Lamb and Mushroom Stew

Thanksgiving is upon us, and definitely one of my favorite holidays. After all how can you not love a holiday that is about family and friends gathering to share good food and conversation? I am always amused by the many new recipes for Thanksgiving standards that come out each year, however I usually stick to the same old roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and cranberry sauce. Why do I stick to the usual? Because I only eat this specific meal once per year and I know from over twenty five years in a row of cooking Thanksgiving meals what taste best to me.

That is not to say I don’t appreciate some new ideas for Thanksgiving favorites, because I do. I just cook up the new recipes I find afterwards, or for Christmas dinner. But to each his/her own and by all means learn new recipes for your holidays if that’s what churns your butter.

What I plan on blogging about over the next several weeks is the healthy meals you should be eating in between these big, rich meals that are coming at us for the next five weeks. I too will be eating the good stuff when it comes my way at parties and family get togethers, and will want to eat light healthy meals in between so I come out the other end of this five week food fest feeling good.

stew time

One of my favorite meals growing up in Colorado was a good leg of lamb, and the stew that usually followed the next day made from the leftovers. It qualifies as comfort food in my book. Today I give you my original Fast and Furious Cook lamb stew recipe that is very easy to make, delicious, and fairly healthy too. I have tested it this last week to be made in the crock pot and it came out great! During the next five weeks when you need a hearty, healthy easy to cook stew I hope you give this one a try and please leave comments on how it turned out.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

the goods

1 oz dried mushrooms, chanterelles or morel

2 cups water

1 pound lamb stew meat

1/3 cup flour

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium sized yellow onion chopped

3 stalks celery sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1 clove minced fresh garlic

1 8 oz package white button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of dry red wine(Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 carrot sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1-2 teaspoons Lawry’s seasoning salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme, optional

*Soak dried mushrooms in water for at least 10 minutes.

Dredge lamb pieces in flour and set aside. In a saute pan or enamel cast iron pot cook onion, garlic and celery in half of the oil on medium heat for five minutes stirring often. Add fresh mushrooms and cook stirring for another five minutes. Pour into crockpot, then wipe pan/pot clean and brown lamb in remaining oil on medium to medium high heat. Add lamb, wine, mushrooms, seasoning salt and carrots to crockpot and cook for 4-5 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low heat. If you are able to stir it halfway through the cooking time it is helpful but not necessary.

Serve over a cup of steamed brown rice, or your favorite pasta.

Serves four.

in the crockpot

Note:

Dried mushrooms vary in the amount of grit hiding in the nooks and crannies. One way I have found to reduce the grit is to soak the mushrooms in a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup and stirring them gently before using them to allow the grit to settle on the bottom. I then take the floating mushrooms from the top of the water and add them to the dish I’m cooking and carefully pour the mushroom water into the dish leaving the last couple of tablespoons of liquid on the bottom to throw out with the grit that has settled there.

You can skip the fresh mushrooms and double the amount of dried mushrooms if you like.

If you can’t buy dried mushrooms in your local grocery store consider ordering them online as they don’t cost much to ship and at $5.99 for one ounce of chanterelles most people can afford that price. Here is a link to my favorite source: http://www.thewoodlandsatphillips.com/dried-mushrooms-1/