Spicy Lamb Stew

Date Prepared: 05/14/11

Source: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spicy_lamb_stew/ 

Spicy Lamb Stew with Thyme over Couscous

*Recipe:

2-3 lbs of lamb shoulder stew meat, cut into 1½-inch cubes

Olive oil

2 yellow onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 red bell peppers, chopped

2 dry pasilla chiles, chopped, stems and most seeds removed

1 Tbsp hot Hungarian paprika*

1½ teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of ground cardamon

1½ cups chicken stock (use gluten-free stock for gluten-free version)

14 oz of canned whole tomatoes, put through a food mill, or puréed

8-10 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley

4-5 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

2/3 cup raisins

Salt and pepper

To Serve:

Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel. Drying the lamb this way first will help the lamb pieces brown. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy, high-sided pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium high heat. When the pot is hot, add the lamb pieces in batches, being careful not to crowd them. Cook, turning as needed so that the lamb pieces brown evenly on all sides, for 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Return the pot to medium-high heat. Add the onions, dried peppers and red bell peppers and stir to coat with the oil in the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute.
Make a bouquet garni by placing the parley, thyme and bay leaf in the center of a doubled over cheesecloth square. Gather the ends and secure with kitchen string.

Stir in the paprika, cumin, and cardamom and cook for a minute. Add the puréed (or cooked tomatoes put through a food mill) tomatoes, lamb, chicken stock, raisins and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil over high heat, decrease heat to low. Cook, partially covered, for about 3 hours, or until lamb is tender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve over couscous or rice (gluten-free option).

Yield: Serves 4-6.

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Difficulty: Easy - The techniques used in this preparation are not complicated and should be able to be accomplished by even the novice cook without much difficulty. In fact, the lamb that was purchased at the grocery store was already cut into pieces that were 1-1 1/2in. in size.

Accessibility: Common to Limited Specialty - Most of the ingredients for this recipe can be found in a typical grocery store. The pasilla peppers were the only ingredient that took some searching and were found at a Latin American grocery store. In addition, I was unable to locate hot Hungarian paprika. The original recipe offered a substitution for this ingredient, which was much more accessible than the hot paprika.

Visual Appeal:  Visual appeal is a subjective criteria by which to judge a dish. Beef stew is not all that aesthetically pleasing, however soulfully pleasing it might be. In a similar fashion, this preparation does not result in the most dynamic looking meal. In defensive of the Spicy Lamb Stew, the colors are deep and rich. If a dish were to look like you spent a lot of time developing flavors, this would be the quintessential example. The slow cooking of the tomato, peppers, onions, and raisins yield a hearty sauce, almost chutney like. In summary, this dish does hold some visual appeal for me because of the deep earthy richness that is offered.

Overall Taste: This preparation did not include much additional salt, which allows the natural sweetness of the cooked vegetables and raisins to be prominently displayed. The recipe calls for hot Hungarian paprika. Unfortunately, I was unable find this ingredient and followed the recipe author's suggestion,

"* Hot Hungarian paprika is not the regular Hungarian paprika which is sweet and mild. It is even hotter than cayenne. If you don't have access to hot paprika, I would substitute 1/2 with sweet paprika and 1/2 with chili powder."

Spicy food, ironically, is not my favorite. Cayenne is a spice I use very sparingly. I read the suggested substitution and questioned what was missing. I don't agree that a 1:1 mix of chili powder and paprika is hotter than cayenne! The taste of this dish was enjoyable but not particularly exciting or unique. In fact, I wouldn't have minded it to actually have more heat.

On the topic of heat, I didn't find the pasilla chiles to provide much in the way of heat, compounding my disappointment over the expected amount of heat.

I don't cook with lamb meat much but have really been in the mood for some nice juicy, flavorful lamb. Unfortunately, this dish did not deliver all I was hoping for. The lamb meat I purchased was quite lean with very little marbling. After stewing in the tomato mixture for a few hours, the lamb was certainly tenderized and was easy to cut apart with just a fork. However, the meat was somewhat dry and lacked the succulence I have been looking for lately. But again, not altogether unenjoyable.

Overall Experience: Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of time on this occasion and couldn't let the dish simmer all day. However, I always enjoy spending all day slowly cooking a dish. I was pleased to find the pasilla peppers but slightly disappointed that I failed to find the hot paprika. It was good to cook again, even if it was for myself.

Additional Notes: Don't take the aforementioned critiques too seriously. If the dish sounds interesting or looks good, I would encourage you to try it. Although it was not my favorite dish as of late, I am always an advocate of trying new things. Read more about Pasilla chiles:

• http://www.tasteoftx.com/recipes/chiles/pasilla.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasilla
• http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Dictionary/P/Pasilla-negro-chile-5609.aspx

*The recipe and instructions for this recipe have been reported to maintain the original instruction and is not an original recipe and belongs to the source indicated. This post has been prepared as a review only and with no intention to take credit for this recipe. This recipe has been reviewed without instruction or influence by the parties or companies mentioned therein.