Yesterday I had the lovely Julie come over for knitting, fireworks and dinner. The fireworks and knitting were both great, but this post is all about dinner. I had some lamb in the fridge that needed using, and it was just about cold enough to dig my slow cooker out the cupboard. I searched the Internets, but for once it didn’t produce what I was looking for – a good recipe for a lamb stew. They all looked rather dull and uninspiring.

So I decided to make it up. I wandered up the road to the farmers market and came back with two large bags full of veg, some of which went in to what was to become a very tasty lamb stew. Recipe recorded here so I can remember it again for next time!

Ingredients

500g diced lamb
4 banana shallots – chopped
2 sticks celery – chopped
4 small carrots – chopped
1 small butternut squash – peeled and chopped
5 new potatoes – quartered
1 green chilli – sliced thinly
1.5 handfulls pearl barley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 cardamom pods, split
1 pint veg stock
1 cinnamon stick

Cooking

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a big saucepan and brown the meat for about 2 minutes. Take the meat out (leaving the juice in the pan) and put in to the slow cooker.

2. Add the celery and shallots to the saucepan and cook until softened. Add the cumin, mustard seeds, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick, mix together so the veg is coated with the spices and cook for another minute.

3. Add the potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and chilli to the shallots/celery/spices. Stir together and cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Put all the veg in to the slow cooker with the lamb. Add a hand-full of two of pearl barley, then pour the pint of stock over the top. Stir it all together, season, and if needed top up with a bit more hot water (so the liquid level is just below the top of the veg).

5. Cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours, or on low for longer. Serve with crusty bread, with a dollop of sour cream on top.

 

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