food
living
Recipe
Lamb Pot au Feu
Ingredients
1 grass-finished lamb shoulder,
bone removed and tied
3 Tbsp grape seed oil
1 carrot, cut into 1-in. dice
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-in. dice
1 onion, cut into 1-in. dice
1 cup red wine
2 quarts rich chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
2 carrots, cut into 2-in. dice
1 parsnip, cut into 2-in. dice
1 turnip, cut into 2-in. dice
4 Tbsp grain mustard
2 Tbsp cornichons, minced
freshly ground black pepper,
coarse sea salt
Dan Barber
(shown here in his
greenhouse) is
the executive chef
and co-owner
of Blue Hill
restaurant in
New York City and
Blue Hill at Stone
Barns, located
within Stone Barns
Center for Food
and Agriculture,
a pioneering farm
and education
facility located
in Pocantico
Hills, New York
(bluehillnyc.com).
He’ll be cooking
Plenty’s readers
through the
seasons with
a recipe in each
of our issues
this year.
Serves four.
DIRECTIONS
❶ Bring lamb shoulder to room temperature and season generously with
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
❷ In a large Dutch oven or covered
cast-iron pot, heat grape seed oil on
low. Add the 1-in. diced carrots, celery, and onion pieces and sweat until
tender. Increase heat and continue to
cook until the vegetables are golden
brown. Add wine and cook until the
liquid is almost completely reduced.
Delicious and hearty, Lamb Pot au Feu is the
perfect one-dish meal for wintertime
By the time Blue Hill at Stone Barns opened, I had sourced
enough lamb from local farmers and roasted enough chops
to recognize a good lamb when I ate it. What I never considered was, “What does a lamb want to eat?”
As I watched the lambs at Stone Barns
Center trot excitedly to new grass one
July morning, it wasn’t hard to see that
they actually cared a lot about their food.
They moved quickly over certain grasses
to get to others—noshing on fescue and
blue grass while avoiding bull thistles and
southern pine. Unfortunately, the vast majority of lambs are raised on grain (corn,
mostly, and soybeans), which can lead to a
host of problems because sheep—like cows
and goats—are grass-eating ruminants by
nature and don’t digest grain well. To remain healthy, they must receive a regular
cocktail of steroids and antibiotics. (Besides
the environmental and ethical concerns
here, consider this simple taste imperative:
A grain-fed ruminant has a higher acid content in its bloodstream, which makes the
meat softer and less flavorful.)
To cook with the best lamb, seek out a
farmer who recognizes the animal’s changing dietary needs, especially in winter when
even free-ranging sheep can spend weeks
indoors. Forward-thinking farmers supply a
100 percent pasture diet year-round by rotating the fields and by rationing and preserving
grasses. That way, the sheep eat what they
want, according to their nature, and we get to
do the same. What’s tastier than that? ✤
50 | february-march 2008
❹Transfer the lamb to a platter and
let sit, covered with foil to stay warm.
❺ Strain the remaining liquid into a
pot and bring to a simmer, skimming excess fat that bubbles to the
surface.
❻ In a separate pan, individually cook
the 2-in. carrots, turnips, and parsnips (5 minutes for the carrots and
parsnips; 3 minutes for the turnips).
Place the cooked vegetables in a bowl
and set aside.
❼ Reduce the remaining stock until
it thickens. Add the vegetables back
into the liquid. Stir in grain mustard
and cornichons. Season broth with
salt and pepper to taste.
❽ Slice the lamb. Place it in the
center of a large bowl. Ladle the vegetables and a little of the broth over
the meat. Sprinkle with coarse sea
salt before serving.
photo by Jen Munkvold
Farm to Fork with Dan Barber
❸ Add the lamb shoulder to the Dutch
oven. Cover with chicken stock, and
add rosemary and thyme. Place in
a preheated 280°F oven for 3-3½
hours, until the shoulder is very
tender.