This Provençal dish from “Backyard Bistros, Farmhouse Fare” by Jane Sigal satisfied a growing hankering for big hunks of lamb—or any meat for that matter—with minimal ingredients and supervision. I just devoted a few evening hours to this stew and tucked it into the refrigerator for overnight safe keeping until I re-warmed it the next day.
Briny olives (the original recipe calls for the wrinkly Nyons variety, which I found at Whole Foods) played with hearty potatoes and a wondrous lamb-y sauce, whose most illustrious ingredient was eau de Miami. And the familiar scent that wafted from my kitchen—the love child of thyme, onions and meat—brought me back to my short time cooking in France.
I served the lamb atop buttery rice pilaf to round out the rustic meal, for which we spit out olive pits and polished off plates with our fingers.
Provençal Braised Lamb with Potatoes and Olives
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 pounds boneless lamb, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
3 onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups water
1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, fresh thyme, and parsley bound by twine)
1 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 (heaping) cup black olives with pits, preferably Nyons
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed pot. Sprinkle salt and pepper over meat, and add meat to pot in batches. Cook meat for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned on all sides. Remove meat from the pot; set aside. Add onions and garlic to the pot, and brown, cooking for 8 to 10 minutes.
Wipe any excess fat from the pot. Scatter flour over the onions. Cook the flour, stirring, until it turns golden—about 2 minutes. Pour in water, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Place the meat and bouquet garni into the pot; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to a slow simmer, and cook the lamb for 1 hour. Add potatoes and olives. After the olives have given some of their salt to the pot (just a few minutes), taste and add more salt as needed. Cook the stew with olives and potatoes 1 hour.
Remove bouquet garni and serve.
You can make this 1 to 2 days in advance and store in the refrigerator. If you do chill the dish, skim the layer of fat from the top of the lamb before reheating.
Serves 4