Each of these recipes are really good.
Recipe #1
2 medium-sized onions, chopped
Oil, for frying
1-ounce butter
1 sprig dried thyme
2 1/2 pounds best end of lamb neck, cut into large pieces
7 carrots, chopped lengthways into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons pearl barley
5 cups chicken stock, recipe follows
Salt (recommended: Fleur du Sel)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, and bay leaf)
12 medium potatoes
1 bunch parsley, leaves finely chopped
1 bunch chives
Serving suggestion: herb butter, recipe follows
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook the onions in oil and butter, on medium-high heat until they are translucent. Add the dried thyme and stir. Add the lamb and brown on a high heat to seal in juices. Add carrots, and pearl barley. Pour in the chicken stock so that it almost covers the meat and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and add Bouquet garni. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours, being careful not to boil. Place potatoes on top of the stew, cover and cook for 30 minutes until the meat is falling beautifully off the bones and the potatoes are fork tender.
Serve the stew in large flat soup bowls, and drizzle herb butter over the potatoes or garnish with parsley and chives.
Stock:
Chicken carcass
1 onion
4 cups water
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
Bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the stockpot. Combine ingredients in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Then let it cool down and skim off the fat.
Yield: 6 servings
Herb Butter:
1 stick butter
1 small bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 small bunch chives, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add parsley, chives and thyme.
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe #2
3 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
6 cups chicken broth
3 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 stalks celery, trimmed and ribs cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
In a 7 to 8-quart kettle simmer lamb, parsley, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste in 4 cups broth, covered, 1 1/2 hours. To lamb mixture add potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and remaining 2 cups broth and simmer, covered, 1 hour.
In a small bowl whisk together flour and oil until smooth and stir into simmering stew until well incorporated. Simmer stew, uncovered, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
Recipe #3
3/4 cup pear barley
3 pounds rib lamb chops not less than 1 inch thick, trimmed of any fat
5 medium onions, chopped, or 12 boiling onions
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped, or 12 baby ones, peeled
3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cups veal stock
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Leaves from a medium rosemary sprig, minced
3 sage leaves, minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
8 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
Cook the barley 20 minutes in boiling salted water, drain it, and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a casserole in which you're sure everything's going to fit, brown the lamb. You shouldn't need to add any cooking fat to the pan. Remove the meat. Add the vegetable to the casserole, turn them in the fat, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly softened. Meanwhile, combine the stocks and heat.
Remove the vegetables to a plate for a moment, then layer the casserole with the chops, the vegetables, and the parboiled barley, seasoning well with the salt and pepper and sprinkling with rosemary, sage, and parsley as you go. Pour over the warmed stock and arrange the potatoes on top overlapping like a tiled roof, and season again. Cover the casserole so that the potatoes steam inside. Put in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until the potatoes are soft and the meat is thoroughly cooked. If you want the potatoes browned on top, dot with butter and blitz under the broiler or in a turned-up oven when cooked.
The whole point of this stew is that it needs not accompaniment — except for bread, and lots of it.
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