the cooking oil to a large heavy skillet and heat over high heat. When the oil is hot, carefully add the diced lamb. Cook the lamb, in batches as necessary, for 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer the lamb to a roasting pan. Add the wine to the skillet that the lamb was cooked in and cook, over high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook the wine until reduced by about half and the solids have come up off the pan. Pour the reduced wine over the lamb.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Strain the broth and discard the solids. Pour the broth over the lamb in the roasting pan. Cover the pan with a lid or parchment paper and braise until the lamb is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Once the lamb is tender, remove it from the oven and add the reserved roasted vegetables to the pan. Place the roasting pan over medium heat on the stovetop and bring to a simmer. Add salt, pepper, and fresh herbs, to taste. Serve the stew with rustic bread on the side.

MOROCCAN LAMB STEW

Steps:

• In a medium-size bowl, season the meat evenly with the salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
• In a large cooking pot on medium, heat the coconut oil and brown the meat, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
• Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, or until it begins to brown slightly.
• Add the garlic, ginger, and rosemary and cook until fragrant, another couple of minutes.
• Add the apple cider vinegar, bone broth, water, orange zest and juice, carrots, and dates and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the lamb reaches the desired tenderness.
• Serve warm garnished with cilantro.

SUCCULENT LAMB STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3.
• Place a 30cm shallow casserole pan on a high heat, strip in the rosemary leaves, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and crisp up for 1 minute while you dice the lamb into 3cm chunks.
• Scoop out the rosemary and put aside, adding the lamb to the pan for 2 minutes to get some colour.
• Meanwhile, squash the olives and remove the stones. Drain the pickled onions and stir into the pan with the olives. Toss well, then pour in the tinned tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon, as well as 2 tins' worth of water.
• Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours, or until thick, delicious and tender, stirring halfway and loosening with a splash of water, if needed.
• Taste, season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper, sprinkle over the crispy rosemary leaves, and serve. Simple.

LAMB AND WINTER VEGETABLE STEW

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and brown the lamb meat on all sides. Drain fat, and stir in the beef broth and wine. Season with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
• Mix in the squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery, and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
• In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and flour. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup of the hot stew mixture.
• Stir the sour cream mixture into the saucepan. Remove the bay leaf, and continue to cook and stir until thickened.

SOLSTICE LAMB STEW WITH PORT AND CIDER

Steps:

• Marinate lamb in 1/4 cup port wine for 1/2 hour at room temperature or overnight in refrigerator. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in dutch oven or stew pot, add lamb chunks and sauté on medium high until browned - make sure each piece of lamb is separated to ensure browning - do not overcrowd. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove lamb from pot and set aside. Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to pot and add onion and celery. Turn heat to low and cook 10 minutes until softened. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the rest of the port wine, cider, stock, tomato paste and herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the lamb. Cover and bake in oven at 300 for 2 hours. Remove from oven and add carrots and potatoes. Return to oven and bake for 45 minutes. Stir in peas and continue to bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 1/2 hour before serving. Notes: use fresh herbs if available and increase to 1 Tbsp each thyme and rosemary, but feel free to use less if you want a subtler flavor. Parsnips also go wonderfully in this dish and you can substitute parsnips for half of the carrots. This is also a "make ahead" dish, since it improves if made the day before and refrigerated overnight. Reheat gently in a 300 degree oven. I served this with mead as a beverage and it was a great combination. Mead is available at most well stocked liquor stores.

DAN'S DELICIOUS BASQUE LAMB STEW

Steps:

• Trim any excess fat from meat. Put oil in large pot and brown lamb meat about 20 min or until brown. Add onions, peppers and garlic. Turn until brown.
• Add beer, wine, 1 Tbsp of Paprika, salt and lots of pepper. Then add Celery and Bay Leaf and then add water so that all meat is covered. Simmer for about 40 minute Keep adding water if needed.
• Add Chopped Carrot and cook another 15 minute Add Diced Potatoes, Tomato Sauce, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Dash of Tabasco and a little Cayenne Pepper. Cook until meat is tender, about another 30 min or so. Simmer with lid.