I felt like head butting my computer screen on several occasions last night. The fear of causing severe brain damage to myself was the only reason I practiced laborious restraint.
I have a Macbook Air that I bought long before I knew how obsessed I was to become with food blogging; the practice of over-tasting while holding a camera in one hand photographing the smallest of crumbs and rambling on about the importance of dry chickpeas while all your friends look at you with that distressed look on their face: “Have you lost your mind!?”
Yes. But, in a good way. So I think. Which means I’ve probably lost my mind. Although, my parents tend to think that happened a long time ago, at birth.
Ahem. Back to my computer screen. I wanted to head butt my computer screen because my computer is slow. I mean ridiculously slow. This ridiculously thin laptop comes with a huge sacrifice, especially if you are a person playing with huge amounts of media files on a daily basis. One of the biggest sacrifices is sanity. The worst part is that this expensive laptop is rigged with cheap parts and one side of the screen decides to hang loose on it’s own free will and all Apple says is “sorry can’t help you, or the numerous other customers it has happened to!” So, naturally I’m left with the only temporary option of securing the screen from falling flat by using a full bottle of water. Yea. You get the point. Don’t buy a Macbook Air.
But, do make this delicious lamb stew and I promise it will render you sane. Look at me!
A few weeks ago I went into my neighbors kitchen and filmed myself talking about lamb stew. I love this lamb stew so much, you can see me in the video shaking my neck with joy, every so often. This stew has a North African influence because I like to use ras el hanout which is a mixture of 10 or more spices like coriander, chilli, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, paprika, cumin & tumeric as well as harissa paste which is a hot chilli paste, common to North Africa (although I actually say tomato paste in the video-ignore me!). But, what’s the secret? Watch and you’ll find out!
- Half a shoulder of Lamb or 800g
- 2 carrots- chopped into cubes
- 1 large aubergine/eggplant- chopped into cubes
- 1 onion- finely diced
- 4 gloves of garlic-minced
- 1 glass of wine
- 400g chickpeas
- 10g coriander, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of Ras el Hanout
- 400g chopped tomatoes and their juice
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste or tomato paste
- 400 ml stock of choice- hot
- 2-3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (found in any Middle Eastern stores)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Rub the shoulder with all ras el hanout spices, salt and pepper.
- In a deep skillet, sautee onions till translucent about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the meat and sear it on each side for about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic, for about a minute.
- Pour the wine in, and let the wine evaporate about 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, the harissa paste and the stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about one and a half hours. Turn the meat over occasionally, if its not fully covered with the liquid- depends on dish depth.
- After an hour and a half, add the veggies; aubergines, carrots, cooked chickpeas. Let it all cook for about 30-45 minutes.
- Once veggies are done, mix in the pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with finely chopped coriander.
Yay! Finally, another video – been waiting for this for so long. And after all your Mac Air suffering, let me tell you: it’s been SO worth it- Beth, well done! The editing, the lighting, the music in the background, your top, your hair – all super-fabulous! You’re just going from strength to strength. Won’t be long before you’ve got your own TV show. The camera loves you honey =) xxx
Yummy! I love lamb stews and yours looks great;perfect for the weather 🙂
My son was just telling me that I had to start doing videos of my recipes and I thought “Oh, Beth’s Lamb Stew video is up on her blog today!” Yay! Beth the video is fab and this recipe is to die for! Wow! I am so making this! Congrats on the beautiful job of both the stew AND the video and now I can say “Ah, I knew her when….”
Hugs and kisses!
this is too good beth. the pom molasses rocks here!
You are even more gorgeous than I imagined! I totally agree with Mowie – the camera loves you baby!
Ahem, pretty please Apple Inc send our dearest Beth a complimentary MacBook Pro so she can do what she was clearly put on the earth to do – teach us all about her ‘Dirty Kitchen Secrets’!!!!
Love your stew! 🙂 I could smell it all the way here. I’m so going to make this.
yayyy Beth this looks yummmmi
Nice tip at the end… i never hear about it. Where can I get it?
I will make this soon for our family gathering. how many people does it feed?
I’ve been lucky to enjoy this dish on so many occasions. Don’t waste any more time. Go Make It Now!
Rob-lydia I’ve updated the post with the relevant info. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
Thanks everyone for all your lovely comments xx
I’m a PC and I’m 7!
Meanwhile you’re a riot…love the video, and thanks for taking my thinking of lamb stew beyond my Northern European thoughts!
Stunning stew….stunning you!! I will add the Harissa to mine hehe…thanx so much Beth xxx
Thanks 🙂 Blush Blush
merci pour ta visite et ton gentil commentaire!!je suis entrain de découvrir ton joli blog plein de délicieuses recettes! merci pour le partage! bonne fin de soirée!!
A super winter warmer. This will prepare me for the oncoming of the winter ‘chill’.
Awesome recipe … been looking for a good one since tasting a friend’s homemade braised lamb. But this version sounds mouth watering. She wouldn’t divulge the details … and lamb is damn hard to cook!
At the moment there is a malfunction with the Von’s ad banner interfering with the categories. Took a while to navigate into the Middle Eastern foods.
;quel delice, rien qu a voir on le devine deja fabuleux, merci chere Bethany