Moroccan Slow-Cooked Lamb

Note: I have never cooked lamb. I would say 6 days out of 7 are meat-free for me. I tend to think of meat as expensive, time-consuming, and messy...but very delicious.

I let the lamb thaw in my fridge as instructed. I took it out of the package and even rinsed it (as instructed). The tricky part came about when I tried to cut the meat off of the bone. I own about three dull knives and none of them are made for cutting meat. It was fleshy and sinewy and really attached to that bone. Huh.

In a panic I called up my parents. When my Mom found out it was a question about cooking she handed the phone over to Dad (he's the master chef in our household). As I was asking him if I could just brown the meat on the bone before adding it to the stew, I could hear my sister (who is vegetarian by the way) chiming in the background: "I don't see why not! And it will probably enhance the flavor!" Thanks Leslie.

In a fluster I dropped the lamb into the oil that had been heating for too long. I just about set off my smoke alarm (not hard to do in a studio apartment). Everything smells like cumin now.

The rest of the recipe was just a matter of dropping ingredients into the pot. I found it on Epicurious, one of my favorite recipe websites. Other than using lamb leg, I also replaced the fresh tomatoes with one can of diced, no salt added tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 pounds trimmed boned lamb shoulder, cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 15 1/2-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 cup dried apricots (about 5 ounces)
• 2 large plum tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons (packed) grated lemon peel

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add lamb and toss to coat. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add lamb to skillet and cook until browned on all sides, turning occasionally and adding 2 more tablespoons oil to skillet between batches, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer lamb to another large bowl after each batch.
2. Add onion and tomato paste to drippings in skillet. Reduce heat to medium; sauté until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add broth, garbanzo beans, apricots, tomatoes, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and lemon peel and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Return lamb to skillet and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until lamb is just tender, about 1 hour. Uncover and simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Transfer lamb and sauce to bowl. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve

This recipe turned out SO WELL! The best part was the apricots, which plumped up and then fell apart with the cooking. I served the stew with cilantro and over whole wheat couscous. I also think this recipe would be great without the lamb if you are vegetarian. Next time I might try omitting the meat and doubling the chickpeas while keeping all of the spices.

I can't wait to prepare this for some friends. It makes 4 full-meal servings. I ate it two nights in a row and froze the other half.