Fårikål

Middle Tennessee got a pretty heavy snow recently, and I wanted something warm and comforting for this weather, so I returned to an old favorite: Fårikål -- Norwegian lamb and cabbage stew.

This involved:

• Three lamb shanks
• A smallish head of cabbage
• A quart of beef stock
• About a tablespoon of peppercorns, ground (see below)
• A few dashes of Maggi Würze seasoning
• Salt to taste (I now use Redmond Sea Salt)

And the procedure:

1. Chop the cabbage very coarsely.
2. Wash and dry the cabbage in a salad spinner.
3. Add the cabbage to a pot.
4. Salt and pepper the lamb shanks, then add them to the pot.
5. Add beef stock.
6. Add the remaining pepper, Maggi seasoning, and some salt.
7. Bring to a low boil, then cover and simmer for an hour or more.
8. Remove the lamb shanks and cut the meat from the bones.
9. Return the meat to the stew.
10. Check seasoning and then serve.

Fårikål does not normally call for grinding the pepper, but I wanted to grind it so I could rub it into the lamb shanks. The side effect is that this recipe speaks black pepper in a very loud voice; whether that's good or bad depends on how much you like black pepper.