Lamb Hot Pot

Due to various activities going on today and this evening we needed a meal that could be cooked over a period of time and served when needed, but was not time-critical.

Lamb Hot Pot was the answer.

Here's the blueprint:

lamb (chops, neck, shank - whatever is available)
potato
carrot
onion
turnip
Worcestershire sauce
bay leaf

Hot Pot is the ultimate simple dish. Brown the meat in a large casserole dish, add the chopped vegetables, water to cover and cook slowly for as long as you like.

That's it.

There are variations of Hot Pot, but the basics include lamb, potato and onions. Lancashire Hot Pot contains just these ingredients. Irish Stew adds parsley.

There are many variations of Hot Pot that include carrot, leeks, turnip, parsnips, thyme and Worcestershire Sauce, however, the basic recipe seems to call for lamb and vegetables cooked slowly as a stew.

The quantity of meat is not important as the dish was created to use up scraps of lamb like neck and shank. Lamb imparts a wonderful flavor to this simple dish, and the flavor improves considerably between 1 and 2 hours of cooking.

Because Hot Pot can be "stretched out" by adding water it has been a staple of poor students for centuries. Hot Pot, crusty bread and cheap wine have inspired great discussions into the meaning of life on many a cold winter's evening at campuses around England.