Gordon Ramsay made this stew for his viewers on Season One of the F Word^[1]. It looks delicious and he took samples of the stew streets of England. Everyone who sampled the stew was very impressed, and several people even asked if they could have the rest of it!

According to Gordon Ramsay, Mutton is half the cost of lamb, and twice the flavor. It is also tougher, so the key to a great tasting mutton stew is in the cook time. Get this on the stove well before you start getting hungry, and you’ll have what looks to be a delicious and affordable stew ready for supper.

Gordon blazes through this recipe on the show, and doesn’t give exact measurements for anything, so bear with me as I do the best I can to break it down. Keep in mind, this is a stew, don’t finely slice anything. Cut everything into decent sized chunks, and feel free to increase or decrease any of the ingredient’s proportions to fit your taste.

Ingredients:

• Around 1 1/2 lbs. Mutton (chopped into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
  
• 1 Head of Garlic (skin on, cut in half)
• 1 Large Onion (chopped)
• 3 Large Carrots (chopped)
• 5 Stalks of Celery (chopped)
• Leek (I don’t know how much he used so I’m going to say… to taste)
• 1 Large Sprig Rosemary (whole)
• 3-4 Sprigs of Thyme (whole)
• Flour
• Salt
  
• Small Handful of Peppercorn (lightly crushed)
• Very Large Spoonful of Tomato Puree (or paste)
• House Red Wine (he says half a something, but I could make it out even after playing it back five times. It looks like he uses about half a bottle, but it’s probably more like half a cup)
• Cooking oil
  
• Water
  

Directions:

Heat some cooking oil in a large skillet while you’re preparing your mutton. Lightly season mutton with salt, then coat it with flour, shaking off excess. Add to the hot oil and brown it thoroughly. Gordon lights the pan on fire a few times, but I wasn’t able to see how he went about doing it. Just make sure your mutton has good color. Color changes the meat and adds flavor. Once your meat is browned, place it into a colander to drain, and get to work on your stew base.

Chop all of your vegetables into large chunks. Add the onion to a very large stock pot over medium heat and stir in carrots. Cut a head of garlic in half so it looks like the picture on the right, and add it to the stew. Add celery, leeks, and your beautiful sprigs of fresh herbs. Take a small handful of peppercorns and lightly crush them on the counter with any large object you have. The bottom of a storage container, or a rolling pin will work just fine; add them to the stew. Spoon in your tomato base, and add the wine. Return your mutton to the pan, and stir it into the stew. Pour boiling hot water over the top of the stew until it completely covers all of the ingredients. You want your stew to look like a soup at this point, with a little extra liquid.

Bring everything to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid, and stew over low heat for 2 1/2 hours. Now you can watch a movie, go shopping, or whatever you enjoy for 2 1/2 hours. Come back after the stew has finished cooking and enjoy another F Word^[2] favorite from Gordon Ramsay.

Feel free to leave your experiences, or any improvements in the comments section below.

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References

1. ^{^} F Word (www.amazon.com)
2. ^{^} F Word (www.amazon.com)
3. ^{^} »crosslinked« (gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)