Guinness Lamb Stew

2-pound bone-in leg of lamb
4 cups beef stock
3/4 cup of Guinness stout
3/4 cup of red wine
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
about 1/4 cup olive oil, for browning meat in batches
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
4 medium-sized red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large onion, chopped very roughly
3 turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut meat from leg of lamb, but leave about a quarter-pound of meat still
on the bone. Into a large pot add the beef stock, Guinness, red wine, the
lamb leg bone, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook
until meat falls off the bone, maybe two hours. Add tomato paste, sugar,
thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir to incorporate tomato
paste and sugar, then pour all the broth into a large nonstick saute pan.
Scrape the remaining meat off the bone into the broth, and then discard the
bone.

2. Raise the heat for the first pot to medium-high and add some olive oil.
Wait for the oil to get hot. Working in batches, add the chunks of lamb meat
and brown on all sides. (Do not overcrowd the pan or the meat will steam
rather than browning.) When the meat is browned, add it to the broth in the
skillet. Between batches, deglaze the big pot with ladles of broth from the
skillet, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom and sides of the pot,
and then pouring the broth back into the nonstick skillet. Add more oil to
the pot, wait for it to get hot again, then repeat the procedure with the
next batch of lamb chunks. When you finish browning the last batch, pour the
entire contents of the skillet into the big pot and scrape the bottom and
sides of the big pot to deglaze again. Bring the big pot to a boil, reduce
to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

3. While the meat is simmering, melt butter in the now-empty skillet over
medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, turnips, and carrots. Sauté vegetables
until lightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the stew in
the big pot has simmered for one hour.

4. When the meat has simmered for an hour, add vegetables to meat. Simmer
until vegetables and meat are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay
leaves. Remove excess fat by tilting the pan and spooning off the fat
floating on top. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4 to 5.

BOB'S NOTES:

1. Like most stews, this will be better the next day.

2. After a night in the refrigerator, it's easier to remove the fat.

3. Although this stew has plenty of vegetables, a parsnip or two wouldn't be
amiss, either in place of or in addition to the other vegetables. The
turnips could be replaced with kohlrabi. Celery would be okay, but I'd chop
it more finely than the 1-inch chunks of other vegetables. Celery root might
be an interesting thing to try.


Bob

This looks familiar

only I used beef

However, good recipe -thanks
will try when it gets cooler here
P

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Guinness Lamb Stew
>
> 2-pound bone-in leg of lamb
> 4 cups beef stock
> 3/4 cup of Guinness stout
> 3/4 cup of red wine
> 2 tablespoons minced garlic
> 3 tablespoons tomato paste
> 1 tablespoon sugar
> 1 tablespoon dried thyme
> 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
> 2 bay leaves
> about 1/4 cup olive oil, for browning meat in batches
> 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
> 4 medium-sized red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
> 1 large onion, chopped very roughly
> 3 turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
> 1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
>
> Salt and pepper to taste
>
> 1. Cut meat from leg of lamb, but leave about a quarter-pound of meat still
> on the bone. Into a large pot add the beef stock, Guinness, red wine, the
> lamb leg bone, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook
> until meat falls off the bone, maybe two hours. Add tomato paste, sugar,
> thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir to incorporate tomato
> paste and sugar, then pour all the broth into a large nonstick saute pan.
> Scrape the remaining meat off the bone into the broth, and then discard the
> bone.
>
> 2. Raise the heat for the first pot to medium-high and add some olive oil.
> Wait for the oil to get hot. Working in batches, add the chunks of lamb meat
> and brown on all sides. (Do not overcrowd the pan or the meat will steam
> rather than browning.) When the meat is browned, add it to the broth in the
> skillet. Between batches, deglaze the big pot with ladles of broth from the
> skillet, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom and sides of the pot,
> and then pouring the broth back into the nonstick skillet. Add more oil to
> the pot, wait for it to get hot again, then repeat the procedure with the
> next batch of lamb chunks. When you finish browning the last batch, pour the
> entire contents of the skillet into the big pot and scrape the bottom and
> sides of the big pot to deglaze again. Bring the big pot to a boil, reduce
> to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
>
> 3. While the meat is simmering, melt butter in the now-empty skillet over
> medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, turnips, and carrots. Sauté vegetables
> until lightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the stew in
> the big pot has simmered for one hour.
>
> 4. When the meat has simmered for an hour, add vegetables to meat. Simmer
> until vegetables and meat are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay
> leaves. Remove excess fat by tilting the pan and spooning off the fat
> floating on top. Add salt and pepper to taste.
>
> Serves 4 to 5.
>
> BOB'S NOTES:
>
> 1. Like most stews, this will be better the next day.
>
> 2. After a night in the refrigerator, it's easier to remove the fat.
>
> 3. Although this stew has plenty of vegetables, a parsnip or two wouldn't be
> amiss, either in place of or in addition to the other vegetables. The
> turnips could be replaced with kohlrabi. Celery would be okay, but I'd chop
> it more finely than the 1-inch chunks of other vegetables. Celery root might
> be an interesting thing to try.
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>

phil..c wrote:

> This looks familiar
>
> only I used beef
>
> However, good recipe -thanks
> will try when it gets cooler here

You know, it's one of those oldie-but-goodies.

