Lamb stew type recipes?

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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
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Cumbria
Just curious, what's your favourite lamb stew type recipe? One pot, easy cook, slow cooker, hob top, oven casserole type, cuts of meat, etc.

It's coming to winter. That's good stew time of the year. A nice slow cooker type stew thrown into the pot in the evening and turned on in the morning to be ready when you get home in the evening. The tougher cuts of meat can be used at less cost so it's economical.

So over to you. Any good recipes?

PS I'm only asking because my partner is turning me slightly vegetarian. If I can come up with good meat based stews I can at least stave off malnutrition;)
 
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santaman2000

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Jan 15, 2011
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I only ate lamb a couple of times in my life before I got stationed in England so I don’t know a whole lot of recipes yet. I’m commenting so as to follow this thread and pick up some new ones myself.

That said, I have cooked lamb on the smoker with both hickory and with mesquite smoke. Both came out very nice though not a stew.

I empathize with you regarding the semi-vegetarian comment. I’m in the process of converting to Eastern Orthodoxy and their fasting regimen is more severe than I’ve ever done.
 

Woody girl

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I use neck of lamb, carrots onions potatoes and peas. A good lamb stock cube and towards the end I throw in some gravy granuals to thicken.
Obviously salt pepper and herbs to taste.
Favorite lamb is just roast with all the usual veg accompaniments.
Shepards pie is another favourite.
 
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Bishop

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Jan 25, 2014
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Cawl recipes down here are as diverse as the types of rain with each cafe having its own secret recipe.
One of the more interesting recent variations was the traditional spuds swapped out for sweet potatoes
 

Janne

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if you like a proper curry, you might want to try this one. Jamaican.

Just substitute the Goat for lamb. Just as good!

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geKeTKs95dS.AAoQVXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEycGpmbjZ2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjkxNDdfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1574904906/RO=10/RU=https://gracefoods.com/recipe-a-z/recipe/5200-curried-goat/RK=2/RS=dEwbTsVx6gqbUCScKO8NAlaDAaI-

I lifted it from the net, but basically it is the same what I have been taught by my Jam friends
Pimento Berries are in fact called Allspice in UK. Important spice in this dish!

I like to brown my lamb meat quite well when I make any casserole.
 
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Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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Every once in a while, I'll make a lamb liver pate'. We figured out how to do it very well.
The mint sauce for chops is mint (of course), saute'd in butter with lemon zest.
No lamb stew. Grilled lamb chops is quick.

A good all-purpose dry rub mix of herbs and spices (Memphis Blues cookbook)
then the lamb shanks go into a smoker BBQ at 275F for 3 hours. Apple wood smoke for the first hour.
Long, low and slow will tenderize just about anything.

Butterflied leg of lamb needs a soak in a marinade that has Canadian rye whisky in it Then grill.

Making dolmades or kefthedes, ground lamb is essential.
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
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I use a pressure cooker for the tougher cuts, and I leave the bones in while it cooks if using shin. Brown the meat pieces (neck, breast, shin) first though.
When it's cool I break it apart and remove anything that's stringy, tendony or bones. All the richness is in the jus at that point.
Put the meat back into the jus and season it to taste, add lightly browned onions, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, whole small mushrooms, topped and tailed radishes, and a couple of sprigs of rosemary, and let it all stew slowly until the vegetables are cooked through.
You can add a couple of handfuls of lentils or split peas that soak up the jus and create a kind of dahl for the meat to sit on instead of adding veggies. Easy to turn the lamb into Indian or North African type dishes that way by adding spices and herbs while it stews.

That said, here's a recipes for a slow cooker lamb pilaf.
https://www.scotchkitchen.com/recipe/slow-cooker-scotch-lamb-pilaf

I'm vegetarian, have been almost all of my adult life, but I still cook meat for my husband at times. I have to admit that I have never ever been tempted to try eating it.
I don't think I approve of people being 'vegetarianised' against their honest desire. It'd be as bad as someone 'making' me eat meat.
 
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Janne

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Bones give a lot, lot of flavor. If whole, less. Break them before cooking! Use that axe! A few taps should do the job.

Also, the connective tissue around the bones, the cartilage and tendons, give a richness and thicker consistency to the liquid ( sauce, stock, broth, jus)

If you lamb lovers have the opportunity, try an older lamb ( called hogget). Exquisite flavor. Richer.

Not a stew, but more 'accessible flavour' to a person unused to lamb:
Debone a leg, cut slits halfway through the muscle, peel and half cloves of garlic.
Insert into meat. Take fresh Rosemary, place a bunch on the meat side. Salt. Pepper Roll, tie up. Salt
Roast under foil/cover. Low and slow, maybe 1.5 hours or 2 hours, to taste. Last 15 minutes remove foil/lid.

Delicious!
 
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Robson Valley

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I buy lambs (cut, wrapped, labelled and flash-frozen) from local farms.
A few have really been so old, they might be considered hogget (never knew there was such a word).
Anything Greek, I need lamb and lemons.
 
