A.k.a bachelor’s stew marrakesh

I’ve had this Cooking at the Kasbah cookbook for a while, I got it for Christmas one year and have made a few of the recipes in it.  In thinking about things that would be fun to do for the blog, this was one of the first things that came to mind; it’s relatively simple to make and pretty tasty.  Of course, we’ve got to put our own special twist on it to avoid things that we really shouldn’t be eating at this time.

• 2 tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika
• 2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 4 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp. salt
• ½ c. vegetable oil
• 3 lb. lamb shoulder, cut into chunks and trimmed of fat
• 1 c. broth, beef or veggie
• 3 lb. yellow onions, peeled

The spices, ready to go.

The book lists the nutmeg as optional but let’s be serious here. Nutmeg is awesome. I tend to be pretty liberal with the spices and the ginger and nutmeg are two in this recipe that I really let fly. Let your nose be the guide and punch up the spices that resonate for you by as much as 50% over what’s listed.

The lamb prep should be trimmed of fat; we actually cut it up into chunks and cut out the bones but realized afterwards that we really should have left the bones so we threw a few in. Go ahead and leave it all on the bones. Beef works well in this recipe too, by the way.

The original recipe calls for small golf ball sized onions but I can never find them in the supermarket so I just get a pile of yellow onions and cut them into quarters.

Start the oven preheating to 350°F once everything is ready to go.

The spice mix just needs oil now.

Put everything up to the oil into a small bowl and mix it up. Drag the lamb through the spice mix so it’s well coated and put it aside.

Running the lamb through the sauce.

Swish the broth around in the remaining spice mix and hold it aside.

Arrange the onions in a flat layer on the bottom of a dutch oven. Lay the meat over the onions and pour the broth and spice mix over it all. Cover it and put it into the onion until the meat starts breaking apart easily; 2½ to 3 hours.

The whole thing in the oven.

The original recipe calls for a mint garnish and plenty of crusty bread but Edna and I just ate it as it came out of the oven.  It was pretty good but it needed something to take the place of the bread.  Serving it with brown or black rice is a good option if you’re also avoiding bread.

Ready to eat.

It was good but not great; we’d give it 6 or 7 out of ten.  With rice it probably would have been marginally better but it really does call for a side of bread.  Adding some fresh lemon juice at the table offset some of the fatty feel of the dish. Substituting beef for the lamb changes the character so that it stands on its own a bit better but I found it more flavorful with the lamb.  Another modification I might make is to put a bit more meat in, maybe another pound, because that’s always the first thing to go.

The pot in these photos is called a doufeu.  It’s cast iron and the indentation on the lid allows you to load it up with ice so that the juices inside condense quickly and drip back down into the food.  I use it in place of a dutch oven all of the time and I’ve always loved the results.