This is another lamb stew only this time instead of curry I went with Guiness.  It’s really a take on Steak and Guiness pie that you get in London pubs, but we’re just going to serve it over pasta or something. Who knows we might do mashed potatoes.

So anyway, you’re going to find that most of these roast recipes have more in common than they do different.  That’s because the roast method is pretty much the same and the rest is just arguing over flavoring.  You always want to season and brown the meat, you always want to put as much flavor into the sauce as you can, you’ll always cook it in liquid for a long time, etc.  Pretty much the exact same method every single time.  And I’m going to stress browning the meat every time because it’s really important to build flavor in the sauce.

Let’s get to making the roast.

Ingredients:

1/2 lam leg, cubed.
2 bottles Guiness
2 large carrots
1 large onion
1 stalk celery
2 branches fresh rosemary
3 large sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 C Sour cream
2 T. Fresh mint

Method:

1. Season and brown the meat cubes.
2. Add everything else into the pot with it.
3. Cook at 300-F until meat is very tender. Maybe 1-2hrs, but it really depends on how big you cut the meat.
4. Remove meat from pot and set aside.
5. Remove herbs from pot and discard.
6. Puree the veggies into the liquid to thicken the gravy.
7. Reduce sauce if necessary.
8. Adjust seasonings.  Never server anything you haven’t tasted first.
9. Finely chop mint and add to sour cream.  This will be spooned out by each person on top of their meat on their plate.  Just a spoon or 2 will do just fine.  If you’re doing it family style then you can put all the sour cream on top of the meat in the big pot in the middle of the table and let it mix into the gravy.  Either way, what bliss.

Notes:

1. Server this over mashed potatoes or pasta.  Don’t forget to season the pasta separately.  Remember, seasoning is a layered process.  Every layer has to be seasoned.
2. There are other variations of this done with beef and they’re paired with sour cream with orange juice and zest.  So it’s like an orange roast beef sort of thing.  Very nice.
3. You can use dried herbs if you have to, but recipes like this are MUCH better with fresh.
4. You don’t have to use Guiness.  You can not only use any dark beer, but you can just use plain water if you like.  You’ll still have a lovely gravy.

Ok, that’s it.  Enjoy this lovely stew.