Lamb Curry with Potatoes

As cold as it is in Chicago in winter, there are some advantages to living in a place colder than a meat locker. One of my favorite sights is a winter sunrise on a shatteringly cold, clear morning. Sunday was just such a morning, and I raced out of bed and into my coat just in time to catch the last of the perfect golden sunrise. The sun shimmering on the wall of ice in front of our building was just stunning.

I think that our cold, gray winters are a gift to introverts like me. I don’t mind winter all that much, even on the extremely cold days – I know how to stay warm (thanks to LL Bean), and there’s a beauty to the snowy winter landscape – especially living on the Lake. The many moods of the Lake are beautiful to watch, and none more beautiful to me than when the ice rolls in from far out in the lake, and the water comes crashing up against the ice berm that forms on the beach. As the waves slap the ice, the water sprays high into the air and the sound of the crashing ice against waves is the best bedtime lullabye.

Without good weather and sunshine every day, I don’t feel guilty for wanting to curl up with a good book and cup of tea to spend an afternoon on the couch. The social calendar slows down as the weather grows cold and allows me to recharge my social batteries…and sometimes that means spending a quiet morning making the perfect lamb curry.

This curry requires quite a few steps, but the final product is so worth it – this curry has the depth of flavor I’ve only tasted in Indian Restaurants. I learned from Sabera that the secret to a truly authentic curry is to make your own curry paste…and she’s right. The time it takes to stir the spices, onions and tomatoes to develop the curry paste is what makes a flavorful gravy for the final dish. I tried to keep the calorie count under control by minimizing the amount of oil used, and eliminating the dairy in the recipe – it doesn’t need it anyway. Give this curry a try next time you want to spend a morning meditating at the stove.

Lamb Curry with Potatoes
Serves 5

2 1/2 cups yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1″ pieces
1 lb lamb stew, trimmed of most fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 onions – one grated (or blitzed in the food processor), one sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 T fresh grated ginger
2.5 T safflower oil, divided
1 14oz can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
4 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 jalepeno, seeded and sliced
kosher salt to taste
cilantro for garnish
serve over brown rice

1. In a mortar and pestle, combine the mustard seeds, cardamom and cumin. Bash the spices around a bit to create a coarse grind. Pick out the husks of the cardamom pods and set the spice mixture aside.
2. Preheat the broiler and set a sheet pan in the oven while it preheats. Peel and cube the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Place the potatoes in a small mixing bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of safflower oil and a sprinkle of salt. When the broiler is preheated, remove the sheet pan from the oven and spray lightly with oil. Spread the potatoes onto the pan in one layer and broil for 6-7 minutes to par-cook the potatoes – they should not be cooked all the way through, just get a head start on cooking, and the quick roast will help them keep their shape instead of getting water-logged. After 6-7 minutes under the broiler, remove the potatoes and set aside. While the potatoes cook, sear the meat.
3. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. While it’s heating, sprinkle the cubed lamb with a bit of salt. Add 1 T of the safflower oil to the pot, and when it’s shimmering, add about half of the meat to the pot in one layer – don’t crowd the meat. Sear for 2 minutes without stirring, then turn the meat pieces and sear for 1 more minute on the other side. Remove the lamb from the pot and set aside in a bowl. Add the last half of the meat and sear on both sides, then set the meat aside.
4. Keep the pot on medium heat, and remaining tablespoon of oil and grated onion. Saute for 3-4 minutes, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan, and allowing the onions to turn golden and begin to caramelize. Next, add the tomato paste, jalepenos, garam masala, mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, black pepper and garlic. Stir for a minute until fragrant. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Allow the mixture to cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally – the mixture will cook down into a thick, flavorful paste.
5. After cooking the curry paste, add the chicken stock, sliced onion, lamb and potatoes. Stir to combine. Cover the pot and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes, until lamb and potatoes are tender. Season with salt as needed. Serve over brown rice and garnish with cilantro.

