I think my main problem is that I don't like the cheap cut that is stew meat. I don't care how long it cooks and how "tender" the meat gets, it always tastes dry and stringy and metallic to me. For me, stew night = potato night.
Well, this stew is as unlike my mother's stew as could be. Lots of curry, cardamom, mint, garlic, and lamb, glorious lamb! The sweet elements--apples, honey, dried figs, and raisins--were balanced. I was afraid it would be too gooey sweet, but it wasn't.
I didn't consciously realize until I served it, that, by following all of Dorie's serving suggestions, I'd loaded us up with potatoes, rice, and bread. Oops. The bread was unnecessary.
Conclusion: Liked it. Best stew I've ever had. Wish it was cold outside. This stew needs cold weather.
Your opening paragraph sounded just like The Dude in my house "I am not a stew person" ;-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed - I must agree that I was pleasantly surprised by the way all the flavors came together.
Have a great weekend.
With a great review like that, I'll definitely have to try it once I'm feeling better. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou can have my cold weather if you want. I'm already a little tired of it.
ReplyDeleteI too cut down the lamb in this recipe and still found it to be more than sufficient for 4 servings. Dorie is really quite generous with her serving sizes. Happy to hear that you liked it.
I am a huge stew fan, so I was excited about this week's recipe, though I ended up changing it considerably. I am glad though that you have learned to love the glory that is stew because of it!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you liked this. I'm not a "stew person" either, though Dorie is doing a good job of trying to convert me!
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is a good cold weather dish! How funny - I love stew & it was one of my favorite things growing up. I was concerned about wheter I'd like the lamb, so was really surprised how delicious & tender it was. This is what makes our group so fun, though.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
I think reducing the amount of lamb does make the dish more stew-like. I was concern the dish would taste too sweet too with all those sweet ingredients. Glad we both agree the flavour came out well-balanced in the end.
ReplyDeleteYou van have our cold Weather too, but I agree that it tastes much better with the cold.
ReplyDeleteI liked the dish and I'm glad you Did too. Have à Nice weekend.
I halved the recipe too! I did not need to serve 6 and I didn't feel bad buying such extravagant meat. So glad you liked it too!
ReplyDeleteI'm not really a stew person either, beef stew, anyway. I liked this one though. Nice flavors.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom made stew, it was spicy-ish like this so that fortunately didn't put me off stew for life. What I didn't quite like was the taste of the beef, and my mother can't stand lamb so we bad none of that growing up. As soon as I was old enough to get a taste of lamb (in boarding school), I fell completely in love! However, lamb is expensive in Brunei all year round so we do only eat it for special occasions.
ReplyDeleteSaying that though, everyone's going on about how fab their lamb curry is this week so I may just have to find a special occasion to buy a good cut of lamb. Or maybe slaughter one...haha.
Being a big stew person, this was is right up my alley although I am not sure about the curry. Luckily Madras curry is not that potent. Your dish looks so yummy.
ReplyDeleteMaria @ A Platter of Figs
How great that you overcame your dislike of stew and made this! We enjoyed this dish so much and loved the balance of the flavors. The lamb was so tender and delicious. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteLOL, even though you might have carb loaded - I bet it all tasted so great! :) Sometimes I do that too, have mashed potatoes, a side of rice and then some garlic bread or something... its just necessary sometimes! :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed your stew! Funny, I never liked stew as a kid either, but love it now. I think it's the cook. :)
ReplyDeleteI love stew, and this was no exception! I wish I could have found the pre-cut lamb, but I couldn't, so I used beef instead.
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed stew, but get not being thrilled with the stringier cuts of meat. You should have had your stew out our way - it was unusually frigid here and stew was a perfect meal.
ReplyDeleteNice! I'm all about a lamb stew and this sounds delicious :) I can't really get good lamb here though so I'd probably have to use beef
ReplyDelete