main course dietary requirements: vegetarian: NO vegan: NO
50g butter, melted salt and pepper week one notes
main course dietary requirements: vegetarian: NO vegan: NO
dairy free: NO, omit butter from potatoes
nut free: OK
gluten free: NO, remove a portion before adding beer and add more water if needed
Lamb and ale hotpot
Serves: 4 Cooked: at oven temp 350F / 180C
2-3 tablespoons sunflower oil 1 onion, sliced thinly 2 stalks celery, finely chopped 600-800g lamb, diced into 3cm cubes 2 tablespoons plain flour 500ml bottled beer 300ml water ½ chicken stock cube ½ beef stock cube 150g mushrooms chopped
Preparation time: 25 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour 40 minutes
2 bay leaves 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon tomato purée salt and pepper for the potato top:
4 large potatoes( baking size), washed not peeled
50g butter, melted salt and pepper week one notes
This is a classic British recipe but using beer local to you. This can be made with French lager, or even a sweeter dark Continental beer. This is global cooking – a recipe from back home using ingredients from where you are!
1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and celery plus 1 tablespoon water. Put a tight fitting lid on the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the vegetables are really soft but not brown. Remove the onion and celery from the pan with a slotted spoon leaving the oil in there. 2. Toss the lamb pieces in 1 tablespoon of the flour and then turn the heat up under the pan until really hot and fry the meat until brown on all sides. Do this in batches adding more oil if necessary so that you do not over load the pan and therefore allow the meat to‘ stew’ instead of frying. 3. Return the onion and celery and batch cooked lamb to the pan and add the beer, water, bay leaves, stock cubes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, tomato purée, mushrooms and bring to the boil and season. Turn the heat down and simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is very soft and tender. 4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the fat to surface. Sprinkle the remainder of the flour over the surface in a fine layer and wait until it turns translucent, the fat will have soaked into it. Stir and then bring gently to the boil again, do not over boil as the meat will break up but it needs to boil to cook the flour and thicken the sauce. Repeat with another spoon of flour if the sauce is not the consistency of double cream allowing the fat to surface before you sprinkle on the flour as before. 5. While this is cooking cook the potatoes: slice the potatoes and put into a roasting tin. Melt the butter and put in with the potatoes seasoning well with salt and pepper. Mix together and then roast uncovered for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are browned and cooked through. 6. Both the lamb and the potatoes can be cooked in the morning and stored in the fridge until you are ready to re-heat.
Now you have two ways to finish the dish: a. IF THERE IS ROOM FOR ALL YOUR TERRACOTTA DISHES TO FIT INTO YOUR OVEN – divide the cooked lamb into the terracotta dishes so you leave about 1cm to the top. Then cover with a layer of the cooked potatoes. Re-heat at 350F / 180C uncovered for 25 minutes before you want to serve the main course. The potatoes will crisp up. b. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ROOM FOR ALL TERRACOTTAS IN YOUR OVEN – put the terracotta dishes somewhere to warm through so you are not serving in cold dishes. Warm the stew gently over a medium flame when the guests sit down for starters and put the potatoes back into the oven in their roasting tin to re-heat at 350F / 180C at the same time. Divide the meat into the warmed terracottas and top with a layer of hot crispy potatoes.
To serve: top the potato with chopped fresh parsley and serve on dinner plates offering the sides for the guests to help themselves.