383 cal per 1 1/4 cup, 130 cal from fat, 14.8g fat, 90mg cholesterol, 400mg sodium, 780mg potassium, 31g carb, 3g fiber, 8g sugars, 31.3g protein

Lamb Stew with White Beans

So, here’s another lovely cold-weather stew. You could say this this is a re-run of my beef stew from March, and be completely in the right. But, this one has lamb – which makes it different, right?!

Okay, maybe it’s not totally different, but like most people, my kitchen hosts a lot of rerun dishes, and this one is definitely welcome on our table anytime we have all the ingredients on hand. The truth is, the weather is turning cold, and we’re in the waning days of our summer farm share, which leaves us with oodles of root vegetables in the crisper. Our meat farm share also supplies us with wonderful stew meats this time of year, so lamb stew is a natural. I promise you, that if you make this one, you won’t be disappointed…and it’s even better the next day for leftovers!

Lamb Stew with Cannellini Beans
Serves 6

1lb lamb stew meat, cubed, trimmed of fat
4 strips bacon, sliced
1 Tb olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 T fresh rosemary, minced
6 oz red wine
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 lb dry runner cannellini beans, cooked and drained
2 large carrots, peeled and cubed
3 bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups tomato sauce (homeade, or jarred pasta sauce)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water
salt & pepper to taste
parsley or cilantro for garnish

Beans
1/2 lb dry runner cannellini beans
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 carrot, sliced in half
2 bay leaves

Cooking the Beans:
Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl, covered with 3 inches of water. To cook, pour beans and soaking water into a pot, add half an onion, 3 cloves garlic, carrot and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until beans are mostly done, but still slightly al dente – about a hour and fifteen minutes to 2 hours, depending on how fresh your beans are. Set cooked beans aside.

Stew:

1. Heat a large dutch oven on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes. Add sliced bacon, and saute until semi crisp. Remove bacon from pot and set aside. Leave 1 tablespoon of fat in the pot, pour out any excess (or save the bacon grease in a storage container in the fridge, as I do).
2. Season the cubed lamb with salt and pepper. Add half of the lamb in one layer to the pot with bacon fat and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove lamb and set aside, then add remaining beef to the pot and sear.
3. Remove remaining lamb from the pot and set aside. Add 1 T olive oil to the pot, then add the leeks, carrot, celery and saute, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. After 2 minutes, add the garlic, rosemary and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the red wine, stir and cook for another minute or two.
4. Next, add the chicken stock, bell pepper, beans, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and lamb. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, remove the lid, turn the heat up a touch, and reduce the liquid in the stew until it becomes a delicious red gravy, about 20 minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Chop up a handful of parsley or cilantro, and stir in at the last moment, then dish it up.

368cal: 90cal from fat, 9.9g fat, 80mg cholesterol, 1110mg sodium, 440mg potassium, 33g carbs, 8g fiber, 32g protein

Warming up: Lamb & Root Veggie Stew

Trudging home from the train in the cold rain and fierce Chicago wind, I decided that this evening was calling for a Serious dinner plan. Soup just wouldn’t cut it tonight. By the time I got home, the cold and wet had seeped into my bones in a way that only a hearty stew could cure.

Inspired by the beautiful lamb post on Gluten-free Girl yesterday, I pulled a packet of lamb stew meat out of the freezer and decided to improvise a lamb stew. I had plenty of root veggies in the crisper to choose from, a bottle of red wine, and some fresh rosemary…all the makings of a simple stew. A few minutes of chopping and searing, and then I was free to let the stew bubble away while I took the dog out for a soggy walk. An hour and a half later, we sat down to a delicious bowl of stew and glasses of red wine.

Lamb & Root Vegetable Stew
Serves 3
9 Weight Watchers Points per serving

12 oz lamb stew meat, cubed, trimmed of fat
1 Tb olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, cubed
2 sprigs rosemary
3/4 cup red wine
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup cubed carrots
1 cup chicken stock
1 14oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
parsley

1. Heat a 3qt dutch oven on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes. Season the cubed lamb with salt and pepper. Add half of the lamb in one layer and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove lamb and set aside, then add remaining lamb to the pot and sear.
2. Remove remaining lamb from the pot and set aside. Add 1 T olive oil to the pot, then add the garlic and onion, and saute, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. After 2 minutes, add the red wine and rosemary, and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, lamb, tomatoes, potatoes and carrots. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for an hour, stirring occasionally. After an hour, remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium, and reduce the liquid in the stew until it becomes a delicious red gravy, about 20 minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Chop up a handful of parsley, and stir in at the last moment, then dish it up.

