Domestication
While altariel has been off proving rather effectively that the patriarchy is an ass, I have been preparing ANOTHER STEW! Oh yes.
This one is a sort of hot-pot, and I'm posting the recipe in order to compare with the previous one, because I think it is interesting how much the same ingredients can be prepared for a long, slow cook in a completely different way.
So, I chunked up a head of celery, a pound of carrots, 4 medium onions and 1 leek. I then sweated them gently in a little rape-seed oil in a big oven-proof pot, for about 15 minutes, *with the lid on* so that I keep as much of the liquid (and aromatics) in, as I possibly can. I also turned the oven on to 160C at this point.
While that was happening, I used a mandolin to slice 3 biggish, peeled spuds into 1mm-thick rounds. When the veg was sweated down nicely, I pressed it down with the back of a spoon, and then layered half of the potato over the top of it. I then layered cubes of lamb neck-fillet (unbrowned!) over that, and then poured about a pint of lamb stock into which I had mixed about 2 heaped teaspoons of cornflour. (Mix two teaspoons of cornflour into about 2 teaspoons of stock, then pour in the rest). I like my hotpot gravy to be thick. You can leave out the cornflour if you prefer yours thin.
I then layered the rest of the potato neatly on the top, and layed a big sprig of rosemary and two bay leaves on top of that, and put the lid on. It will cook for at least an hour and a half like that (but probably 2-3 hours in this case) then I'll take the rosemary and bay leaves off and dot the top with butter, take the lid *off* and cook it for another hour, to crisp the top spud layer up.
Notice that I've not added much seasoning to it, and I didn't add the herbs *in* to the pot; just laid them on top. For some reason, I always prefer to season this sort of thing as I serve each portion. Somehow the vegetable and meaty flavours seem to sing through a bit more, and the herbs gently infuse in the steam, thus also flavouring the potato, rather than just the gravy.
This one is a sort of hot-pot, and I'm posting the recipe in order to compare with the previous one, because I think it is interesting how much the same ingredients can be prepared for a long, slow cook in a completely different way.
So, I chunked up a head of celery, a pound of carrots, 4 medium onions and 1 leek. I then sweated them gently in a little rape-seed oil in a big oven-proof pot, for about 15 minutes, *with the lid on* so that I keep as much of the liquid (and aromatics) in, as I possibly can. I also turned the oven on to 160C at this point.
While that was happening, I used a mandolin to slice 3 biggish, peeled spuds into 1mm-thick rounds. When the veg was sweated down nicely, I pressed it down with the back of a spoon, and then layered half of the potato over the top of it. I then layered cubes of lamb neck-fillet (unbrowned!) over that, and then poured about a pint of lamb stock into which I had mixed about 2 heaped teaspoons of cornflour. (Mix two teaspoons of cornflour into about 2 teaspoons of stock, then pour in the rest). I like my hotpot gravy to be thick. You can leave out the cornflour if you prefer yours thin.
I then layered the rest of the potato neatly on the top, and layed a big sprig of rosemary and two bay leaves on top of that, and put the lid on. It will cook for at least an hour and a half like that (but probably 2-3 hours in this case) then I'll take the rosemary and bay leaves off and dot the top with butter, take the lid *off* and cook it for another hour, to crisp the top spud layer up.
Notice that I've not added much seasoning to it, and I didn't add the herbs *in* to the pot; just laid them on top. For some reason, I always prefer to season this sort of thing as I serve each portion. Somehow the vegetable and meaty flavours seem to sing through a bit more, and the herbs gently infuse in the steam, thus also flavouring the potato, rather than just the gravy.