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Lamb Stew with Tomatoes and Spices
This is a succulent dish. It's another amazing recipe I adapted from Stews, Bogs and Burgoos by James Villas. The original recipe is for braised lamb shanks. We were serving 8 at a cabin and wanted to be able to use a slow cooker, so we substituted leg of lamb instead. The result was delicious. The key is the flavor of the braising sauce, so I know it would be absolutely delicious with lamb shanks as well. The other couples who shared this with us all loved it, and so did I! Ingredients
- 1 4-pound leg of lamb or lamb shoulder chopped into 1 inch pieces, or 8 meaty lamb shanks (about 1 1/4 pounds each), trimmed of excess fat
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 4 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped and juices retained
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 bay leaves
- One 2-inch stick cinnamon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 16oz box Orzo
Directions
- Dredge the lamb pieces in flour, tapping off excess. (If using lamb shanks, boil them first in water for 10 minutes, dry them, then dredge in flour and follow the recipe as below)
- Heat the oil in a large pot over moderately high heat, then add the lamb pieces and brown on all sides. Remove as they are browned and add remaining pieces. When finished browning, add the onion and cook, stirring about 3 minutes, then and garlic and stir about 2 more minutes. Turn off the flame and let cool for a minute, then add the brandy and stir about 1 minute, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. (I added the brandy when the pan was very hot and almost burned the cabin down!)
- If using the pot, add the tomatoes and their juices and the remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook till the lamb is very tender, about 2 hours.
- If using a slow cooker, add the onion and garlic mixture, the lamb, and the tomatoes and remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Set to low and cook for 8-10 hours.
- Boil the orzo according to the directions and serve the lamb stew over the orzo.
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Reviews
This was universally raved about when we served it last week. It's a great combination of flavors. Nothing overpowers the lamb, but everything complements it very well.
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