Lamb hotpot

We spent the afternoon at the library today, and returned home in desperate need of a cup of tea (me, after an hour of reading aloud), and something warming to eat. Lamb hotpot hit the spot.

Makes enough for 3. You'll need:

4 or 5 medium-sized pieces of lamb (we had a right old rag-bag of pieces on the bone)
an onion, sliced
3-4 sticks of celery, chopped
a large carrot, chopped
the remains of a bottle of red wine that wasn't quite at its best (probably a glass)
dried thyme and lots of black pepper
5 or 6 large potatoes

Stick the oven on at about 160 degrees C.

Brown the pieces of lamb in a casserole dish (you may need to add a little olive oil so that they don't stick). Add the onion, celery and carrot, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add whatever wine you've got left and some boiling water, until everything's completely covered and there's no bits of lamb poking out the top.

Season with thyme and black pepper, bring to the boil, sling a lid on and shove in the oven for 2-3 hours. Check it occasionally, just to make it has enough liquid.

After 2-3 hours, start on the potatoes. Peel them, then boil for 15 minutes. Drain, slice and then place in a pretty pattern on top of your stew. Dot with butter, turn the heat up on the oven to 200 degrees, and sling the casserole dish back in for another 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are crispy.

Eat with something green - you can't beat a few frozen peas. Cooked, obviously.