This is a quicker than usual stew recipe, taking under an hour of actual cooking time, therefore very little actual stewing time. The original recipe was published in the New York Times, and this is a slightly altered version of it. To be truthful, our friend Susan was over and I'd invited her for dinner and made her wait longer than I should have since I usually buy my stewing meat as whole roasts which I cut up and de-fat (to my liking), and hadn't prepared the meat beforehand, compounded by the fact that it was my first time making this recipe. I only really changed the amount of wine from 1 cup to 3/4 cups because, er, I only had that much left in the bottle. But I think it was a happy accident because the end product was such that Susan asked me to post in in my blog right away, and to forego the usual testing I put my recipes through. This, therefore, is for Diyan, to make for Susan; or so I've been informed. Enjoy!
1½ lbs boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks, fat removed
2 Tbsps flour (I use rice flour)
2 Tbsps grapeseed oil
2 shallots, minced
3 leeks, ends trimmed, green parts discarded, thinly sliced
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme, minced
1 cup chicken stock
¾ cup dry white wine
2 tsps lemon juice
2 strips lemon peel
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley
- Heat the oil over medium heat until it's shimmering.
- Meanwhile, toss the lamb cubes with the flour; you can do this in a bowl or shallow plate, but I find it's easier and I get more even coverage if I put it in a bag and shake it around... and it's more fun. Immediately dump the floured lamb cubes in the hot oil (otherwise the flour draws out moisture from the lamb and they start to stick together. If this happens though, it's no big deal, you just have to work harder at separating them).
- Cook the lamb until it's browned on each side, about eight minutes total. Remove the cubes and set aside.
- Add shallots, leeks, garlic, and thyme to dutch oven, adding a little oil if the pot is too dry. Cook, stirring often, until the leeks are lightly browned, about four minutes. The temperature should allow for the moisture from the alliums to start unsticking the browned bits at the bottom of the pot so that, in the next step, very little of the fond is left stuck to the bottom.
- Pour in the stock, white wine, lemon juice, and lemon peels. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon. Season with pinch of salt and pepper, put the lamb back in.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, and partially cover (the lid to my pot doesn't fit perfectly, and this is enough for me). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is very tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with the chopped parsley.
