30 Days of Real Meals- #4 Lamb Stew

I feel kind of funny admitting that I made lamb stew using beautiful lamb chops instead of stew meat or shanks.  The kids don't really enjoy chewy meat like steak or chops, so I decided to stew it instead.  Beautifully cold, sunny winter day - nice warm, hearty stew.

LAMB STEW

6 organic lamb chops, cut into pieces

organic coconut oil

1 large organic onion, chopped into large chunks

4 cloves organic garlic, chopped

1/3 cup organic red wine

2 Tbsp organic tomato paste, preferably from a glass jar

2 cups water

sea salt and pepper

1 tsp dried organic thyme

1 organic bay leaf

1 organic rutabaga cut into chunks

4 organic carrots, chopped

2 cups organic squash, peeled and chunked

4 organic potatoes, cut into chunks

1 cup organic button mushrooms, whole

Method: Preheat oven to 350*. Heat a large cast iron dutch oven over medium high heat.  Melt some coconut oil and brown the lamb on each side.  Turn off heat, add the wine, onions, garlic, water, herbs, some sea salt and pepper.  Cover with a lid and place in the oven and cook for 1 hour.  

     Remove the pot from the oven and add the chopped vegetables.  Cook for one more hour.  Serve.

LAMB CURRY

My sister is getting married this weekend so my parents arrived today and were here in time for supper.  I hastily took out some lamb stew meat from the freezer this morning, hoping it would thaw in time to make a stew.  It was still a wee bit frozen when I started to make this meal, but it turned out just great anyway.  It is pretty hard to screw up a stew.
     Our freezer has been restocked with lamb from Bruce Family Farms in anticipation of a post wedding BBQ we are hosting.  We originally wanted a whole lamb, but apparently that is unavailable locally until this summer.  Anyway, so the stew meat was up for grabs and rather than my usual Irish Lamb Stew I decided to go Indian with a side of brown basmati rice.  My favorite part of this meal, aside from the big chunks of lamb, was the fresh spinach salad I made that had Indian spiced cashews that I sprinkled in.  I think we need a batch of those kicking around for snacking.

LAMB CURRY

2 pounds organic lamb stew meat (with bones)

30 g fresh ginger

5 cloves organic garlic, peeled

1 can organic crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1 Tbsp organic sunflower oil

2 organic onions, peeled and chopped

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp organic ground cumin

1 tsp organic coriander

1 tsp organic paprika

1/2 tsp turmeric

fresh organic black pepper, ground

5 organic potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 organic carrots, chopped

1 cup organic peas

fresh organic cilantro, chopped

Method:  In the bowl of a food processor, puree the ginger and garlic.  Heat the oils in a large saucepan over medium heat and brown the meat in two or three batches.  Remove from pan and set aside, then saute the onion and salt until translucent.  Stir in cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric,  pepper, garlic and ginger, saute for one minute.  Add the tomato, lamb, potatoes and carrots.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat, cooking gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  If it gets too dry add some water.  At the end of cooking stir in cilantro.  Check for saltiness and add more if necessary.  Serve with steamed basmati rice,  raita and mango chutney.

SPINACH SALAD with Spiced Cashews, Radish and Cilantro

1/2 pound organic spinach

4 organic radish, sliced

1/2 cup organic cilantro, ripped

1 cup organic cucumber, sliced

1 cup organic cashews

1/2 tsp organic cumin powder

1/2 tsp organic coriander powder

1/2 tsp organic turmeric powder

sea salt

drizzle of organic sesame oil

e.v olive oil

1/2 organic lemon, juiced

organic pepper

Method:  Toss the cashews in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, pinch of sea salt and sesame oil.  Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium heat and then saute the nuts, stirring until they start to brown only slightly.  Lower heat if necessary to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat and set aside.

     In a large salad bowl, combine the spinach, radish, cucumber and cilantro.  Drizzle with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Add cooled nuts and toss.

Our Own Chicken

Our brood of chickens needed to be thinned out.  When we picked up our chicks in the summer, we weren't sure how many hens there were, as they were unsexed.  And so we waited patiently as they grew until the day came that we realized we pretty much had a 50/50 split of roosters and hens.  It was also at this point that the hens were due to start laying.  I figured there was no way they were going to start laying eggs unless we got rid of some of those aggressive males that were crowding the hen house.  So Scott spent one Saturday afternoon learning how to butcher chickens.  We said a little prayer to remind ourselves of the sacredness of all life, and by the end of the day we found ourselves with a whole lot of chicken meat, and very little freezer space!

