Navarin Printanier

Also known as "lamb stew with spring vegetables".  A winner in our kitchens 
and with our spring temperatures going from outright sweltering back down to

downright chilly - stew was a welcome meal.

Per Nana:

What do you call navarin printanier if you do not use lamb?  Beef stew?

I spent a better part of this week searching for lamb to no avail.

The only piece I came across was at Wegman's and that was

 a leg of lamb. At the price they were asking, I certainly did not intend

 to make it into stew.  I can be very frugal sometimes (okay, call me cheap)

 but  since hubby and I are not big lamb eaters, I couldn't do it.  

Lamb chops, well now, that's another story.

Wegman's has the cutest 1" potatoes that I used, as well as the

 tiny white onions.  I have never cooked with these onions before and 

they are really nice, not too strong.  I was a bit apprehensive about 

using that much garlic with the onions, but it all melted away.

One thing I especially liked about this "stew" was the way the vegetables 

were prepared.  I think giving them some color before adding to the meat 

makes a huge difference in flavor. The recipe calls for a lot of prep work,

 and having used so many dishes, I was wondering if it was worth the effort.

Trust me, it was. 

 This was one of the best stews I have ever made, and I make a

pretty good boeuf bourguignon.  (at least that's what hubby said).

I hope someday I will be able to find a good piece of lamb to try this again.

I am anxious to see the results of all the other Doristas, and if they

 were able to find some nice lamb to make this dish properly.

Per Tricia:

Nana had already taken the pressure off when she decided to go with beef.  

Me and my wallet willingly joined her, acknowledging that it would have 

been even better, and certainly more "Spring" like ....had I used the lamb. 

 But a lovely stew it was nonetheless.......even after

 I forgot to add the peas until the first bowl had been served :) 

 I should have known when I took the photo of the ingredients that I 

would forget to add them at the end.  While this was no mean a difficult recipe, 

by the time I had all the items chopped, browned in sugar and combined 

with the meat...I had felt quite "done".  Serving it up I pondered again

 what made this a Spring dish (yes, the lack of lamb did not help) 

and realized I still had the peas to add in.  Even worse was that Nana 

actually dropped off the peas for me as she had picked up an extra box.  

Next time I will simply ask her to stick around to make 

sure the ingredients make it in.........

The onions were fun- believe  it or not I do not recall actually ever 
cooking  tiny onions like this. And definitely not in this manner. Exactly
 as Dorie described,  their skin came away after being blanched.
 They were a wonderful surprise addition.  The other addition
 that I am not used to, but did not yield a "surprise"  was adding 
the sugar when I cooked the veggies.  No shock that it made

 everything taste better.  I felt slightly less guilty since
 Dorie "directed me" to do it :)

My guys thoroughly enjoyed this one.  My younger son initially thought it 

was a bit on the bland side and by the time  he finished his second large bowl 

had uttered the phrase "I take it back..... I take it back" about a half dozen times. 

 My husband also made it quite clear that he would be more than happy to

 see this come across the table again - in any season. 

(Missing something green ??)



Happy French Friday ~