Going Stew Crazy

Moroccan Lamb Stew Over Whole Wheat Couscous.  Photo:  Abdi Aminlari for 3 Photographers.

For most people, stew is a go-to comfort food — a hearty, perfectly pleasing dish best enjoyed on cold winter nights.  For me, stew conjures up childhood memories of an hours-long war of wills with my mom:  me starring at my plate pushing around mushy peas, carrots, celery and gristle-laden beef, her staring at me until I finished something more substantial than the potatoes. It got to the point where just the smell of it cooking would make me run from the house and construct any excuse not to come home for dinner!

Historically, stew was thought of as a peasant dish because it called for less tender and less expensive cuts of meats and ingredients.  And, therein, lies the problem with my mother’s stew (my father will argue this point but my brothers concur). While the sauce the stew rendered was flavorful (and I was happy dunking my butter-slathered white Wonder bread in it) I was uninspired (and a little disgusted) by the rest of the ingredients in the pot.  I have since found that by mixing it up and replacing traditional ingredients with better cuts of meat, poultry or fish and a more interesting blend of spices and fun items like parsnips, chickpeas and dried or preserved fruit, I am now a stew convert!

The great thing about stew is there is a myriad of combinations you can try and you can get really creative.  I’ve been on a Moroccan spice kick lately and have been working with combinations like lamb, parsnips, dried plums and chickpeas.    For a recent girls’ night in, I put together a simple chicken tagine (Moroccan for stew) with preserved lemons and kalamata olives served over cranberry-curry couscous.  One of my friends is a vegetarian so I used the same recipe but replaced the chicken with eggplant and chickpeas and separated the two main dishes on a serving platter with the cranberry couscous in the middle.  Use your imagination and stew it up!!

Here are a few tips to a great stew:

1.     For a more tender stew, trim the fat and divide larger cuts along seam lines to make it easier to cut against the grain.

2.     Season the meat or fish/shellfish before cooking to give the finished dish a good flavor.  If you’re using meat, be sure to first brown the meat on all sides to seal in flavor.

3.     Select the cooking liquid based on the food being stewed.  Good choices include flavorful stocks, sauces, vegetable or fruit juice, wine and water.

4.     Rinse, peel and chop vegetables into uniform shapes so they cook properly – keep them separate so you can add them to the stew in proper sequence.

5.     Use a heavy-gauge braising pan or heavy large stock pot (in a pinch) with a lid for slow, even cooking.  To test for doneness, use a table fork to cut a piece to gauge for tenderness – you shouldn’t need a knife.

Recipe:  Moroccan Lamb Stew over Whole Wheat Couscous

Serves 6 - 8

For the lamb

3 1b. boneless leg of lamb, cut into cubes

kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 cup baby carrots

1 small yellow onion, peeled and stuck with 1 whole clove*

1 2 inch cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

For the stew

2 tbl. olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, cut into small dice

kosher salt and ground black pepper

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs. paprika

2 tsp. cumin seed

2 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. cayenne

1 15 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

18 pitted dried plums, halved

¼ c. tomato puree

1 lb. parsnips, peeled, cored and cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tbl. chopped fresh parsley

3 – 4 cups prepared whole-wheat couscous

Prepare the lamb

Position a rack in the center of the oven.  Set the oven at 350°.

Season the lamb with salt and pepper in a 5 – 6 quart Dutch oven, combine the lamb, carrots, onion, cinnamon and bay leaf and water to cover.  Cover and braise in the oven until the meat is very tender – about 2 ½ hours.  Strain the mixture through a fine sieve over a large bowl.  Discard the onions and herbs (save the carrots for another use, they’re delicious!).  (You can prepare up to this point 2 days in advance. Refrigerate the lamb and the broth separately.  Skim the fat off the broth when ready to continue).

Prepare the stew

In a 5 – 6 quart Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, a pinch of salt and pepper and stir until onions are softened and lightly browned, about 6 minutes.  Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander and cayenne and stir 1 – 2 minutes.

Stir in the chickpeas, dried plums, tomato puree and a pinch of salt.  Add the lamb and 4 cups of the broth and bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes and turn the heat to low.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the parsnips and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve over whole-wheat couscous (I like the precooked couscous from Roland – super fast) and sprinkled with parsley.

*If you don’t have a whole clove, no need to run to the grocery store.  Sprinkle the onion with ground cloves or pick another sweet spice like allspice or nutmeg.