Inauguration Lamb Ragu

I wanted to make something special for Inauguration Day. It’s been a long eight years, and today is a day worthy of a true celebration! The ceremony this morning was so inspiring – not just Obama’s excellent speech, but the sheer numbers of people who came, smiling and full of hope, to be present for this historical moment in our country. As a Chicagoan, I’m especially proud to be sharing Obama with with world now. We are no longer the Second City. We’re the home of the First Family.

And to celebrate on this long-awaited day, I share with you this long-simmered dish that I love. There’s something distinctly primal about lamb shanks – tearing the tender meat from the bone, moist with the sauce it’s been simmered in. However, I don’t always enjoy taking the meat from the bone at the table. It can be messy, difficult, and a little un-romantic for such a carefully crafted meal. So, I prefer to take the meat off the bone before serving, which also allows me to remove more of the fat from the meat, as well. I served this with roasted potatoes, but I think next time I’d serve it over mashed potatoes or pasta.

And now, let’s all take a deep, cleansing breath, and look with hope to the next four years of the Obama administration.

Lamb Ragu
Serves 3-4
7 Weight Watchers points per serving (assuming all fat skimmed/removed)
4 WW points per 1 cup roasted veggies

1 T vegetable oil
2 Lamb Shanks (about 1 1/2lbs)
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c red wine
3 1/2 c chicken stock
1 can fire roasted tomatoes (Muir Glen)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fresh thyme
salt & pepper to taste
splash of red wine vinegar

Serve with: plain rice, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan, over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add lamb shanks and brown well on all sides, about 3 min per side. Set aside.
2. Heat a 3qt heavy pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 T olive oil, garlic and onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent and beginning to soften.
3. Add lamb shanks to onions & garlic. Pour wine into pot, and increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the wine reduces a bit.
4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaves and thyme to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so that the pot is simmering gently, and partially cover. Cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally, and spooning off the fat as you go. When the shanks are tender, and beginning to fall off the bone, remove them and set aside to cool.
5. Increase heat on the pot to medium, bring the sauce to a boil, and reduce the sauce until it begins to thicken. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
6. Take shanks, and remove meat from the bones, carefully removing bits of fat and cartiledge. Return lamb to pot, simmer for another 5 minutes, then add a dash of red wine vinegar and remove from heat. Serve immediately, or the next day – much like stew, the flavors are even better a day later.

A Bit of Cassoulet

On New Year’s Eve, our friends Larry & Erika were kind enough to not only come over for dinner, but they brought the dinner too! Larry is renowned for his French Cassoulet, and for good reason. Filled with all of the traditional meats – duck, sausage, pork, lamb, bacon…he makes a beautiful pot of stew, which we were lucky enough to share.

I’d never made a cassoulet, and I had some beautiful flageolet beans from Rancho Gordo in the pantry, some odds and ends of meat in the freezer from our farm share, so I started in on a simplified cassoulet. I looked at recipes from Mark Bittman and Cook’s Illustrated for reference, omitted the chicken/duck, and started cooking.

The recipe looks really fussy, and maybe it is, but if you take it one step at a time, split the cooking time over two nights, you’ll find this a pretty reasonable dish to put together. Nothing too difficult about the recipe, it just takes some time. I soaked the beans overnight on Wednesday, cooked the beans on Thursday, and put the cassoulet together on Friday. We shared it with friends for dinner on Saturday, with plenty of leftovers for the week ahead. Stews are always better the next day, so I highly recommend making this the day before you plan to serve it.

