This morning I woke up and knew--knew--I had to eat lamb tonight. Sweet delicious baby lamb. Wanted it. Needed it.
Haven't been feeling 100% or even 90% lately so this recipe was the friendly sort of preparation I was looking for: chop up some meat, slice an onion, brown said meat and onion and stew said meat and onion until yielding.
The recipe calls for lamb shoulder--one of my favourite cuts. I looked for a kilo or so of rolled shoulder but wasn't able to find any in Safeway's QV store. Looked, too, for shoulder chops. Couldn't find those. Luckily, half leg roasts were on special. I know, I know, I know. Shoulder tastes better. Shoulder is more suited to dishes like this. Shoulder, also, wasn't avaliable when and where I wanted it and I was in no state to go hunting for it.
I cut the meat into cubes and sliced two onions (the recipe called for one but I bought small onions). These were both cooked in a large saucepan for, oh, five minutes or so. The bone was thrown in for good measure. I then added three cloves of garlic (crushed) and gave them a minute or two before adding 500 mL water, freshly ground cumin and paprika. I brought the liquid to the boil then simmered the whole lot, covered, for 35 minutes before adding some fresh broad beans. The beans and meat were simmered for a further 15 minutes.
This dish was bland. I knew from the outset--and didn't care--that the spice mix was inauthentic. That, to me, wasn't the problem, as a dish like this doesn't have to be authentic to be good. I think it would've been better with a bit more cumin and paprika. And, too, homemade lamb stock instead of water.
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