Neck of lamb, Irish Stew style

I feel a bit bad claiming this as an Irish Stew recipe as I am not irish and don't know how an irish stew is made!

I made this with the neck of the first lamb we slaughtered as the neck is a tough and rather bony bit of meat.

Serves 2 or 3

1 neck of lamb

2 carrots

1 medium potato

1 onion

1 heaped table spoon of pearl barley

Sprig of rosemary or thyme

Casserole dish or tagine large enough to contain all the ingredients with a lid.

Fry the onions gently and put them in your dish. 

Add the chopped carrot and potato, seasoning and pearl barley

Put the lamb neck (not a very pretty cut of meat!) on top of the veg

Add water to cover the veg - something like a pint

Cover and cook on a very low heat for about 4 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. You may need to add some more water during cooking, there should be a reasonably amount of 'gravy' when cooking is complete.

It is very good cooked one day and then reheated the next.

Before cooking

After cooking