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This is one of my favorite stews. It is perfect for the really cold months and for large gatherings when you have a lot of people to feed. In isn’t your everyday beef stew. For one, it has equal parts lamb in it and then it also has a middle eastern flair…a little dried fruit, a little ginger…it’s a good thing. I recently made it for our Christmas party and it was a huge hit.

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You’ll need a big pot. I needed a really big one because I had a lot of people to feed but this recipe is scalable.

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You’ll want to set yourself up with a rack and two bowls, one with flour and one with your meat cubes.

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Get your pot very hot with vegetable or grape seed oil. (Olive oil has a low smoking point and will burn too easily). You could also use butter.

Toss your meat in the bowl of flour, shake it off…

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…and place it in the hot pot to brown. You can flour the meat in large batches to make it go more quickly.

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Let your cubes get brown on all sides. But we’re not trying to cook them through here, just give them a crust and a seal to lock in the juices. You don’t want to crowd the pot because that will steam them and they won’t get the brown color we’re going for.

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Like so! Put the browned cubes on a rack and then add another batch.

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Once you have all of the meat browned on a rack, place it back in the pot.

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Sprinkle with your salt and spices…

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Spices like cinnamon and ground ginger…mmm

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Then add any vegetables you desire. I took these turnips from the garden which were especially sweet from the first frost. So I only added a few.

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Then onion…

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Rutabaga. Ooh, purty.

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Turnips.

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Carrots. Basically whatever you have would be perfectly fine. Just remember the theme is “sweet and spicy.”

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Once you’ve added all of those to the pot, you next add dried apricots…

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And prunes!

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Then barely cover with beef stock and let ‘er stew for several hours partially covered. You’ll want to bring the liquid up to a boil and then lower the heat so the liquid is gently percolating.

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It is a delightful stew. Sweet and spicy all at once. And the lamb has a higher fat content than the beef which keeps all the meat moist.

“Moroccan Lamb and Beef Stew”

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds lamb shoulder cut into cubes
  • 2 pounds beef chuck cut into cubes
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or grape seed oil or butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 medium onions diced
  • 4 carrots peeled and diced
  • 2 medium turnips peeled and diced
  • 3 cloves garlic rougly chopped
  • 2/3 cup dried apricots
  • 2/3 cup prunes pitted
  • 3 to 4 cups beef broth

Instructions

  • Trim any excess fat from the meat. Heat a large pot with oil and flour the cubes in a bowl. Shake them well and place them in the pot, being sure not to crowd. Once seared, remove to a plate or rack.
  • Put all of the browned meat back in the pan and sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. Then add the vegetables, garlic and dried fruit.
  • Pour in enough stock to barely cover the meat and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat so the bubbles percolate. Cover and simmer gently for 2 hours until tender. Skim off any excess fat from the surface with a spoon.
  • Serve with couscous (Israeli couscous is my favorite). This is also good made ahead of time and allowed to sit so the flavors develop.

14 Comments

  • Jen
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 4:29 am

    Wow, this look divine!!! I can't wait to try it.

  • Joanne
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 4:29 am

    Oh YUM. I have to try this!

  • Jen B.
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 4:30 am

    I love that this is a little more interesting than your average stew. I'm going to try it out on my family!

  • Frances
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 4:30 am

    It was delicious!

  • Julia
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 4:30 am

    This looks delicious and I know it was! I love lamb and prunes…

  • Chip
    Posted June 2, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    Talk about perfect timing. Just relocated to upstate NY from coastal Carolina and need something to keep me warm, this should do the trick nicely.

  • Rachel
    Posted December 20, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    Oh my gosh, this week I have been putting off work (I know, procrastination is bad, right?) with watching lots of Anthony Bourdain and have been seriously craving lamb. The guy eats a lot of lamb. And I just arrived back in Rochester NY where is is snowy and cold. Really cold. I want stew, I want lots of slowly cooked meat to warm my belly and my soul. Anyways, my prayers have been answered. Thanx 🙂

  • selfmanic
    Posted December 30, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Planning to try this, looks great.

  • Justine
    Posted August 11, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    Wonderful, Georgia. But, could you check to see why half the pictures don’t appear? [I need all the help I can get. :)]
    .

    • Justine
      Posted August 11, 2013 at 10:53 pm

      So, so sorry (and ignorant)! The pictures must have taken awhile to load on my old PC. Sorry.
      .

  • Ernie Hahn
    Posted March 12, 2014 at 11:54 am

    Love the recipe. I substituted venison for the beef and added in 2/3 cup of raisins toward the end of the cooking time and garnished the plated dish with sliced almonds.

  • Stephen
    Posted January 21, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    THIS WAS AMAZING! HAD IT QUITE A WHILE AGO. IT WAS A HIT WITH MY FAMILY AND INVITED GUESTS. IT’S BEEN A WHILE BUT IT’S TIME TO COOK IT AGAIN. JANUARY IS A GOOD MONTH FOR THIS DISH.

  • Mary M. Martinez
    Posted March 26, 2016 at 12:38 am

    I haven’t made beef stew in so long and this just makes me want to dive into that bowl! This looks beyond delicious!

  • Denise debane
    Posted April 30, 2020 at 3:28 am

    There is no such thing as Israeli couscous or hummus or or – it is all cultural misappropriation – (Jewish SAFArdi cuisine is just that not israeli)

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