Mutton Stew

Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year.  I love how the trees turn to a mass of browns and oranges, how there's a crisp, fresh feel to the air and the sun still blazes down.  It also brings a bit of a change to our daily diets.  Salads take a bit of a back seat whilst soup becomes the lunch of choice and stew returns to our tables.

Last weekend I made a mutton stew.  The recipe called for lanb but the butcher rightly told me that mutton would be better (and cheaper).  She also advised me to soak the meat in salted water overnight to draw the blood out and tenderise the meat.  I hadn't even heard of this tip before, but I was willing to give it a go. 

I used this recipe and aside from the use of mutton rather than lamb, I didn't really tweak it too much.  Although I did use beef stock rather than lamb and I skipped the parsley (I don't like the stuff).

I served it with some curly kale cooked in butter.

It was a success!  The meat was tender despite having only been cooked for 3 hours or so, thanks to the pre-soaking.  I would probably cook it for longer if I do it again, but it was good. 

It also provided 6 servings which was perfect as we had meals for the week too.

Has anyone else cooked a stew this Autumn?  Any tips to share?