Stout Braised Lamb Recipes

STOUT-BRAISED LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season lamb generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle evenly with flour. Heat oil in a braiser pan or large deep-sided skillet over medium-high. Working in 2 batches, sear lamb, fat-side down first, until browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes a batch. Transfer to a platter.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in garlic, rosemary, and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add Worcestershire, stout, and broth. Bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Return lamb, fat-side up, and any accumulated juices to pan and return to a boil.
• Cover pan and transfer to oven. Cook, spooning juices over lamb every 30 minutes, until meat is fork-tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven; uncover and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 day and up to 3 days.
• Remove solidified fat from top. Place pan over medium-low and gently simmer, covered, until lamb is warmed through, about 15 minutes. Remove rosemary. Using 2 forks, shred meat into large pieces. Transfer to a tureen or other serving vessel. Pour braising liquid over lamb. Serve with jam or chutney.

LAMB SHANKS BRAISED IN STOUT

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Trim excess fat from lamb (Do not remove all fat or shanks will fall apart). Dust lamb shanks with flour. Heat 1/4 cup oil in large roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add lamb in batches; cook until browned on all sides. Remove to bowl.
• 2. Add additional oil to pan, if needed, to make about 2 Tablespoons. Add onions; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes. Return lamb shanks and any accumulated juices to pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Tuck rosemary and thyme sprigs around lamb. Add stout to pan; pour in broth to almost cover lamb.
• 3. Cover and bake 2 hours or until lamb is very tender and almost falling off bones. Prepare Smashed Chat Potatoes (see below). Remove lamb from pan; keep warm. Skim fat from juices in pan; boil until reduced by half. Strain sauce. Serve lamb over potatoes; pour juice over lamb and potatoes, sprinkle with mint.
• 4. Smashed Chat Potatoes: 1-1/2 lbs. unpeeled small white potatoes 1 Tablespoon butter Salt and pepper, to taste --Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Add potatoes; simmer over medium-low heat about 20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain potatoes; return to saucepan and stir in butter until melted. Partially smash potatoes with fork. Season with salt and pepper. **Note: In Ireland, "chat potatoes" are small white potatoes most often served whole and unpeeled after steaming or boiling. Any small potato may be substituted.

STOUT-BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large, wide pot over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Brown the lamb shanks in the hot oil on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes. Remove lamb shanks and set aside. Pour the excess grease from the Dutch oven, reduce heat to medium, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots, celery, and tomato paste; continue cooking 5 minutes more.
• Return the lamb shanks to the Dutch oven, and pour in the stout beer and beef broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. While you're waiting for the beer to simmer, use kitchen twine to tie together the thyme sprigs, parsley sprigs, and bay leaf into a secure bundle; add to the lamb shanks.
• Once the lamb shanks begin to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lamb is very tender and nearly falling off of the bone, 2 to 3 hours. Stir the lamb occasionally as it cooks, and add water if needed to keep the cooking liquid from becoming too thick. You want the cooking liquid to have reduced into a nice sauce by the time the lamb shanks are done. Stir in the rosemary sprig, and salt and pepper to taste during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove rosemary sprig and herb bundle before serving.

STOUT BRAISED LAMB DIP

Steps:

• Rub the lamb with the spice blend and place in a slow cooker. Add all the chopped vegetables and garlic cloves over and around the lamb. Pour in 4 of the 6 bottles of stout beer, then add enough water just to cover the lamb. Turn the slow cooker on high, cover, and cook for 4 to 5 hours, or until the lamb easily shreds from the bone.
• While the lamb is braising, combine the mayonnaise and teriyaki in a small mixing bowl and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• When the lamb is within 1/2 hour or so of being done, start reducing the other 2 bottles of stout in a small pot or saucepan on medium to high heat, allowing the beer to reduce by 1/2. When fully reduced, add the sugar and stir. Taste your reduction; depending on your favorite stout you may need to adjust the amount of sugar to counteract the bitterness of the beer. When seasoned to your liking, turn the heat down to low and cover.
• When your lamb is ready (the meat is tender and shreds easily), remove the leg from the slow cooker and place in a baking pan. Allow the lamb to rest and cool while transferring your braising liquid from the slow cooker into a large pot. Be sure to pour the liquid through a strainer to remove the cooked vegetables. Discard the vegetables and skim clear the fat and oil from the top of the braising liquid. Put over medium-high heat and reduce by 1/4. When reduced, add the au jus mix, to taste. Stir thoroughly and place over medium heat.
• The first step of shredding your lamb is removing the three main bones (while shredding, wear gloves and have a bowl of ice water to cool your hands as the meat will still be very hot). Next, remove all non-edible connective tissue and cartilage. As you begin shredding the meat you will be able to identify what is good meat and what isn't. After discarding the bad from the good, you are ready to shred the rest of the meat.
• Place 6 to7 ounces of shredded lamb per serving in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add a small ladle, or about 1/4 cup, of the stout reduction to the pan and cover. When the lamb comes back up to temperature, stir, then top with some shredded cheese and cover to melt.
• Toast your hoagie rolls to your liking and spread the teriyaki mayo on the rolls. Place the lamb on a hoagie. Cut in half and serve with the au jus and your favorite side.

GUINNESS-GLAZED LAMB CHOPS

Steps:

• Bring stout, sugar, coriander seeds, peppercorns, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 2-quart nonreactive saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then continue boiling (keep an eye on it and reduce heat to keep it from boiling over) until glaze is syrupy and reduced to about 1/2 cup, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard solids.
• Preheat broiler.
• Pat chops dry and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
• Divide glaze between 2 small bowls and set 1 aside for use later. Brush both sides of chops with glaze (from remaining bowl) and arrange on rack of a broiler pan.
• Broil 5 inches from heat, 4 to 5 minutes on each side for medium rare. (Don't hesitate to cut and peek to check on the doneness of the meat.)
• Transfer chops to a platter and drizzle with reserved glaze.

STOUT-BRAISED LAMB

Steps:

• Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large, wide pot over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Brown the lamb shanks in the hot oil on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes. Remove lamb shanks and set aside.
• Pour the excess grease from the Dutch oven, reduce heat to medium, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots, celery, and tomato paste; continue cooking 5 minutes more.
• Return the lamb shanks to the Dutch oven, and pour in the stout beer and beef broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. While you're waiting for the beer to simmer, use kitchen twine to tie together the thyme sprigs, parsley sprigs, and bay leaf into a secure bundle; add to the lamb shanks.
• Once the lamb shanks begin to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lamb is very tender and nearly falling off of the bone, 2 to 3 hours. Stir the lamb occasionally as it cooks, and add water if needed to keep the cooking liquid from becoming too thick. You want the cooking liquid to have reduced into a nice sauce by the time the lamb shanks are done.
• Stir in the rosemary sprig, and salt and pepper to taste during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove rosemary sprig and herb bundle before serving.