Irish Lamb Stew

I buy lamb at least once a month now.  After doing some research I found that 

Australians only sell high quality meat. 

"100% free-range Australian Lamb is all-natural, grass-fed, pasture-raised and free of artificial additives and hormone growth promotants—a pure product of its pure environment. Lambs graze on natural Australian grasslands throughout their lives. (If a regional drought occurs, local feeding may, by necessity, be temporarily supplemented with grain, usually wheat and/or oats until the drought is alleviated.)" - -from the Meat & Livestock Australia website

In our area, Costco carries lamb boneless roasts and because lamb is so tender it is easy to cut into smaller chunks and freeze for multiple meals or cut up for recipes like the one I made last night.

It just seemed like the perfect day to make a stew and this Irish Lamb Stew was easy to put together without heading to the store for extra ingredients.

The lamb is what gives this stew its great flavor.  

Here's the recipe!

Irish Lamb Stew

1 1/2 Lbs of sliced bacon, cut into small pieces

 (I ONLY use Applegate bacon because it is not only nitrate free but also their hogs are fed organic feed so no GMO corn!)

4-5 lbs of boneless lamb, cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup all purpose flour 

(I didn't substitute this with almond flour to make it GF but I will probably try that in the near future)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large onions, chopped

1/2 cup water

4 cups of beef stock

(I do not have the ability to get organic beef bones and so I rely on Organic Beef Better Than Bouilion that I purchase from Costco) 

2 tsp white sugar 

(of course I didn't use anything but organic Cane sugar...need you ask?)

6 cups of diced carrots

6 potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

2 tsp of dried thyme

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups of dry white wine

Place bacon in a large, deep pot or dutch oven.  Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.  

Remove bacon from pot.  Add onion and garlic to bacon fat and sauté until golden.

Combine flour, salt, and pepper and then toss with lamb until coated.

Add meat to the pot and brown.  

Remove meat and onion mixture.

Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup of water.

Add meat and onion mixture back into the pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar.  cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to pot.  

Reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Please note that stew just gets better and better as it sits on the stovetop.  

Just keep it warm and you will notice it thickening.  

And the flavors are enhanced as it "brews".

This recipe makes twelve nice size bowls of delicious eating.

Hope you enjoy this good-for-a-cold-winter's-night stew.

~Heather