Blue Jean Chef

Some of the usual things that are well suited to a slow cooker are stews, soups and chilies. You can make these dishes more intesting, however by changing some of the ingredients and going with an ethnic theme. Here we made a Moroccan lamb stew by using a regional spice blend of cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, cumin and cayenne, adding raisins and dried apricots, and using chickpeas and sweet potatoes rather than another bean or regular potato. The fruity ale added a nice component, and if you’re in the United States, Magic Hat #9 is a perfect choice. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds lamb stew meat
• ½ cup flour
• salt
• pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, rough chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced on the bias
• 2 ribs celery, sliced on the bias
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. cumin
• ¼ tsp. turmeric
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne
• ½ tsp. coriander
• 6 oz. beer (a fruity ale is best)
• 1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• ½ cup raisins
• 16 dried apricot halves, halved again
• 2 sweet potatoes, medium dice
• beef stock, to cover
• 1-19 oz. can chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge the lamb cubes in the seasoned flour and brown in olive oil over medium high heat. Do this in batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan. Set the browned meat aside.
2. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the pot and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the spices and stir well to coat all the vegetables. Cook for an additional minute or two. Add the beer to the pan and scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck on the bottom of the pan.
3. Return the meat to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated. Add the tomatoes, raisins, apricots, and sweet potatoes. Add enough beef stock just to cover ingredients. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat. Ideally, you want your liquid steaming and close to a simmer, but not actually bubbling. Cook for 1 hour.
4. Add chickpeas and continue to cook for another hour.
5. When the sweet potatoes are tender, season to taste salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve over rice or couscous.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 26th, 2004 at 12:44 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.