Pichelsteiner Stew

This dish is a combination of Irish Stew with Pichelsteiner. I emphasize the latter because it is based on a recipe by Wolfram Siebeck, whom I hold in high esteem, and who refined the old German version of stew to make it gourmet. Even on its own or -as in the original- with thinly sliced strips of beef tenderloin, this recipe is truly terrific and has nothing at all to do with the canned stew of the same name.

This is how it works: I put the prepared

• 450g of lamb meat without tendons and fat, or fillet of lamb back.
• butter (liquid, for brushing)

early in the morning at 80° in a closed glass pot in the oven. It stays there for the next 2 hours (fillet: 30 minutes), then I reduce the heat to 60° and leave it in the oven for another 1.5 hours (fillet: 20 minutes).

Just before the end of this long cooking time, I heat

• 1 l of lamb stock

and let it reduce to a quarter of a liter.

Then I prepare the Pichelsteiner vegetables

• 2 medium potatoes (sliced 1 mm thick)
• 1 large carrot (sliced wafer-thin)
• 1 leek (only the white) (cut 5mm thick)
• 1 fist-sized piece of celery (cut 3 mm thick)

I cut precisely according to Siebeck’s instructions, as everything will be roasting together. Siebeck takes 100g (!) of butter for this amount of vegetables, which is definitely too much with all adoration. I take

• 30g butter

and fry the vegetables in it in a large pan for 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally. Then I season with.

• 1 teaspoon pepper, mortared
• some pimento seeds, mortared
• a good amount of salt

and leave the pan on the stove with the lid on for another 10 minutes over medium heat. Now comes the stew component. I take the lamb out of the oven, it now has a light color on the outside and add the liquid that has escaped to the stock.

• 1/2 pointed cabbage, halved again and cut into strips.
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground
• nutmeg
• salt

I saute the lamb briefly, then add the stock and simmer for 2-3 minutes. The lamb I fry again briefly and hot, so that it browns.

So all done! I put cabbage and broth in preheated bowls, then the Pichelsteiner vegetables on top and then the lamb, cut into thin slices. It’s quite tender and still tastes wonderfully of lamb, as it should in a stew like this. Despite the reduced amount of butter, it is a rich meal, so we keep a portion for the following day.

grilled lamb filet steak and sauteed sliced carrots, sliced leek, sliced celeriac, sliced potatoes