Lamb Stew With Dried Plums

While I blog mostly about travel, sometimes I like to mix it up and write about a different topic.  So when I'm not blogging about travel, I blog about food and wine.  Today I bring to you Against All Grain's amazing recipe for lamb stew with dried plums.  I almost never eat lamb, but this recipe looked too good to pass up and I'm a sucker for stews/soups!  Lamb is more traditionally eaten around Easter, but if you eat lamb for Christmas this recipe would work well for any left over meat.

I did make a few modifications to the recipe, though.  The original recipe calls for using a dutch oven, butternut squash, salt, removing the carrots after the first hour of cooking, and making an onion puree.  However, I don't own a dutch oven and I find that using a regular "stew" pot and keeping the lid on keeps the moisture in just as well and has resulted in some quite tasty stews!  I used red potatoes instead of butternut squash because it's what I had on hand and I omitted the salt because the chicken stock has enough for my taste.  I also chose to keep the carrots and onions in the stew simply because that's how I prefer it!

Either way you choose to make the stew, the flavors in it are AMAZING.  The red wine in the stew gives a heartiness to the broth and the herbs make the vegetables and meat taste divine.

Lamb Stew With Dried Plums

Serves: 4 Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs lamb top round roast 2 tbsp olive oil 4 carrots 1 yellow onion 1 cup dry, red wine 2 cups chicken stock 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 1 sprig fresh rosemary 1 sprig fresh parsley, or to taste 1/2 tbsp tomato paste 2 cups red potatoes 1/2 cup dried plums 2 tbsp golden raisins 1/2 tsp ground pepper Instructions: In a large pot over medium high, heat the olive oil. While the olive oil is heating, trim the fat from the lamb and cut into 2-inch cubes.  Dry the lamb with paper towels and then brown the meat on all sides in the olive oil.  Once browned, remove the lamb from the pot and set it aside. Peel the carrots, cutting them into thirds, and onion, cutting it into thick slices.  Add the carrots, onion, and garlic to the pot.  Saute for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the wine, chicken stock, and tomato paste.  Stir to remove any bits at the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and then add the lamb back into the pot.  Add the thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, and parsley and stir everything together. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 1 hour.  Don't remove the lid in order to keep the steam in the pot to make the meat tender. Add the potatoes, dried plums, and raisins to the pot and stir everything together.  Cover the pot and let it simmer for an additional 25 minutes. Once done, remove the herb sprigs before serving (I kept mine in the stew).  Enjoy!