food (food) | moroccan lamb stew

I'm sure you've heard my spiele in a previous post about how much every person (even those who don't like to cook) should invest in a slow cooker/crock pot.  You can even buy one for super cheap and what you'll find is that it quickly becomes the most used kitchen appliance.  A few weeks ago I had a random craving for moroccon lamb stew.  Now have I ever had it?  No. However, the flavor profiles that I was imagining in my head made it seem delicious. So, alas I put together what I thought should go into the recipe and it turned out to be everything I imagined and more.

So what' you'll need...

• 2.5 lbs of lamb stew meat
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne 
• 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp of all spice
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 large sweet potato cubed
• 1 chopped onion
• 4 carrots cubed
• 3 parsnips cubed
• Salt (1 tbps, but more if needed)
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 15 dried apricots

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the onions, carrots, potato and parsnip then set aside.
2. In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of butter.  Brown each piece of stew meat and place into the crock pot.
3. Add all remaining ingredients into the crock pot and mix all together.  
4. Cook on low heat for 6 - 8 hours or on high heat for 4 - 6 hours.

This dish is super hearty, but light at the same time.  What makes it great is all the sweetness from the raisins and dried apricot bring the flavor to a whole other level.  With all the wonderful vegetables in there it's great to eat on it's on or over a bed of saffron rice, cous cous or quinoa.

Enjoy!