Syrian Lamb with Green Beans

So today's post was supposed to be about the little fish-packets I made last night, but they turned out very meh. And I refuse to post anything less that wonderful on this blog.
So I thought I'd introduce you to a dish I discovered during my semester in Wales a few years ago. You can make it with minimal equipment, and it's absolutely marvelous. Keep a lookout for lamb on sale, and remember that this takes a relatively small amount of meat for a really big flavor. If you live where lamb is cheap, I am wildly jealous. :)

The original recipe was found on Food Network, apparently the work of a lady called Katherine Dickenson

Syrian Lamb with Green Beans

4 to 6 shoulder lamb chops, fat removed and bones in for flavor
OR
2 or 3 lamb shank pieces
3 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 bay leaf
1 sweet red pepper--the 'Italian' kind if possible (long and skinny and fabulously sweet)
1 1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano, crushed between your hands (please, please don't use ancient flavorless oregano that has lived in your cupboard for decades, because you will make me cry)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, ends snapped off and cut into bite size pieces
2 cans diced tomatoes or a big can of fire roasted whole ones, cut into pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste

Saute your meat in butter until brown on all sides. Saute the onion until translucent. Add garlic, bay leaf, red pepper and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour on medium to medium low heat. Check it every now and then to make sure you're not boiling the water away. Unlid and serve!

You could serve this over riced cauliflower or something if you really wanted to, but I prefer eating it as a soup/stew, and don't think it needs a thing. We have used it as both a side and a main dish, and it serves both purposes admirably. You can add more green beans for further tasty servings, but I just don't have a pot that will hold that much comfortably.

You might be able to use lamb ribs and such for this as well, but you'd likely have to cool the finished product and scrape off the fat. It's pretty oily using the original cuts, albeit a delicious lamb fat kind of oily. If you have a problem with that, then cool and skim away!

And come to think of it, I bet that you could dump it in a slow cooker after the initial saute, and waltz away for a few hours. The flavors would have intermingled further, and long low heat makes for more tender lamb.

Pumpkin Chili

I made this chili a few nights ago, and it was out of this world. I did change the recipe around a bit, but I got the idea from BellaOnline. I was a bit annoyed at the recipe because it didn't specify the form of pumpkin. Yes, most of us will get the canned puree, but there's always the chance you want whole pumpkin cubes, as you would for a delicious-sounding Thai soup with coconut milk and pumpkin.

But I figured I would try the recipe anyway, as I was yearning for something hearty and filling, and a good way to use my oh-so-healthy pumpkin.

Do you remember the meatloaf recipe I posted before? I made most of it in my muffin tin. However, I only have one muffin tin, and there was more meatloaf mixture then there was room in the tin. So I wrapped the biiig clump I had left in six slices of bacon, and popped it in a large ramekin to bake. This large meat cake was still sitting in my refrigerator at the time of making chili, and I decided to use it to speed the recipe up. So I chopped my meat cake and used it in this recipe. You, however, don't have to make meatloaf to have chili!

Pumpkin Chili

1 lbs ground beef, or ground beef and ground pork
6 strips chopped bacon, cooked through but not crispy (optional)
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1/2 can pumpkin
1 poblano pepper, roasted, skinned, de-seeded, and chopped
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
dash salt
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sour cream

In a frying pan, saute the ground meat, onion, red pepper and garlic until meat is brown. Pour off grease if needed and add in tomatoes, pumpkin, poblano, cumin, pepper and salt. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with cheese and sour cream as desired.

Alternately, plug in your slow cooker and set it to high. Pour in the tomatoes, pumpkin, poblano, and seasonings, as well as the bacon, if you're using it. Brown the meat and scoop it into the slow cooker with a slotted spoon, leaving the grease in the pan. Saute the red pepper until it brightens up and is slightly soft, and pour into the slow cooker. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown. Add the onion-garlic mixture to the slow cooker. Cover and let cook for an hour and a half. Serve with cheese and sour cream.