The Stonington Intelligencer
24 April 2001
Hail to the Spring and to Navarin d'Agneau!
Well, it's finally here, that fine season of Spring, and what could be a nicer way to celebrate the return of fresh, local-grown vegetables than a classic lamb stew. The French call this a navarin d'agneau, although you can also see it called Navarin Jardinière, and Navarin Printanier. Basically the differences are only of degree. Recently we had the pleasure of enjoying a navarin d'agneau by one of the many great chefs who live in the Borough. She made a recipe suggested by Julia Childs.
According to her, a good navarin is quite a easy dish to prepare, if you have good ingredients. A navarin d'agneau calls for, in French recipes, boned lamb shoulder, which is apparently hard to get in markets around Stonington — leg of lamb, boned and cut into pieces, will usually do. Then you need some olive oil, butter, onions, a bit of flour, six tomatoes and a little tomato concentrate, some white wine, garlic, green peas, baby potatoes and carrots, some turnips and stringbeans and so forth (detailled below).
First the meat should be cut up in regular-sized cubes and then browned in a casserole in the olive oil. When the lamb is browned, add the sliced onions and brown them. Sprinkle with flour. Add the tomato concentrate and mix it all up well before adding the white wine. Add water if necessary to cover all the pieces of meat and then add the bouquet garni and the garlic clove. Cover the casserole and let the ingredients simmer for an hour. Prepare the tomatoes by peeling, seeding and cutting into cubes. Cook the jacket potatoes so that they stay firm; then dry and peel them before sculpting them into the shape of large olives (yes, this is a real French recipe, and this is the proof, non?) and put them aside. Peel the turnips and carrots and cut them into oval shapes, too, before cooking them. Then put them aside. Cook the stringbeans and peas in salted boiling water, then drain and put aside. When the meat is cooked, remove the pieces, strain the sauce through a sieve and remove the grease. Put the meat and sauce back in the casserole and add the tomatoes, turnips and carrots. Simmer for 10 minutes. Brown the potatoes in butter and then add them, with the string beans and and peas and let them all simmer together for a few minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning, sprinkle with parsley, and then enjoy!
A piping navarin d'agneau, ready to be served
The suggested wine is a medium-bodied red, in particular a Gigondas, which we got from Cask N Keg in Mystic.
Ingredients for navarin d'agneau for 6 people:
4.5 - 5 lbs lamb shoulder(or equivalent), boned
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 stick of butter
2 onions
a little flour
6 tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato concentrate
2 cups of white wine
1 clove garlic
2.2 lbs of round small potatoes
1 lb small carrots
1 lb turnips
1/2 lb string beans
1/2 lb green peas
bouquet garni, chopped parsley, salt, pepper
To look at other versions of this recipe for navarin, please visit www.marmiton.org.