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Moroccan Lamb Stew {and Del Ray & Dupont Winter Markets}

January 21st, 2010 · 5 Comments

After an extended holiday absence, we finally made it back to the Del Ray Farmers Market this past weekend. The winter market is small, with ringleaders Tom the Cheese Guy and Smith Meadows meats holding down the fort. There’s a new vendor this year, The Dressed Up Nut, selling sweet spiced nuts and gluten-free biscotti. I had a hankering for stew and picked up the convenient pre-cubed lamb meat from Smith Meadows.

I was also craving some fresh produce, so it was off to Dupont Circle’s FreshFarm Market on rainy Sunday morning. It was the off week for Next Step Produce (who alternates weeks in the winter) so I missed out on my watermelon radishes. These pretty carrots were a welcome shot of color in the dreary weather, though, and made their way into my Sunday night stew as well. (I think they were from New Morning Farm, but I’m not positive.) I also picked up some ravioli from Copper Pot (newish to the Dupont Market, I reviewed Chef Frigerio’s pasta last spring) for a farmers-market-fast-food dinner later in the week.

When it came time to cook the stew, I wanted to keep it relatively light, so I went with Moroccan seasonings as found in an Epicurious recipe. I added fingerling potatoes and those carrots, and instead of using the orange zest called for in the original recipe, I just squeezed the juice from a clementine into the pot at the end. (The husband has a thing about citrus zest.) Served over cous cous, it was a flavorful, warming winter stew. Best of all, it elicited a hearty, “I LOVE it,” from the boy, who asked for seconds of both meat and carrots. (And ate the side salad, but that’s another post.)

Recipe: Moroccan-Spiced Lamb Stew
adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound fingerling potatoes, washed and cubed
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
  • juice of 1 clementine or mandarin orange
  • fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions: Combine salt and spices in a bowl, then add lamb cubes and toss to coat. Heat olive in dutch over over medium high heat. Brown lamb on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove lamb to a bowl. Lower heat to medium and add onion and garlic to pot; cook until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and return lamb to pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover, reducing heat to medium low, and simmer for 1 hour. Add carrots and cook another 15-20 minutes, until lamb is tender. Remove from heat and stir in orange juice. Serve over cous cous and garnish with chopped parsley. Makes 6 servings.

Tags: at market · NoVA Locavore · recipes

5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Melissa // Jan 21, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    Quite lovely Colleen. Welcome back!
    .-= Melissa´s last blog post ..A Little Something to Snack on =-.

  • 2 Kid Vs. Produce // Jan 23, 2010 at 2:56 pm

    I’ve never eaten lamb – but this dish looks heavenly. I think it may be time for me to branch out!
    .-= Kid Vs. Produce´s last blog post ..Cuban ground beef with fried plantains =-.

  • 3 Nancy // Jan 23, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    Oh, that sounds so yummy! Will have to give it a try.
    .-= Nancy´s last blog post ..Chop, chop. =-.

  • 4 foodietots
    Twitter: foodietots
    // Jan 25, 2010 at 1:40 am

    Thanks, all!

    @ Kid Vs. Produce — We’re fortunate to have several great sources for local, humanely-raised lamb, so I’ve started cooking with it more often than I used to.

  • 5 Nick // Feb 8, 2010 at 10:04 am

    I love morrocan food and so do the kids – Thanks for this recipe, i’ll try it out tomorrow!
    .-= Nick´s last blog post ..Potato and Black Bean Finger Burgers =-.