Traditional lancashire hotpot

Ingredients:

900g / 2lb Best end and middle neck of British lamb, chopped into 2.5cm / 1 inch sized pieces (You could use a leg or shoulder piece cut into cubes)

1 tbsp Groundnut or other flavourless oil

Butter

4 Lamb's kidneys, cored, skinned and chopped quite small

350g / 12oz Onions, peeled and cut into 1 cm wedges

1 Clove of chopped garlic

1tbsp Flour

600ml Hot fresh Beef stock

1 glass Red wine

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Bay leaf, optional

2 Sprigs of fresh thyme

900g / 2lbs Potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm slices

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C / 325F / Gas 3.

2. Trim the lamb of any excess fat and dry on kitchen paper.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with 5g butter until it is very hot, then brown the pieces of lamb two or three at a time. As they cook, put them in a wide casserole (3.5 litre capacity). Brown the pieces of kidney too, and tuck these in among the meat.

4. Fry the onions, adding a little more butter to the pan if necessary, for about 10 minutes till they turn brown at the edges. Stir in the flour to soak up the juices and gradually add the hot stock, wine and Worcestershire sauce, stirring or whisking until the flour and liquid are smoothly blended. Season with salt and pepper and bring it up to simmering point. Pour it over the meat in the casserole.

5. Add the bay leaf if used and thyme, then arrange the potato slices on top in an overlapping pattern. Season the potatoes and add a few dots of butter over the surface.

6. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 1Ѕ hours. You can remove the lid and brush the potatoes with a little more butter, then place under the grill to crisp up if you would like. Otherwise, you can turn the heat up during the last 15 minutes of cooking time in the oven and remove the lid. Remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme before serving.