Food Interlude VII: Stews

Nature screened coming attractions for winter for much of the country this past week, and the Carolinas, sadly, were not spared. We had a few mornings on which the first dog walk jolted me into a state of wakefulness I much prefer to induce gradually with coffee, and throughout the day any gust of wind was likely to elicit the sort of interjections one does not hear on Schoolhouse Rock, nor, for that matter, down here in the polite South, leastwise not outside familiar company. More than a few times the cold had me swearing like a New Yorker.

I try to see the positive side of everything, but winter poses a significant challenge. One of the reasons I left the northeast is that I hate the cold as much as The Dude hates The Eagles. All the same, I am an intrepid optimist, and so I seek out reasons to be cheerful. Some folks around here suggest that a cold winter would mean there'll be a lot fewer ticks and mosquitoes next summer. That would certainly be nice. The cold weather also means my lawn will go dormant, meaning I can mothball the lawn mower until next spring. All in all, pretty weak tea; no wonder winter usually leaves me asking myself "Why don't you get back into bed?"

Winter is the time for stews, however, and that's nice. Sure, you can eat stews any time of year, but their heaviness and richness better suit the time of year when it's not so bad to be carrying a few extra pounds. They warm your innards and leave you full in a way you'd rather not be when there's fun to be had outside. In the winter, though, you have plenty of time to sit indoors and ruminate. It's preferable to going out in the f@!#ing cold, that's for sure.

The blueprint for this recipe appears in one of Madhur Jaffrey's many fine Indian cookbooks. I've tweaked it and added to it enough that I feel it's as much mine as hers. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced fine
5 cloves garlic, smashed
3 Thai chilis or 1 jalapeno chili or whatever chili in whatever quantity you like, seeded and diced
3-4 tbsp of fat (ghee or vegetable oil)
3 pounds of lamb stew meat (shoulder or leg works fine), seasoned with salt and pepper, trimmed of excess fat, and cut into 1 1/2" dice
1 1/2 cups water
12 ounces canned Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 russet potatoes, each cut into 6 equal size pieces
a pile of green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
frozen peas, as many as seem right
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Heat the fat over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion, garlic, and chilis, and cook until the onion is limp and translucent. Add the lamb and brown on all sides, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

When the lamb is well browned, add the tomatoes and the ground spices and stir to mix. Work this for a minute or two, until the spices give off a wonderful aroma. Add the water. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the brown stuff off the pan and into the liquid; there's a lot of flavor there. Give it all another couple of good stirs to make sure it's all mixed up and blended in. Add the potatoes, the green beans, and the peas. Bring the liquid to a near-boil, cover almost entirely, reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer for 75 to 90 minutes, until the meat is tender and the gravy is thick and rich.

You can serve this over basmati rice if you like but there's no need. Like most hearty stews, this is an entire meal--or four, or six--in a single pot.

So there you go.