Spiced Mutton Stew

For a while I've been tempted to do something with mutton because the local butcher has it. Yesterday I did.

I had a quick look around the net for recipes but I just took general ideas rather than following any one of them and I was influenced by the cinnamon beef stew of a couple of months back. This is what I came up with to feed six.

1 kilo diced mutton 12 shallots 12 button mushrooms 12 dried apricots 1 pint stock Oil for frying

For the marinade

1 teaspoon star anise 1-2 teaspoon caraway seeds 2 sicks cinnamon 3 bay leaves 8 juniper berries, bruised 1-4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon dried lemon grbutt 3 cloves of garlic finely shopped 1 onion, roughly shopped black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 1-2 tablespoon sherry vinegar 250 ml red wine.

Put the meat into a bowl, add the oil and mix round, chuck in the dry ingredients, onion and garlic and mix. Add soy and sherry, mix and press down (so it doesn't take too much wine). Pour over the wine, cover and stand overnight somewhere cool or in the fridge.

Drain the meat and dry a little. Strain the marinade and reserve. Rescue the bay and cinnamon and put into a cbutterole.

Peel and fry the shallots until nicely coloured, set aside.

Lightly flour the meat and fry to colour in batches, adding to the cbutterole. Tip in the marinade liquid and top off with stock until the meat is covered.

To cook one could do it on the stove top but I chose to bring it to the boil and then put it in the oven at reg 1, 140C, 275F or perhaps cooler (difficult to tell with my oven. Cook for... well as long as you've got. This was in about 6 hours.

Periodically check the liquid level and top up if necessary.

45 mins before the end of cooking add the shallots, the mushrooms halved and the dried apricots.

I served with buttered carrots, steamed broccoli and gratin of potatoes with peccorino.

The rest of the menu was: starter; hake with ginger and spring onions in filo pastry parcels. Pudding; cr�me brzlZe.

Matthew