Stew

As the snow continues to pile up outside, the snow days are ticked off on the calendar and the summer vacation days cut off, optimism is getting harder to come by. Today I made lamb stew to stave off the winter blues. It turned out really well, and was a nice reward for shoveling the front porch, sidewalk, and driveway.

Lamb Stew

1 lb boneless lamb
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup potato, sliced
1 cup turnip, sliced

Saute lamb in pan with onion, still tender but mostly cooked. Drain fat, put in pan for stew. Add veggies, add water (enough to cover the contents), bring to a boil, let simmer approximately two hours or until all veggies are tender.

Now the toughest part - thickening the stew. I have never been able to get this just right, but what I was instructed to do (by my father) was to add some water to flour, mix and add to the stew, allowing it to heat a bit further. This website gives a bit better description for the novice.

I prefer a stew heavier on veggies, so I used two pounds of carrots, a whole turnip, and six red potatoes, with the pound of lamb (kabob style) meat.

The thing that made it 100% easier today was the new mandoline slicer I bought for myself - an hours long chopping process which made me hate turnips even though I love them, to take under an hour. I did slice my finger cleaning the blade - slicing with it using the safety settings were a-okay. I'll do another post another day on the wonders of this kitchen tool.

Stay safe and warm, friends!