Inspired by The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
This recipe was inspired by ‘The Great Hunt’ by Robert Jordan, the second book in the high fantasy book in the Wheel of Time series. Please enjoy the recipe and book review!
In The Great Hunt there is a particular scene where Rand is on a journey with several others and they decide to make camp for the night. One individual makes the party a stew over the campfire, and Rand goes to get a bowl when a small, unfriendly exchange happens between the person serving the stew, Rand, and one other individual. Although it isn’t a pivotal moment in the book, it is one that stuck in my mind throughout the book, and of course because it also involved food.
This recipe is adapted from Space and Thyme’s Lamb Stew recipe, which is based off of a 4,000 year-old Babylonian recipe. This hearty stew features braised lamb, turnips, leeks, and a dark mild ale which I like to think Rand would have enjoyed. I wanted to make a stew that would have been something you saw Rand eating around the campfire. The stew features turnips which carry and store well, and as for the lamb I figured Rand would be the best person to know about that as he was a sheepherder in the Two Rivers. It is a delicious stew, I think it gets a little better if you let it it sit in the fridge for a day or two in order to let the flavors meld together. The Gruyere toast adds a nice tang and extra texture that complements the stew quite well. I also paired two beers with the book, which you can read about more in my review here.
You can read my review of The Great Hunt here, and you can purchase the book through Bookshop.org (affiliate link to help support The Booktender Cafe, at no extra cost to you).
If you try this recipe out, I’d love to see what you make! Please tag me on Instagram @thebooktendercafe
Lamb and Turnip Stew with Gruyere Toast
This dish is part of my The Great Hunt (by Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time series book #2) inspired menu and was adapted from Space and Thyme’s Lamb Stew recipe recipe, which is based off of a 4,000 year-old Babylonian recipe. This hearty stew features braised lamb, turnips, leeks, and a dark mild ale.
Ingredients
- Tools needed:
- Dutch oven, at least 6 quart, and its lid
- Cooling rack
- 2 rimmed baking sheets
- Wooden spoon, spatula (or silicon)
- Cutting board
- Stew:
- 4, 12oz lamb shanks (I did 2 shanks that were each about 20 oz)
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable, etc.)
- 2 medium onions, sliced thin (I used yellow)
- 2 medium leeks, (halved, thinly sliced using only white and light green portions, and fully rinsed)
- 2 bunches of cilantro, separate stems and leaves: stems diced finely, leaves chopped (see Notes)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
- 3 Tbsp ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin (if you have whole cumin seeds, toast them briefly in a hot pan, then cool and grind up)
- 1 bottle (12 oz) of dark mild ale, ESB, or wheat ale (see Notes)
- 1.5 quarts of chicken stock, veggie stock, or water (I use Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Stock base)
- 1.5 lbs turnips, peel and cube into roughly ½” pieces
- 2 cups baby arugula and spinach mix, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces (you can use just arugula or just spinach, if you prefer)
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges for serving (optional)
- Gruyere Toast:
- Crusty bread (I used a roasted garlic sourdough)
- Butter
- 1 cup Gruyere, shredded
Instructions
- Place lamb shanks on top of a cooling rack that is set above a rimmed baking sheet. Season the lamb on all sides with salt and pepper. Let sit on the counter while you prepare other items.
- Preheat your oven to 325*F
- Over medium heat, heat a dutch oven and add the oil. Add the leeks, sliced onions, and cilantro stems (not the cilantro leaves). Cook for about 6-8 minutes, or until onions are lightly browned.
- Add in the garlic, coriander, and cumin. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the beer, and immediately scrape the bottom of the dutch oven with a wooden spoon and scrape up any browned bits. Keep stirring until a majority of the beer has evaporated, but not fully gone. Then, stir in the chicken stock (Or substitute) and ½ teaspoon of salt and black pepper.
- Allow the mixture to come to a simmer then add in the lamb shanks. Let the mixture come back to a simmer, then cover with a tight fitting lid, and place in the pre-heated oven. Let the stew cook in the oven with the lid on for 2 hours.
- While the stew cooks you can chop up turnips, cilantro (or substitute), and arugula/spinach.
- After the 2 hours is up, take the lid off and let the stew cook in the oven for 1 more hour or until the lamb shanks are fork-tender. As stated by Spruce and Thyme, when you take the lid off you are letting the lamb get some browning on the exterior which really adds some incredible depth to the flavor of the stew.
- Once the stew is finished, take it out f the oven and put the dutch oven back on the stovetop. Remove the lamb from the stew and place them on a large cutting board.
- Use a large spoon and skim off the fatty top layer from the stew, or use a gravy separator then return the separated non-fatty liquid back to the dutch oven. Discard the fatty liquid.
- Add the turnips to the dutch oven and bring it to a simmer, then cook at a simmer for 15 minutes or until the turnips are fork-tender.
- While the turnips cook, shred the lamb. When the turnips are tender, add the shredded lamb back to the dutch oven. Cook until the meat is heated through again, roughly 4-7 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, add in the cilantro (or substitute) leaves and the arugula/spinach, stir well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with the Gruyere toasts and lemon wedges, if using
Toasts:
- Turn oven to Broil
- Place sliced bread onto a baking sheet
- Spread butter onto each slice of bread
- Sprinkle shredded Gruyere on top of each slice of bread
- Place baking sheet under broiler, but keep an eye on it as the toasts will burn quickly if you are not careful
Notes
While this stew is good immediately after cooking, this recipe really benefits from letting the flavors meld together for a day or two in your fridge.
The original recipe uses cilantro, but I used parsley and halved the amount, due to not being able to stand cilantro. I would recommend using cilantro per the original recipe if you can tolerate it, the parsley was a decent substitute but gave a more bitter taste than I think the original recipe intended for.
The original recipe from Space and Thyme uses a wheat ale; however, I wanted to use a beer that would give a bit more robustness to the stew and complement The Great Hunt book more. If you cannot find a dark mild, you could use an ESB (such as Redhook ESB), which will still impart some more toasty notes, and if that is not available you can seek out a wheat ale.
If you use Diamond Crystals kosher salt like I do, you will need to add extra salt due to the fact that Diamond Crystal has less sodium than regular table salt does. (Source: Diamond Crystal)
Always use less at first as it is easier to add more salt upon serving or eating than it is to take it away!