Beer and Mushroom Lamb Stew

1# lamb leg steak meat

¼ of a lg. onion - minced

2T butter or bacon grease

1t Rosemary Seasoning * 

1 can ± beer

8oz. mushrooms - quartered or sliced

Trim all the fat off the lamb, cut it into pieces or cubes then combine it with the other 3 ingredients in a 5qt. pot.  Bring to a simmer, increasing the heat as the meat releases the water within it.  Once it begins to brown, use a little of the beer to deglaze the pan.  Let it brown again, then hit it with a little more beer.  Continue this process until the meat is nicely browned, 4-6 times.  Toward the end of this process, stir in the mushrooms and let them go through a couple brownings and deglazing, with a longer simmer after the last addition of beer.

2 big carrots - scrubbed-sliced

4 stalks celery - sliced

¾ of a lg. onion - chopped

1 lg. turnip - sliced-chopped

Add this group of vegetables and 2 cups of water.  If you'd like, you could add a can or two of petite diced tomatoes.  Simmer 45 minutes to an hour.  Check the flavors at this point.  If it's tasting a little bland, you could add some powdered beef soup base or some curry paste, depending on what sounds good to you.  If the gravy's too thin, add a flour and water roux to thicken it.  Continue to simmer longer until the vegetables are the way you like them.

I wanted to keep this a little lower in carbs so I didn't add potatoes or barley, but either of those would be great.  (The beer was Coors Light 😉)  I suppose this seems like a strange thing to be cooking over 4th of July weekend, one of the hottest of the summer, but I saw the lamb in the freezer and it sounded so good.  And. . .as far as I'm concerned, it's ALWAYS Soup and Stew Season. . .Lin