Braised Lamb with Kidney Beans and Polenta

May I draw your attention back to the previous Cassoulet blog post where I mention that we had thawed out some lovely lamb necks and absentmindedly forgotten them in the fridge.  Yup, S#%$#t happens sometimes. What to do with thawed out lamb necks... thank god for the web and the abundance of food blogs. They have saved my butt on many occasions. Darrell and I have just recently discovered the wonderful taste of lamb necks thanks to our local farmer, Thatcher Farms.  It's such an economical cut of meat that is big on flavour and is so tender when braised in succulent juices. It's best done when you have some time to spare as it requires a low, slow cook - definitely not a middle-of-the-week kind of meal. But it's well worth the wait.

I found a recipe on the internet which I used as a guideline for the cooking process- I ended changing up a lot of it, adding some things, deleting others. Another recipe that will evolve and change every time I make it I'm guessing. All you need is a good base, the rest is about being spontaneous and creative (it's taken me a long time to get to this point, believe me!)

Suffice to say, the lamb meat was rich and sweet and paired well with hearty kidney beans and buttery polenta.  A perfect lazy winter weekend kind of meal. Of course, the red wine adds an extra warm glow to your insides, so important in this cold northern climate ;-)

Lamb with Kidney Beans and Tomatoes in a Red Wine Braise

Serves 4 generously
Skill level: easy
Cooking Time:  2.5 hrs, a nice dish for a lazy weekend afternoon on a chilly winter's day

Ingredients

4  lamb necks
3-4 cans of red kidney beans, rinsed well ( I used dried kidney beans that I had soaked overnight- about 4 cups worth or so)
4 tbsps oil
8 shallots, diced
3 cloves of garlic, diced
4 tbsps plain flour
4 tbsps chopped fresh thyme plus 4 fresh sprigs of thyme
2 cups of water
1 cup of red wine
3 small bay leaves
8 oz cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper


If you are using dried kidney beans, you will need to soak them ahead of time, usually overnight, or you can try boiling them for 10 minutes and soaking them for at least 2 hours. I went with the overnight approach. For the time crunched, using canned beans, rinsed really well, is just fine.  I like the consistency of the dried though, they seem to retain their firmness better. Also feel free to use different types of beans such as white kidney beans, butter beans etc (all I had in the pantry was red kidney beans.)

Pre heat the oven to 275 F. Trim off any extra fat from the lamb necks and pat dry. Heat a deep casserole dish or Dutch Oven (not the kind your husband has though) over medium heat. Add 4 tbsps oil. Once hot, add the lamb, browning both sides nicely. Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside.

Add the shallots and garlic, browning for about 5 minutes or so. Sprinkle in the flour, giving a good stir until it soaks up all the juices. Add the chopped fresh thyme leaves, then gradually add the water and wine, stirring constantly and scraping up the lovely flavourful bits on the bottom of the pot.

Return the lamb to the pot and season with fresh pepper. Add the beans, fresh sprigs of thyme and the bay leaves. Simmer on direct heat for about 5-10 minutes. Place lid on pot and transfer to oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours on the middle rack.

After 1 1/2 hours, take lid off and add the cherry tomatoes. Season pot with salt, replace lid and cook for another hour. Before you serve, make sure to fish out the bay leaves and sprigs of thyme lest you cause your guests to choke. That wouldn't be nice and would ruin the evening.

Serve over top of something that can soak up the yummy juices such as smashed potatoes or polenta (see here for how to make a no-fail homemade polenta...love Chef John!) Cut up some crusty bread and pour another glass of red wine for yourself (because there will be some left over from the recipe and it would be so wrong to waste it.)


Cheers!