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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Aromatic Lamb Stew with Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato

After seeing pictures of Kayte's Aromatic Beef Stew with Butternut Squash, I really wanted to try it. It wasn't until I read that she made it in a crockpot that I knew we were having that for dinner this weekend. It's served over whole wheat cous cous which we both love. What could be more perfect? The recipe comes from Ellie Krieger's book "So Easy".  You can also find the recipe HERE.

Lamb stew with squash and sweet potato served over cous cous

My changes:
  • Doubled the recipe.
  • I didn't have beef stew meat so I used lamb (some pieces were boneless, others were not).
  • Marinated the meat in a spice paste made with: EVOO, cumin, turmeric, ground ginger, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper.
  • Browned the meat on all sides for about 5-7 minutes.
  • Cooked the chopped onions, garlic, and ginger in the meat juices for about 5 minutes.
  • Placed the meat and onion mixture in the crockpot, and added the remaining ingredients from the recipe, except the butternut squash.
  • Kept the amount of cinnamon the same.
  • After 4 hours of cooking on HIGH, I added 1lb of cubed butternut squash and 1lb of cubed sweet potatoes. This cooked on HIGH for another 2 hours.
  • Towards the end of the cooking process, I added chopped cilantro to the stew instead of parsley.
  • Cous cous: boiled water with the following spices: salt, pepper, turmeric, and garlic. I also add a little bit of EVOO in the water to avoid "sticking" issues later.
  • Served the stew on a mixture of regular cous cous and whole wheat cous cous because hubby finds the taste of whole wheat cous cous by itself too strong.

18 comments:

  1. This is the type of food which I would love to have , looks so delish.

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  2. Wow, that looks great and I am going to go back in with your version of the recipe while the other is still fresh in my mind so that I can compare texture, taste, etc. with a good enough memory! Not the cilantro, however, lol...it tastes like soap to me for some reason. The other things all sound spot on! The tagines (sp?) on your blog here are so beautiful. Like works of art! Thanks for doing the research on the lamb for this...I am going to follow what you did exactly so I can see what you made (well, okay, not the cilantro, but everything else).

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  3. Hi Hanaa, Thank you for your lovely comments in my blog.
    I have a recipe for pitta in my blog, which is the best I have made so far. It's from the book "The Bread" by Jennifer and Christine Ingram.
    http://tasteofpearlcity.blogspot.com/2010/05/whole-meal-pitta-bread.html

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  4. Hanaa, it looks good! I love lamb stew and couscous. Actually, I love moroccan food in general.

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  5. Wow, Hanaa, this looks wonderful and so quick/easy! I love your tips at the end of your posts...so helpful! Love that you used cilantro...I add it every chance I get!

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  6. @Umm Mymoonah: I would definitely consider this comfort food. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks again for the Pita bread recipe. Will try it soon.

    @Kayte: even without the cilantro, the lamb would still work really well for you. Let me know how you like it. Thanks again for the crockpot idea!

    @Jenn: glad to hear you like Moroccan food. We love it here. I will have to try and post more Moroccan recipes :o)

    @Nina: it's super simple and quick to make, Nina. Give it a try. I'm with you on the cilantro. I love using it!

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  7. That looks wonderful, Hanaa! I got a crockpot for Christmas and I love making things in it on Sundays so we get leftovers for the week. I haven't tried anything with lamb yet. I love adding cilantro to rice/soups, it really brightens up the flavors in a dish.

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  8. I love this dish a lot, this looks so good!

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  9. first time here.....this lamb stew looks just marvelous !very yummy and delicious......iloved your Four layer chocolate genoise cake with strawberry-and-cream filling and chocolate whipped cream frosting...i got to say u have some great recipes here.....do visit my blog whenever u hav time ! happy to follow u :-)

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  10. This looks great, and I would love to make it, but I haven't been able to find butternut squash in Poland right now. I have a squash soup recipe on hold too!

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  11. It sounds so comforting and delicious...

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  12. Hi Hanaâ, thanks for commenting on my blog:)
    I´m loving the recipes on you blog, this looks so delicious!
    Hugs from Lisbon , cheers!

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  13. Hi hanna..thanks for visiting my space and for your wonderful comments !if you do not want to use tamarind, you can use vinegar/juice of lemon instead

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  14. Looks like great winter food!

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  15. What a great recipe! This would be so nourishing. I love that you've placed it on a bed of couscous; it's one of my favourite grains.

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  16. I am so glad you made those changes! I love lamb with couscous and made it once with pumpkin; I can just imagine the flavors here, heavenly!!!

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  17. Wow, Hanaa, this looks so delicious! What time is dinner? :)

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  18. I saw this recipe on Kayte's blog too, and thought it looked terrific!

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