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Veracocha

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Sep 9, 2019
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It's like a different language all this talk of recipes and prep. My mother could burn a salad and now when my wife calls our daughter down for dinner she phones child-line. Oh for a chance to sample some of the stuff mentioned here.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
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I use neck of lamb, carrots onions potatoes and peas. A good lamb stock cube and towards the end I throw in some gravy granuals to thicken.
Obviously salt pepper and herbs to taste.
Favorite lamb is just roast with all the usual veg accompaniments.
Shepards pie is another favourite.
So glad you know it's got lamb in shepherds pie. Confusing it with cottage pie meat ingredient whether through ignorance or to wind me up always gets a reaction from me. We eat cottage pie a lot, shepherd's pie rarely but my partner and her parents still call it shepherd's pie with beef in it.
 

Woody girl

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It's like a different language all this talk of recipes and prep. My mother could burn a salad and now when my wife calls our daughter down for dinner she phones child-line. Oh for a chance to sample some of the stuff mentioned here.
Buy a slow cooker! It's a case of bung it in, turn it on, come home from work and it's ready. No effort.. no mess... no burning.. just leave it on low and it will be fine. You can do so much with a slow cooker. Not just stew. Chilli, curry, apparently even cakes and bread. Havnt tried that yet but if you think about it they are a bit like a Dutch oven so any DO recipe should work.
I won't be able to eat it , but I've just got a cheap breadmix and am going to have a go at making bread in mine. If it works I'll give it to a friend in exchange for a shelf putting up in the kitchen. If it doesn't I'll swop some of my jam / chutney the job.
 

Robson Valley

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Each winter, pick yourself one or more different culinary challenges.
Cheese sauces and breads, for examples. Or maybe some ethnic style like "Greek" or "Spanish".
Work at making them happen. Yeah, I've bombed a few.
What all can you do with phyllo (Fillo) pastry?

The internet is loaded with recipes and instructions.
1. Download 9 recipes and make a little spread sheet.
2. Column 10, make a common list of ingredients and proportions = call it your own.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
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I think it's just that a highly vegetarian diet suits my partner's innards. Meat diet suits mine but vegetarian doesn't. Can't eat broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and a few other vegetables. Also can't eat pork other than well cooked bacon or sausages.

The thing is my partner works from home so cooks the most. That means she cooks what suits her. She's already cooking a separate meal for our young son so in really don't want to give her even more work to cook for me. She's said if I cooked meat meals that she could simply put in the oven to reheat or turn the slow cooker on she's quite happy to eat that and have less veggie dishes.

Tbh my vegetarianisation is because I don't want to put my partner out. She's doing enough for the family. I just need a few more meat dishes a week but it really needs to be nice, tasty and easy. It'll certainly cure what I'll just call internals issues from vegetable diet. I'm also concerned I'm not getting every nutritional requirement from this veggie diet.

I went away with some mates to Scotland staying in an independent hostel. We grouped together for the food. It was basically a large stock pot with meat and vegetables. The lady who started it called it a liverpool stew or something like that. First night it was made as normal. Fry onions, brown meat, add stock and vegetables. Second night they added more vegetables and potatoes. Perhaps more meat if needed. Third night more meat and vegetables. Each night the stock got added to. Basically it was a stew kept going for a long weekend, almost a week.

I really like the idea of a continual stew. Obviously restarted at some point but days you've no money for meat there's meat juice and flavour in the stock. A poor man's stew. Just add vegetables and water. If you have meat (bought cheap or road kill or whatever) you add it. If not you still have a thin stock for your vegetables.
 

Woody girl

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Why not batch cook? Get some of those foil dishes with cardboard lids and make up a few shepards pies or curries or stews and freeze them. Then all you need do is pop into an oven to reheat in the evening having taken out your choice of meal in the morning. This can be done while other meals are cooked on the stove top or put in the oven along with anything else.
I had similar problem being mainly vegitarian and partner and son being meat eaters. I do occasionally eat meat now but it's mainly chicken or lamb.
 
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Janne

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Phillo pastry :

Cut squares, 10x10cm, or 15x15 cm if you are a big eater

Place a good dollop of jam, or mashed up fruit + sugar, or Nutella, or a honey chopped walnut mix in the middle, fold, bung in oven.



I never had the need for a slow cooker, or wish to own one, as I do not like the idea of having something ’on’ while house is empty!

I start the cooking on the hob. So all ingredients
are cooked through. Heat up the ovan to 150C or so. Put the casserole insider. Depending what it is, either leave the heat on for maybe 30 min to one hour, then turn off, or turn off straight away. Leave in oven.

I like stews and casseroles using the cheapest, toughest cuts.
 
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Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
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You can make a kind of filo pizza. Shop bought filo, cut square 1" or so in from the edge and then put the pizza ingredients inside the square. The 1" frame expands but not where the pizza ingredients are. You can do the same thing with fruit or more likely frozen summer fruits/ berries. Very nice.

Cooking lambs neck joint worries me as I hate bones and anything but meat flesh. Would all those bones break into the stew and you've then got a messy stew to eat?
 

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