Ingredients
900g/2lb best end and middle neck British lamb, chopped into 2.5cm/1in pieces
1 tbsp groundnut oil
2 tbsp butter
4 lamb's kidneys, cored, skinned and finely chopped
350g/12oz onions, peeled and cut into 1cm/½ wedges
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
570ml/1 pint hot beef stock
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fresh bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme
900g/2lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm/¼in thick slices
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.
2. Trim the lamb of any excess fat and dry on kitchen towels.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan with half the butter until it is very hot, then add the lamb two or three pieces at a time. Stir to quickly brown the lamb pieces all over, then transfer them to a wide casserole with a lid (3.5 litre/6¼ pints capacity). Repeat this until all the lamb has been browned.
4. Add the pieces of kidney to the frying pan and fry until golden-brown, then add to the casserole.
5. Add the onions to the frying pan, adding a little more butter to the pan if necessary. Fry for about ten minutes, until they begin to turn brown at the edges.
6. Add the flour and stir well.
7. Gradually add the hot beef stock, stirring or whisking, until the flour and liquid are smoothly blended.
8. Add the Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and heat the sauce up to simmering point, then pour it into the casserole.
9. Add the bay leaf and thyme, then arrange the potato slices on top in an overlapping pattern.
10. Season the potatoes with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and add a few dots of butter.
11. Cover with the lid and cook for 1½ hours.
12. To brown the top, you can either remove the lid, brush the potatoes with a little more butter, then place under a hot grill, or you can turn the oven heat up to 220C/420F/Gas 7 during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time in the oven and remove the lid.
13. To serve, remove the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme, then palce generous spoonfuls of the hotpot onto warmed plates.
