MISTRESS AL'VERE'S FAMOUS LAMB STEW
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 lbs. lamb shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 oz unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness beer
3 cups beef stock
1 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
4 cloves of garlic, cut in half
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon chopped
1 cups of peas, shelled
1 cup of leeks, sliced thinnly
oil for frying
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the lamb and brown evenly. Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside. Add the leeks and saute until soft. Add the butter and melt. Add the flour to make a roux (just keep stirring the flour in until this makes something that looks kind of like gravy, and you have a roux). Turn the heat down to low, and cook the roux until it is brown, about 15 minutes. Whisk in the beer and stock. Add the tomatoes and the reserve lamb and bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.
While the lamb mixture is simmering, combine the parsnips, carrots, potatoes and garlic in a large bowl. Toss with remaining olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary sprigs. Place the veggies in a roasting pan and place in a 400-degree oven. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Remove them from the oven and discard rosemary sprigs. Add the roasted vegetables and the peas to the lamb mixture. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Add the thinly sliced leeks to a pot of heated oil and fry for 3 minutes, or until crisp. Remove the leeks from the oil and drain on paper towels. Season the leeks with salt. Garnish the stew with the fried leeks.
RAND'S FAVOURITE QUICK BREAD
(a.k.a. traditional Irish soda bread)
3 1/4 cups White Flour, preferably unbleached
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Sour milk, or buttermilk to mix - about 12 to 14 fluid oz.
First fully preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a well (a bowl shaped indention) in the center. Pour all of the milk in at once. Using 1 hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured board.
WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS. Knead lightly for a second, just enough to tidy it up, flip over. Pat the dough into a round about 12 inches and cut a cross on it to let the fairies out! Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure of this. Bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.