Feast & Lore

Food stories featuring heritage recipes and new experiments.

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Lamb Stew with Chestnuts, Mushrooms, Cranberries and Polenta

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Special enough to serve at a dinner party, yet homey and comforting for a family night in, this lamb stew with chestnuts and cranberries is a favourite dish. Served over creamy polenta, and enhanced with mushrooms, pearl onions and a little tomato, it’s a comforting dish with sophistication. To save time, and also to avoid having to wait for chestnuts to be in season, buy packaged chestnuts that have already been peeled.

Lamb chestnut stew with mushrooms over polenta

Of course like pretty much all stews, this lamb dish tastes just as good when reheated the next day (maybe even better!), so you if you want to make it ahead before company comes over, it will work perfectly. To begin, trim off any large areas of fat and season the lamb with salt and pepper. Dredge with all-purpose flour.

Lamb dredged in flour

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add lamb in a single layer, in two batches if needed to avoid over-crowding the pot. Sear until browned on all sides, about five minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate. Some of the flour will stick to the bottom of the pot and will turn a deep golden colour. Adjust the heat down slightly if needed to avoid burning it—you’ll want to scrape this up to enhance the flavour of the stew in a few steps when you deglaze the pot with wine.

Browning meat over high heat

Add a bit more olive oil and add the onions, cooking until golden, about five minutes. Add mushrooms, seasoning with some salt. The mushrooms tend to soak up the oil (as well as the bits of flour that will have stuck to the pot from searing the lamb). If the pan gets too dry add a bit more olive oil. Cook until the mushrooms are well browned, about six minutes.

Browning mushrooms and onions

Next add red wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half, approximately five minutes.

Deglazing the pot with wine

Add reserved lamb, beef stock, chestnuts, herbs and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for two hours. I have become addicted to the method of using gelatine as a way to add body to sauces and stews, once I read about the method on Serious Eats. So toward the end of the cooking time, I combine a packet of gelatine with about 1/4 cup cold water, mix to combine, and add to the pot. This gives the sauce a lovely silky quality. Once the meat is tender and cooked through, about two hours, add cranberries, and cook for two minutes more. Serve in bowls, spooned over creamy polenta.

simmering lamb stew over low heat

The textures of the soft chestnuts, savoury lamb, mushrooms and creamy polenta come together to create a unique and delicious meal. The cranberries add a lovely tart pop to brighten the dish and add just a touch of sweetness that plays off of the lamb really well. This is a wonderful stew sure to become a classic favourite in your recipe collection.

Lamb Chestnut Stew with Mushrooms Onions and Cranberries

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Lamb-and-Chestnut-Stew.

Lamb chestnut stew with mushrooms over polenta
5 from 1 vote
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Lamb Stew with Chestnuts and Cranberries

Course Main Course
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 3 100 g packages of peeled, roasted chesnuts
  • 2 lbs lamb stew meat, in 2" pieces
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 - 5 tbps olive oil
  • 6 oz red pearl onions
  • 12 oz button mushrooms
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 3 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 5 plum tomatoes, from a can
  • 1 tbps chopped fresh sage
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 pouch/sachet of Gelatine (approx 7 g)
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Trim the lamb of any large areas of fat, and season with salt and pepper. Dredge with flour, shaking off the excess. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add lamb in a single layer, in multiple batches if needed to avoid over-crowding the pot. Sear until brown on all sides, about five minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

  2. Add additional olive oil to the pot, and add the onions, cooking until they are golden, about five minutes. Add mushrooms, season with salt to taste, and cook until well browned, about five minutes.

  3. Add red wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half, approximately five minutes. Add reserved lamb, beef stock, chestnuts, herbs and tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for two hours. Combine gelatine with 1/4 cold water and stir to combine. Add mixture to the pot and cook until the body is silkier and slightly thicker, about 5–10 minutes. Add cranberries and cook for two minutes. Serve over a bowl of creamy polenta.

