Garlicky Lamb Stew

On Saturday, my friend had her annual celebration of garlic. It's a potluck party where every contribution to the feast must have garlic as an ingredient, including deserts. It's a fabulous evening and you wouldn't believe all the garlicky combinations that people come up with. Garlice cream anyone? It's actually delicious.

This year my contribution was a garlicky lamp stew made from local ingredients that are easy enough to find at this time of year. It was a big hit. Here is the recipe.

Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb Stew
1 kg local lamb or mutton (stewing cut)
ca. 1/2 cup flour
ca. 2 Tbs Epicure Tuscan Rub*
ca. 3 Tbs Champy sunflower oil
1-2 heads organic garlic (according to taste), crushed
1 bottle mild scotch ale, like LochNess
500 g organic red potatoes, cut
salt and pepper to taste

Combine flour and Tuscan Rub in a bowl. Cube lamb or mutton. Toss meat in flour mixture to coat it.

Heat oil in a heavy-bottom pan. Brown the coated meat over medium-high heat, in batches if necessary. Put the potatoes in the slow cooker on high. Add the meat, then add about half the garlic. Add the rest of the garlic to the remaining oil in the pan.

Reduce the heat for the pan to medium-low and stir-fry garlic for a few minutes, until soft. Add the scotch ale to the pan. Let it warm for about a minute and then pour the ale mixture over the meat and potatoes in the slow cooker.

Stir the mixture in the slow cooker. Make sure liquid covers the top of the meat and potatoes. If not, top up the slow cooker with boiling water.

Cover and simmer on low 2-4 hours, or until meat is tender, the potatoes are cooked, and the gravy is thick. Stir occasionally as the stew is simmering. Add more water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper towards the end of the cooking process.

Serve over a bed of greens, and with fresh crusty bread.

* I used this because it was what I had on hand. Originally I wanted to use rosemary, but when I looked in the cupboard I was out of it. I still think rosemary would work really well.