Spring Lamb Stew with Young Vegetables

The first warm Saturday of April. The market had lamb from the hill farm, new potatoes still caked in dark soil, baby carrots no longer than your finger, and a bag of broad beans the stallholder said had been picked that morning. I didn't have a plan. The market decides.

Not all good stews belong to winter. This one is lighter, brighter, built on white wine and good stock rather than anything dark or heavy. The lamb braises gently until it gives way, and then the young vegetables go in at the end, so they keep their colour and their bite. Peas and broad beans last of all, barely in the broth long enough to warm through. The whole thing finishes with lemon juice, torn mint, and a scattering of parsley, and it smells like the season turning over.

I wrote it down in the notebook last spring: lamb, new vegetables, the kitchen window open for the first time since October. That was the evening I remembered why stew isn't a winter word. It's a way of cooking that belongs to any season that gives you good ingredients and a reason to stay in the kitchen.

A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. If the market has turnips instead of carrots, use those. If you can't find broad beans, more peas will do. Your kitchen, your rules. We're only making dinner.