SuRu's Lamb Stew
Winter time calls for warm food. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, lamb is classified as a hot food that tonifies weakness, strengthens and nourishes both chi and blood. Although it is still not super cold here in my neck of the woods this winter, a lamb stew was calling me.
Although I did go scouting around on Food 52, a fun recipe website, for inspiration to make an Indian style stew, I ended up on auto pilot making stew from what happened to be in my fridge. The recipe below tells the story of what I did. Remember there are many many ways to make a stew, so don’t be afraid to be creative and flexible! You could use beef or buffalo instead of lamb. You could add more veggies, like parsnips, mushrooms and turnips. Want to add a kick? Add some cayenne or chilies.
SuRu’s Lamb Stew
2 pounds lamb stew meat
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon spice mix
2 tablespoons bacon fat ( you could use coconut oil or olive oil instead if you like)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, mashed
2 leeks sliced
5 carrots sliced
4 medium potatoes, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 quart chicken stock (you could use beef stock, mushroom broth, water and red wine, dark beer- any of them would work!)
3 sprigs rosemary (other herbs like bay leaf, thyme, oregano, would work fine too)
2 cups green beans (I had these in the fridge. If you’ve got peas or broccoli, that would work well too)
Dredge the chunks of stew meat in a mixture of flour and spice mix.
Brown the floured stew meat in a big soup pot using bacon fat (or other oil). Remove the meat to a bowl.
Add the sliced onion and garlic and saute 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add carrots, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary sprigs and chicken stock (or whatever liquid you’re using) and return the browned meat to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
Once the liquid is boiling, turn it down low to a simmer. Continue to cook, covered, for an hour.
Add the green beans (or frozen peas or broccoli) in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.
Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