     Since then, we've made three attempts at eating the meat.  The first I used for stock and soup, the second Scott roasted which only resulted in a very tough bird, and tonight I tried out an Italian inspired Chicken Stew which was the best one yet.  We give thanks.

ITALIAN CHICKEN STEW with Black Olives, Capers and Rosemary

1 organic chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 bottle of organic red wine

8 organic bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh organic rosemary

4 cloves organic garlic, smashed

1/4 cup e.v olive oil

1 cup organic all purpose flour

7 anchovies

2 Tbsp capers

1/2 cup black olives, pitted

1 can diced organic tomatoes

sea salt and pepper

Method:  Place the chicken in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover with the wine, bay leaves, rosemary and 1 clove of the garlic.  Let sit for one hour.

    Preheat the oven to 350*.   Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat.  Reserving the marinade, pat dry the chicken and dredge in the flour.  Add the olive oil to the pot and brown both sides of each piece of chicken (about 5 minutes). Remove each piece of chicken and set aside until they are all done.

     Add the garlic and anchovies to the hot pan.  Stir quickly and then add the olives, tomatoes, chicken and the reserved marinade.  Bring to a boil , cover and bake in the oven for about 2 hours.  Serve over polenta with some grated romano cheese.

CREAMY POLENTA

2 cups organic chicken stock or broth

1 cup organic whole milk

sea salt and black pepper

1 cup organic cornmeal

2 Tbsp organic butter

1/4 cup grated romano cheese

Method:  Combine the stock and milk in a saucepan, stirring in some sea salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and reduce to low.  Whisk in the cornmeal and cook, stirring for about 15 minutes. When it almost reaches desired consistency, stir in butter and cheese.

Tonight we ate this with the curly endive/escarole salad from an earlier post......with added orange segments!

Stew Weather

When Scott went to go pick up our organic meat order, the man delivering it asked if we were going to sell it.  When he heard we had no plans to sell all the meat he then commented we must have a large family!  Well actually there is only Scott, Faegan and I in this household, but a freezer full of organic beef, a whole lamb and nine chickens.  I figure that will last us 8-9 months at least.  We like having food in the house, and we like buying meat in bulk because it saves us money.  And we really like making stew.....

     As I was just about to make the dumplings for this stew I realized that I didn't have any baking powder left.  I had just bought a bag of it in July.  I know this for sure because I was making our wedding cake and wanted to make sure I didn't run out.  That means I've gone through a whole pack of baking powder in 3 months!  Baking madness over here.  Anyway, so I called my friend Serena to see if she had any I could have and luckily they had just enough.

LAMB STEW with Whole Wheat Dumplings

2 pounds lamb stew meat ( I like the kind with the bones)

1/2 cup unbleached organic flour

sea salt and pepper

4 Tbsp organic vegetable oil

1 large organic onion, chopped

2 cups water

3/4 tsp dry organic thyme, or 1 Tbsp fresh

1 1/2 cups beer, preferably dark (1 bottle)

1 pound organic potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 organic carrots, peeled and cut 1/2" thick on the diagonal

1 cup organic celery root, peeled and cubed

1 organic parsnip, peeled and cut 1/2" thick on the diagonal

3 Tbsp chopped fresh organic parsley

Method:  In a large bowl, season flour with salt and pepper.  Dredge lamb in the flour mixture, shaking off excess.  In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Working in batches, brown lamb on all sides.  Transfer to a plate.

     Pour 1/4 cup of the water into the pot, scraping up browned bits from bottom with a wooden spoon.  Add onions, stirring occasionally until water has evaporated and onion is beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Return lamb to pot; stir in thyme, beer, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover and simmer until lamb is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

     Add potatoes and vegetables to pot.  Cook, covered until vegetables are tender and stew has thickened.  About 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.  Add dollops of dumpling dough to top of stew, cover and again and keep simmering for another 15 minutes.  Serve.

WHOLE WHEAT DUMPLINGS

When I went to Serena's to pick up the baking powder they asked what I needed it for.  When I told them it was for dumplings in the lamb stew they both exclaimed, "Oh Doughboys!"  and I said "I guess so!".  You see that is the first time I have ever heard anyone call dumplings doughboys, but I like it, so doughboys it shall be.  Serena's mom is from Newfoundland and that is what they call them there.

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1/2 cup organic unbleached white flour

3 tsp aluminum and corn free baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/3 cup organic butter

3/4 cup organic milk

Method:  Combine flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal.  Stir in milk with as many strokes as possible.  Place dollops of dough ontop of stew and steam with lid on for 15 minutes.