Feeds about 4 people

1 – 1.5kg Gigot Chops
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into hunks
6 spuds, peeled and quartered
2-3 onions, peeled and cut in quarters
1 stick celery, sliced (OPTIONAL)
Good pinch of salt and pepper
1 pint of stock, lamb or chicken or just water will do.
Roux: 1 table spoon of flour & A knob of butter.
Parsley and thyme.
Bay leaf.

Trim some of the fat from the chops and render in a pot over a medium heat. Then brown off the chops in the fat. Remove and set aside. Then toss the carrots, onions and celery in the pot until just browning and then add in the meat, salt, pepper, a bay leaf and sprig of thyme and stock. Cook for one hour, then add in the spuds on top, and cook for about 30 more minutes or until the spuds are cooked.
If you like a this point you can thicken the sauce a little by pouring off some of the juice, and thickening that in a separate pot with roux* until it barely coats the back of a spoon. Then pour the sauce back in on top of the stew again.

*Roux. To make roux, melt equal weights of cream flour and butter in a pot and cook on a low heat for about two minutes until there is no longer a flavour of raw flour. To use: Whisk into a boiling liquid bit by bit until sauce reaches desired thickness.