Cassoulet
Serves 9
12 Weight Watchers Points per serving

Beans:
1 lb Flageolet beans
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 fresh chicken back

Cassoulet:
3/4 lb lamb stew, fat trimmed off, cut into 1″ cubes
1 lb beef stew, fat trimmed off, cut into 1″ cubes
8 oz Wellshire Farms Andouille sausage, diced
3 slices bacon, diced
2 large carrots, peeled, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 T fresh thyme
1/4 tsp ground cloves
salt & pepper to taste

Cooking the beans:
Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl, covering the beans with at least three inches of water. The next day, cook the beans in a large pot, cover the beans with at least 2 inches of water with carrot, celery, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic and chicken back. Bring the beans to a boil, cook for 5 minutes at a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer the beans for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, or until beans are tender. If you’re going to store the beans overnight, take out the vegetables, chicken back and aromatics, and put the whole pot in the fridge.

Making the cassoulet:

1. Heat a large (7-8 qt) dutch oven over medium heat. Add andouille sausage and saute until it begins to brown. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside in the fridge. You won’t need the sausage for awhile.
2. While pot is still on medium heat, add diced bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon, drain on paper towel and set aside. Leave 2 T of bacon grease in the pot, and brown the beef and lamb in small batches, cooking 1-2 minutes per side. After the batches of meat are browned, reserve them in a bowl.
3. Add the onions, garlic and carrots to the pot, and saute for 5-7 minutes, until onions are soft and translucent. Add tomato paste, ground cloves and thyme, and saute for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add white wine, bay leaves, canned tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add beef and lamb to the pot.
4. Take the pot of white beans out, and drain in a colander, removing any lingering bits of chicken bone and vegetables from the pot. Add the beans and reserved bacon to the cassoulet pot, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until carrots are tender and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add andouille sausage, and cook for 10 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight and serve the next day.

Lamb & Leek Stew

I’ve been saving this post up for a week or so, knowing that I’d be in Michigan this weekend, with nothing coming out of my kitchen. I’m guessing that some folks may have had enough of turkey by this point in the weekend, so I’ll change up the pace with this hearty lamb stew. We get a lot of lamb in our meat CSA, and with the weather turning cold, I crave a good stew. Looking at the amazing bounty in my fridge, I improvised this stew. The leeks add a hearty, almost sweet base to the stew, and the red wine and rosemary make the broth sing with an herbal tang. Like most stews, it’s even better as leftovers the next day.

I served the stew with roasted garlic mashed potatoes…they look a bit grey because I didn’t have enough white potatoes, so I tossed a couple of Peruvian Purples in the mash, which made the ‘taters an odd color. But I assure you they were every bit as tasty as regular potatoes.

Lamb & Leek Stew
Serves 8
5 Weight Watchers Points per serving (without mashed potatoes)

2 lbs lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat and cubed
4 leeks, green ends removed, and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
3 cups carrots, cubed in 1/2″ pieces
2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and cubed in 1/2″ pieces
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup red wine
salt & pepper

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly season cubed lamb with salt & pepper. Spray the bottom of the pot with oil. Add half of lamb to pot in one layer and sear for 1 minute. Turn the pieces over, cook for another minute, then remove lamb from the pot and set aside. Re-spray bottom of the pot, if necessary, and add the last half of the lamb, repeating the searing procedure, then set lamb aside.
2. Reduce heat to medium, and add leeks and carrots to the pot, with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute for 7-8 minutes, until leeks soften a bit. Add garlic and rosemary, and continue cooking until fragrant, about one minute.
3. Add red wine, and cook for 2 minutes. Add lamb, chicken stock, bay leaves and canned tomatoes to pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low. Add the mushrooms, and allow stew to simmer on the stove, uncovered, for 60-90 minutes, until carrots are tender. Season with salt & pepper.
4. The broth will reduce quite a bit as it cooks. Once the carrots are tender, and you’re ready to serve, add the parsley and stir. If the stew is still too soupy, you may thicken it with a mixture of cornstarch and water. Remove the pot from the heat before you add the cornstarch slurry, and add slowly – it will get thick in a hurry.

Serve the stew with mashed potatoes.