This Irish lass LOVED tonight's stew. He also made some pickled onions
and an Irish soda bread. We served some white cheddar from the Vella
Cheese Factory with the onions. The wine tonight was what was left from
a bottle of Mt. Vernon Winery's "Alicante Bouschet" that was used in the
stew. It was a good choice, and after decanting and serving at dinner it
did mellow a bit. It's very heavy in the tannins, but not "chewy." By
the time we had dinner, it tasted light next to the lamb stew.

He used the FoodSaver for the quick-pickling of the onions after they
were allowed to come to a boil and cool in their solution. They were
amazing. There are a few refinements we need to work out using the
FoodSaver, and that might include going ahead and purchasing the vacuum
canisters for marinating. We have all the other parts, so why not?

I'm not a big fan of Irish soda bread, but I must say this was great. It
was good by itself or using it to sop up the stew broth. I think he used
the Cook's Illustrated recipe.

The compliment I gave him for the lamb stew was that my Irish
grandmother would have been proud, and no one could do lamb like my gramma.

We just finished having coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream and a dessert
that was made with steel-cut Irish oats. It was a bit heavier than I
would have liked and it still said "breakfast" to me even though it was
cold, sweet and very creamy. I thought a brulée-type topping would have
been perfect.

The dinner leftovers are going to awesome ....

--Lin (and yes, I wore green today)

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Guinness Lamb Stew

It truly saddens me to read this!
Only because I'm really the only one in the house that loves lamb, and
I'll probably never take the time to make it for myself...

I'm keeping it anyway!

Dave

Dave Bell wrote:

> It truly saddens me to read this!
> Only because I'm really the only one in the house that loves lamb, and
> I'll probably never take the time to make it for myself...

What I discovered some time ago was that if I didn't tell my girls it
was lamb, they LOVED it. I'd make a stew, grill chops like a steak,
ground lamb in meatballs or tomato based sauces, but I wouldn't do a leg
of lamb unless there was something else protein-wise for them. They knew
what a leg looked like and it does have a distinct aroma when roasting
-- the other stuff was easy to disguise. Oh, how they loved my
marinated, grilled lamb loin. After their second helping they would ask,
"Mom, was that beef (or pork)?" and I'd say "Na-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a."
Suck-uhs! ;-)

I do hope you get to have your lamb soon! It doesn't have to be a time
consuming thing in prep. I like my lamb rare, so even a quick sear in a
cast iron pan or broiler as you would a steak takes no time at all and
an easy way to cook for one. Life's too short not to indulge in those
things you enjoy every now and then.

--Lin

Lin wrote:
> Dave Bell wrote:
>
>> It truly saddens me to read this!
>> Only because I'm really the only one in the house that loves lamb, and
>> I'll probably never take the time to make it for myself...
>
> What I discovered some time ago was that if I didn't tell my girls it
> was lamb, they LOVED it. I'd make a stew, grill chops like a steak,
> ground lamb in meatballs or tomato based sauces, but I wouldn't do a leg
> of lamb unless there was something else protein-wise for them. They knew
> what a leg looked like and it does have a distinct aroma when roasting
> -- the other stuff was easy to disguise. Oh, how they loved my
> marinated, grilled lamb loin. After their second helping they would ask,
> "Mom, was that beef (or pork)?" and I'd say "Na-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a."
> Suck-uhs! ;-)
>
> I do hope you get to have your lamb soon! It doesn't have to be a time
> consuming thing in prep. I like my lamb rare, so even a quick sear in a
> cast iron pan or broiler as you would a steak takes no time at all and
> an easy way to cook for one. Life's too short not to indulge in those
> things you enjoy every now and then.
>
> --Lin

Oh, there are lots of ways for me to enjoy lamb, and they all indulge me
on occasion, but that stew just really got me jonesing...
A couple months ago we had an oxtail soup/stew at a culinary group
dinner. It turned out like a 5-gallon pot of demi-glacé, with enough
meat and veggies to fill it out. Heavenly! Now, I'm thinking lamb in the
same context.

Maybe soon.

Dave