Newsday.com: Recipe of the week

Subject: Food and Drink Newsletter
Date: 12/22/2005 12:34:07 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Food_and_Drink@email.trb.com
To: ReysmontJ@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)


From the Chicago Tribune
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Recipe of the week

Photo










Lamb stew makes a great holiday potluck dish (Photo by Bill Hogan)


Lamb stew and vegetables


Servings: 8

Ingredients:
3 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsps. salt
1 to 3 Tbsps. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tsps. ground cumin
2 tsps. ground coriander
2 cups water
1 (14- to 16-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice
6 medium carrots, cut into 21/2-inch lengths
1 bunch spinach, discard coarse stems

1. Pat lamb dry. Sprinkle with pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. Brown lamb in batches, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes per batch, adding more oil as needed. Transfer to a Dutch oven.

2. Pour all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Add onion and celery and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and coriander and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Deglaze with 1 cup water, then pour mixture over lamb.

3. Pour juice from the can of tomatoes into stew, then coarsely chop tomatoes and add them along with the remaining 1 cup water and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt (liquid should almost cover meat). Bring to a boil.

4. Cover pot and braise lamb in middle of a 350-degree oven 1 1/2 hours. Stir in carrots and continue to braise until carrots and lamb are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Cool, uncovered, then chill, covered, overnight. You can skip this step, but it does deepen the flavors.

6. Lift off any solidified fat. Reheat stew over medium heat on the stovetop. Add spinach by handfuls. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until spinach is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

--From the pages of Gourmet and adapted