Peruvian Lamb Stew

Stew's very kind granny, bought us a One-Pot Dishes recipe book, which she spotted when in town one afternoon. Considering how many recipes we create, and how much we love cooking, we actually don't make that many one-pot or one-pan dishes. So we were really excited to try our first one from this recipe book. For any of you wish to get a book similar, this one is by Alan Rosenthal and retails for £9.99. It covers a range of cuisines from all over the world, from Europe to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia, and just about everywhere in between. It's also beautifully illustrated and very easy to follow.

Our first dish from the book is this Peruvian Lamb Stew, with beer and coriander. Yes you heard correctly, beer! It is made using a dark stout and tastes absolutely delicious. Lamb is also one of our favourite meats, that we don't seem to cook often. So when we do, it's a real treat!

In some ways this stew is similar to that of an English stew, in that it also includes potatoes. However, we still served it with brown rice for extra substance, and we also made a side of frijoles, keeping to the Americas theme!

Ingredients: (Serves 6 | Allow 1 hour 45 minutes for cooking)

• 900g lamb shoulder, excess fat removed and cut into 3cm cubes
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 hot fresh chilli, finely sliced
• 1.5tsp ground cumin
• 400ml beer
• 3tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 large bunch of coriander, stems removed and tied with a piece of string
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 400g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2cm cubes
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pan over a medium heat. Season the lamb with salt and black pepper, and brown the lamb pieces in the hot oil for about 5 minutes. You may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your pan is. Set aside the browned meat in a bowl.
2. Add the red onions to the pan, with a little more oil if needed and a splash of water if it feels dry. Cook gently on a low heat for 10 minutes until softened. Then add the garlic, chilli and cumin and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the beer, red wine vinegar, tomatoes and the tied coriander stalks, plus some salt and black pepper. Stir thoroughly and then add the browned lamb and any juices from the bowl to the pan. Cook gently on a low heat for 1 and a quarter hours (75 minutes) with the lid on the pan, set at a slight slant to let some steam escape.
4. After this time, remove the coriander stalks from the pan and add the potatoes. Be careful to push all of the potatoes into the stew so they are covered. Cook for a further 30 minutes of until the potatoes are cooked through. You ideally want a thick sauce, so if it looks like it has too much liquid, cook for the final amount with the lid off.
5. Once everything is cooked and tender, finely chop the coriander leaves and stir them through. Season with more salt and pepper if needed and serve with rice. We chose brown rice.