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Recipe for "lamb-stew-1"

NAME

     LAMB-STEW-1 - Fragrant lamb stew
     This recipe comes from Margo Kaiser, with  whom  I  used  to
     work.  It's a delicious stew, spiced fragrantly but not hot.
     It's one of my favorites.  It's also  very  easy.  The  most
     tedious  work  is  trimming  the  lamb,  and you can get the
     butcher to take care of that.
     The  spice  mixture  is  my  attempt  to  re-create  Margo's
     ``secret  spice'' (she didn't offer that recipe).  Feel free
     to try your own variations.  If you hit on one that you feel
     is particularly good, please let me know about it.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6 to 8)

     50 ml     olive oil
     1         large onion (thinly sliced)
     4         garlic cloves, minced
     1.5 kg    lamb, cut into  stew-sized  cubes,  and  carefully
               trimmed of fat.
     1.5 kg    cooked tomatoes (2 large cans)
     3         bay leaves
               lemon juice
     15 ml     Hungarian paprika
     5 ml      celery salt
     2.5 ml    ground cumin
     0.5 ml    cayenne
     0.5 ml    allspice
     0.5 ml    cinnamon
     700 g     fresh green beans, washed and trimmed

PROCEDURE

          (1)  In a stewpot, saute onion in olive oil on  medium-
               low  heat  until  golden  brown. Add garlic in the
               last 2-3 minutes.
          (2)  Add lamb cubes and saute until brown.
          (3)  Add tomatoes, and simmer  until  meat  is  tender.
               Keep  an  eye on the liquid; add water or red wine
               if it becomes dry.
          (4)  Add bay leaves, lemon juice and spices.  Simmer on
               low heat for at least 2 hours.
          (5)  About 1/2 hour before pronouncing it done, add the
               green beans.
          (6)  Serve with plain yogurt and pita bread.

NOTES

     I prefer to cook through step 4, refrigerate overnight,  and
     then finish cooking the next evening.  This greatly enhances
     the flavor.  When you take the stew from  the  refrigerator,
     skim  any lamb fat that has congealed on the top before con-
     tinuing.
     I find that many butchers don't understand that I want  good
     quality meat in stews.  I get better quality, more carefully
     trimmed meat by telling them that I want lamb cubes cut  for
     shish kebab.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time:  20  minutes  preparation,  several
     hours cooking.  Precision: measure the spices.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Nancy Mintz
     UNIX System Development Lab, AT&T-IS, Summit, New Jersey, USA
     ihnp4!attunix!nlm