Pinterest Lamb chestnut stew with polenta

Mustard-herb crusted rack of lamb

By 4 Comments

Rack of lamb can be intimidating—an expensive cut of meat that many enjoy at a restaurant but would never think to make at home. In fact, this is one elegant dish that does not require a lot of prep time, nor is it complex. So go out and buy a rack of lamb, grab a bottle of your favourite red wine, prepare some candles and get ready to enjoy an elegant, fancy dinner for two in less than an hour of active cooking time.

Elegant rack of lamb on a plate

The ingredients are quite simple: Dijon mustard, herbs, breadcrumbs, baby potatoes and olive oil. To keep this recipe quick and easy, I recommend having your butcher prepare the meat for you, trimming away to the chine bone and cleaning the rib bones. However if that isn’t possible, or you want to do this yourself, there is a great how-to video over at Martha Stewart here. We always have fun selecting which red to pair with lamb—we love a good Châteauneuf-du-Pape which tends to be fruity, luscious and a bit spicy.

Rack of lamb ingredients: herbs, mustard, lamb

The breadcrumb mixture is quick to put together, and it really compliments the lamb flavours to make this roast extra-special.

olive oil is mixed into chopped herbs and breadcrumbs

It’s important to get a good sear on the fat, to ensure it’s nice and crispy and not overly fatty once you roast it. Use tongs to turn the meat to sear it on all sides.

Rendering fat from the rack of lamb

I take the pan drippings and spoon them over the potatoes giving them great flavour. The potatoes roast together with the lamb so the roast even comes with its own built-in side dish!

spoon pan juices over baby potatoes

 

Next you add the lamb to the dish, coat it with mustard and then the breadcrumbs. Insert a thermometer if you have one (my oven comes with one that plugs into the oven, the timer beeps when the preset temperature is reached which is super handy). The ideal temperature to remove the rack from the oven is 130°F for medium rare—it will climb another 5 or so degrees while it rests.


Use mustard to help breadcrumbs adhere to the lamb

Golden and glorious, the rack emerges from the oven. Resist the temptation to cut into it right away and cover it with foil to rest for 10 minutes.

golden breadcrumbs enrobe the rack of lamb fresh from the oven

So elegant when plated, rack of lamb is a special treat that you don’t have to save for going out—you can make it at home and it’s easier than you would ever think!

Rack of lamb looks elegant on the plate

mustard crusted rack of lamb />
An elegant plate with rack of lamb with a breadcrumb herb crust
5 from 2 votes
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Mustard-herb crusted rack of lamb

An elegant dish that looks like a lot of work but is actually pleasantly simple to make for a special weekend dinner.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

For Herb Crust

  • 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

For Lamb

  • 1 rack of lamb, frenched
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups baby potatoes

Instructions

  1. Remove the rack of lamb from the fridge about 1 hour before cooking, to allow the meat to come to room temperature. (This allows for more even roasting). Trim excess fat from the lamb so that an even, thin layer of fat is remaining. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

  2. Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare a baking dish or roast pan just large enough to hold the rack of lamb. Add potatoes to the dish, pilling them to one of the long sides of the pan, and set aside. 

  3. In a small bowl combine all of the Herb Crust ingredients. Set aside.

  4. Heat olive oil over high heat in a large sauté pan. Add lamb rack, fatty side down, and brown until fat is rendered in the pan, and the fat on the lamb is golden and crisp. Use tongs to position the rack to evenly brown all sides of the meat. All together the browning should take about 5 minutes.

  5. Transfer lamb to a plate. Spoon pan drippings into prepared baking dish over the potatoes; stir to coat. Add salt to taste over the potatoes. Position the rack of lamb into the dish fatty side up, with the meaty part of the rack touching the bottom of the dish, and the bone tips arching over the potatoes. Spread Dijon mustard over the fatty side of the rack, and also the sides where the meat is exposed. Pat the reserved breadcrumb mixture onto the mustard to form a crust. Insert an oven thermometer if you have one. 

  6. Add the lamb to the oven and roast until the meat is medium rare (130°). This should take approximately 20–25 minutes. Remove roast from oven, place onto a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into chops and serving with the potatoes.