Stewed Lamb's Neck...so much tastier than it sounds, I promise!

What to do while the hubby is away enjoying the sun and the warmth of the south? Why, create some tantalizing, delicious, comfort food to enjoy in this minus 18 C weather of the far north. Ok so it's not so far north (more like South Western Ontario) but it sure feels like the far north lately. This is the middle of March people...it should not be minus 18 C! But I do enjoy cooking and it means I get to be in the warm glow of my little kitchen, cooking away, anticipating a savoury dinner while it's freezing cold outside. The warm glow of the wine also helps to ease the winter doldrums and aids with the cooking process- really a win-win situation. So done with winter.  Thank goodness for red wine.

Think Spring and it will happen, right? Officially it should happen March 20th. Unofficially....who the heck knows.  What a  better way to celebrate the arrival of Spring than to make a succulent Lamb Neck Stew...???? You know, Spring = spring flowers (daffodils etc), easter bunnies, green grass, little baby lambs... in my head it sounded so much better and easier to follow. But seriously, lamb necks are an under-utilized and over-looked cut of meat that so does not deserve to be. It's very economical, and once slow braised/stewed/whatever, it is both tender and delicious.  And so easy!  There are many different lamb's neck recipes out there but all I wanted was something simple and basic as I already knew that I wanted to accompany it with the Bean Bourguinon recipe that I had done earlier.  Can't get much simpler than this- Happy Spring! ...whenever it should decide to arrive. It had better be soon. Seriously.

Stewed Lamb's Neck
adapted from Serious Eats (and The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)


Difficulty level: Extremely Easy
Serves: 2
Malcolm the Cat's Rating: 2 paws up! (that's good, 4 paws would be bad....)

Ingredients

2 lamb's neck

A splash of olive oil to coat the pan

Approximately 3 cups of either chicken (or duck in my case) broth, red wine (or white), or water...essentially whatever allows you to cover the meat to three-quarters of the way up. I used a combination of duck broth, water and red wine to get to the proper levels.

3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme

Juice from 1 1/2 lemons (I didn't have lemons on hand so I used two limes.)

Salt to taste

Directions

Add olive oil to pan and set heat to medium-high. Add the pieces of lamb and brown on all sides. Add the wine/broth/water and cover until 3/4's of the meat is covered. Add the lemon or lime juice, thyme or rosemary and salt.

Cover and simmer for about 1 hour. Remove herbs. Serve in soup bowls with broth and crusty bread. I decided to serve just the lamb alongside some bean bourguignon that I had made. Paired perfectly!

Malcolm the Cat patiently waiting to "help" clean up the plates.

Cheers!