South American Lamb Stew

As you know, I am travelling at the moment, so I thought of asking some of my favourite food blogger friends to come over and share some of their amazing creations with all of you!  I told you I would leave you in great company, right?  Today I have the honour of having yet another one of my dearest friends on Manu’s Menu: Maureen from Orgasmic Chef.  Maureen is a fantastic person and a very talented blogger.  Her site is one of the top food blogs in Australia and I feel very fortunate to have her here today!  Make sure to check out her beautiful site, I am sure you will find lots of delicious recipes to bookmark and make!  So… ready to find out what amazing dish she has prepared for us?  Here we go!  Thanks Maureen!

As Manu and her family are traveling around the world, making memories with their children to last a lifetime, I’m sitting at home cooking this really wonderful South American lamb stew. Now, I’ll be honest and admit to you right now that it might not be South American but it could be.

You see, my husband and I went to a local South American restaurant last week and one of the first small plates we were served was an amazing lamb stew served with yellow rice. Normally when I go to a restaurant, I never finish anything but this dish? I could have licked it clean with my tongue. I didn’t, but only because the restaurant was full.

I came home and scoured the net for South American lamb stew so I would have a starting point and I found one but it’s not the one from the restaurant. This stew is cooked in a refrito of red onion, green capsicum, chile, garlic and tomatoes along with beer, cloves, allspice and seasoning. To make it even more special, I made some shallot confit roasted in olive oil and tossed them into the stew near the end of the slow cooking which took 8 hours. I didn’t want to toss out that wonderful olive oil so I used some to coat root vegetables and garlic and roasted them.

The recipe called for ground achiote and I couldn’t find any up here in the sunny north so I substituted by tossing in some ground cayenne pepper. I’m sure it would be better with the real deal. I also didn’t have any panela or pilloncillo so I used dark brown sugar instead.

I served this alongside yellow rice. I sauteed an onion in a little bit of butter, added a bit of salt and a teaspoon of turmeric and the kernels from 2 small ears of corn. Then I put rice in the rice cooker and just before it was done, I poured in the onion and corn mixture and a handful of frozen peas. When it was done, I tossed in some chopped coriander (cilantro) and some sliced green onion tops.

As a garnish I peeled and sliced two bananas and fried them in a little butter. I didn’t photograph them because really, have you ever looked at a grilled banana? The taste went so well with the lamb in spite of the look.

5 from 1 vote

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South American Lamb Stew

South American Lamb Stew - a deliciously hearty dish served with yellow rice!

Course: Main

Cuisine: South American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 6 -8

Author: Maureen Shaw from Orgasmic Chef

Ingredients

Refrito

• 1 red onion roughly chopped
• 2 green capsicum bell peppers roughly chopped
• 4 to matoes roughly chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 serrano pepper cut lengthwise with seeds removed

Stew

• 1.5 kg 3.5 lbs Lamb - I used a boneless leg of lamb
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 60 grams dark brown sugar or use panela or pilloncillo if you can get it
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon anchiote powder if you can get it
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4-5 whole cloves
• 4-5 whole allspice
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 celery stalks roughly chopped
• 12 ounces light beer

Yellow Rice

• 3 cups cooked white rice
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 green end of a spring onion sliced thinly

Confit Shallots

• 12 French shallots peeled ((I cooked heaps so I'd have some for other uses)
• olive oil enough to cover the shallots

Fried Bananas

• 2 bananas peeled and sliced (if the bananas are large, cut them in half lengthwise as well)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. Cut the lamb into bite size pieces, of about 2.5cm (1 inch)
2. Season with salt, ground pepper and ground cumin on all sides. Set aside.

Refrito

1. Add all refrito ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and whiz until you have a smooth puree. Depending upon the size of your food processor, you might need to do this in batches

Stew

1. Pour the refrito in a large crockpot, and season it with the salt, ground pepper, ground cumin and cayenne pepper and stir to combine.
2. Add the seasoned, diced lamb meat to the refrito. Stir to combine. Add the brown sugar, whole cloves, whole allspice, oregano and celery stalks. Stir to combine. Pour the beer over the mixture and stir one last time.
3. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for eight hours, or high for four hours.
4. Before serving, remove the celery stalks, whole cloves and allspice.
5. Serve warm with yellow rice and fried bananas

Yellow Rice

1. Saute the onion in the oil and butter and once the onions begin to turn translucent, add the turmeric and the corn and cook for another minute.
2. Cook the rice and just before it's finished add the onion mixture, salt and peas. When the rice is cooked add the coriander and spring onions and serve.

Confit Shallots

1. Preheat oven to 135C / 275F
2. Place peeled shallots in the bottom of a roasting dish and cover with olive oil. Roast for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Once cool, toss in the stew near the end of cooking.
4. (Save the oil for another use)

Fried Bananas

1. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and add the butter. When melted add the bananas and cook until golden brown on the bottom and flip and cook the other side the same way.
2. You could sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the top just before serving.

Manu

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