This recipe is different from the previous lamb and barley stew recipe in that it has tomatoes and I used part of a boneless leg of lamb rather than chops. I think this is even BETTER than the first recipe, which is why it’s called Awesome! :)
Awesome Lamb and Barley Stew
~2 pounds lamb roast (leg or shoulder), cleaned of all visible fat and cut into 1-2″ dice
3/4 cup flour for dredging
2 tsp dry mustard
S/P: 1 tsp each
EVOO
1/2 cup red wine
2 Tbl butter
2 med onions, 1″ dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl tomato paste
Bouquet garni: 5 thyme stems, 2 4″ rosemary stems, 3 bay leaves tied with butcher twine
2 carrots, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup barley
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbl red wine vinegar
1 Tbl sherry or champagne vinegar
Heat a large dutch oven over med hi. Cover bottom with EVOO. Mix together flour, mustard and S/P in a bowl and dredge lamb chunks in it before browning in oil. Do this in batches so the lamb browns. When done, put in a bowl to stand by. Add oil as needed when browning lamb, then swab out excess oil when lamb is done. Pour in red wine to deglaze pan and get all that cooked flour off the bottom. Use a wooden spatula to scrape ALL the bits from the bottom of the pan. When pot is cleaned, pour the wine over the lamb that’s standing by.
Put butter in the pot and turn down heat to med. Add onions and cook for 5 mins. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 3-4 minutes – or until the onions and garlic are soft. Pour the lamb and wine mixture in and stir. Add the bouquet garni, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about 5 minutes. Your stew should be VERY thick at this point.
Add in the beef and chicken broth, stir and bring back to a light simmer. Cover the pot and keep at a slow simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. At the one hour point, add in the barley, cover and simmer another 30-40 minutes, until barley is softened. (You shouldn’t have a lot of fat in this stew. If your lamb was fatty, you may need to skim off the fat before you add in the barley. If you trimmed the lamb thoroughly, this is a low fat stew.)
After barley has cooked, add parsley and the vinegars. Check your salt level again.
Serve with crusty bread.
Yield: about 2.5 quarts. This stew freezes beautifully.