Oh, what a wonderful treat, to find so many great recipes this evening! A funny story--a friend of mine (who when I was a youngster I thought of as elderly at 65 or 70, but at 85 she is young as ever and still a great cook) was making stew one afternoon. She had a bottle of red wine, and sedately poured in a little, and as I watched, she said "what the heck!" and poured in a huge dollop (probably a couple of cups). It was wonderful! And yes, the alcohol goes fast with the heat.

I've been looking through the book to find the lamb stew recipe I used, and think I actually used a recipe for "braised lamb shanks and trotters" but (as is typical of my cooking) didn't quite follow the recipe. I used big stew-sized chunks of meat instead of shanks. And went from there. No trotters in my version. It cooked in the big stock pot.

Rub: 4 lamb shanks (3/5 to 4 pounds) with garlic
Roll in seasoned flour
heat 2 tablespoons of oil and partially sear the lamb, and add
2 tablespoons onion, diced
and cook meat until browned on all sides. It says to pour off the fat, but I believe I kept it, because the lamb was so lean. Place in a pan with a rack (I used no rack) and add
1.5 cups boiling stock
1/3 teaspoon pepper
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 bay leaf

Note: I always add at least two bay leaves to whatever I'm cooking, it's such a great flavor. And this says you can add 1/2 cup lemon juice, but I didn't).

Cover. Simmer meat or bake covered in a 325 degree oven about 1.5 hours or until tender. You may add for the last .5 hour of cooking:

3 cups diced vegetables
.5 cup boiling stock or water

The veggies may be onions, carrots, celery, green peppers, turnips, tomatoes and potatoes, a matter of choice and expediency. Strain, degrease and reduce stock. Serve as is or make pan gravy.

I've narrowed it down to this recipe because I know I didn't add peas, or peppers, or beans, and there was no cream of any kind in it (I can't eat it). I wish I'd paid more attention, but I've made this a couple of times and am pretty sure this was the recipe.

I have my Dad's old Joy of Cooking book, and if anyone thinks that a thread to do with food has nothing to do with cooking, they were never at one of the Seattle Song Circle meetings on Sunday nights. I always knew not to try to call Dad on Sunday evenings because he wouldn't be home, he'd be out singing. And if I called earlier in the day, he'd describe what he was cooking for the meeting at his house (usually a barbecue rib recipe he liked) or to take along to someone else's house. Food and Folk music go together.

Maggie