Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables
After eating this Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables from Ina Garten’s “Cooking for Jeffrey”, I think my husband and I went to food heaven. This stew had amazing flavor and the lamb was cooked perfectly. It definitely took me all afternoon to make, but it was worth it. Just prepared to do a lot of chopping! I typed out the ingredients below because I made some changes to the quantities, etc.
2 T Olive Oil
1/4 lb Bacon, 3/4 inch diced
3 Lbs Boneless Lamb Shoulder, 1-1/2 inch diced
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
1/4 Cup plus 2 T All-Purpose Flour
6 Cloves of Garlic
2 Cups Beef Stock
1 Cup CranApple Juice (Replaced the wine)
1 Cup Diced Canned Tomatoes
2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Chopped Fresh Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
6 Carrots, Peeled and cut 2 inches thick diagonally
2 Russet Potatoes, Peeled and 1-1/2 inch diced
8 oz Pearl Onions, Peeled
2 Large Turnips, Peeled and 1-1/2 inch diced
2T Flour
2T Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
10 oz Frozen Green Peas
1/2 Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
Before I started any of the cooking, I made sure to finish all of my chopping. It made the rest of the cooking go a lot faster. Chop and prepare the carrots, russet potatoes, pearl onions, and turnips. Ina had a neat trick for the pearl onions—add the pearl onions to boiling water for 30 seconds and then remove immediately. This helps to peel and trim the onions. Set aside these ingredients in a bowl for later.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pat the lamb dry to help the seasoning stick and dice into 1-1/2 inch pieces. Toss in a bowl with 1 T salt and 1 tsp pepper. Then coat with 1/4 cup flour. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a dutch oven or Le Creuset pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon for 5 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate, but keep all of the oils in the pot. It is best to cook the lamb in two different batches, so they can evenly brown without being crowded in the pot. Cook the lamb in the bacon fat for 5 minutes or until browned. Turn the lamb occasionally during cooking. Add the cooked lamb to the bacon plate and cook the second batch of lamb. Once all of the lamb is done, cook the garlic for one minute so it is fragrant. 6 cloves seems a bit excessive, but garlic makes everything taste better!
Pour the lamb and bacon back into the pot. Make sure you pour in any of the extra juices from the plate as well. Add the beef stock, juice, tomatoes, thyme and rosemary, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil and scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes and then cover and place in the oven for 30 minutes. This is where I got impatient because it was so late and I ended up skipping this step. I am sure the flavors would develop even more if you keep it in the oven.
Add the chopped vegetables that were set aside into the pot and place back into the oven for 1 hour. This helps the vegetables get tender.
After the hour of cooking, mash the 2T of flour with the 2T of butter with a fork. Stir this flour mixture into the stew. It will help thicken the stew while it simmers for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat and pour in the peas and parsley. Season to taste. I didn’t think it needed anything though!
This is a great meal to cook on the weekend for leftovers during the week. It made about 8 servings, so it lasted my husband and I for several meals. We enjoyed every mouthful of it!
