Beef & Lamb Stew

This recipe feeds five families (or puts extras in your freezer)

5 packages of stew meat, I used lamb and beef
5 onions, coarsely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
bottle of dry white wine
6 cups of beef stock (plus an additional 3 cups if desired)
10 tbsp unsalted butter
10 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10 tbsp mixture of herbs {oregano, parsley, thyme} – roughly chopped
Potatoes, however many you think.

Into a large saute pan heat butter and oil over medium heat. When melted add the onions & garlic and saute until golden brown (approx 5 mins). When onions have finished cooking, add the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine and allow to reduce by half. Add in the stock and herbs stir together cover and allow to cook until sauce is reduced by half. At this point, I added additional beef stock (3 more cups).

Add potatoes, allow to cook thoroughly.

Lamb Skewers

This month, I made lamb skewers, sans skewer

I got the recipe here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1868

I used a mix of lamb, hamburger, and pork. I used homemade yogurt from goat's milk (from Ginger). The meat mixture turned out pretty runny and I couldn't get it to form up on the skewers. I'm not sure if it was the different mix of meat, or if it was the yogurt, which was kind of runny. So we ended up making patties and frying them.

They are meant to be served with the yogurt sauce on pita or flatbread. Feel free to also add lettuce, tomato, etc.

We had them for dinner last night and I thought they were pretty yummy, though I think it might have been better with a bit more seasoning and with all lamb instead of a mix of meat. (I couldn't find enough lamb.)

The yogurt sauce should freeze/defrost just fine. Either defrost in the fridge, or under hot running water.

Shephard's Pie

Makes 6 servings
You will need:
3 large poraroes, cut into chunks
1 t olive oil
1 large finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 # lean ground beef (though you could use all lamb if you wish and it would taste just as good)
1/2 # lean ground lamb
1-14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup more or less of a good red wine (I have been using Red Truck-very good flavor)
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
kosher or sea salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
around a t m/l dried oregano (unless of course, you have fresh, then chop and double)
around 4 sprigs fresh thyme, strip and use the leaves
1/2 c plain non fat yogurt (soy or goat will work just as well as cow here)
1 T butter
1/4 c grated parmesan
1/2 c shredded cheese -we like a blend of parmesan and cheddar here
Paprika and parsley


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Basically make mashed potatoes with the potatoes, yogurt, butter, parmesan and salt and pepper. Leave the skins on the potatoes when you make then so long as they aren't russets.
While your potatoes are boiling, heat a large skillet. Add the oil, and once it heats up some saute the onion and garlic until soft-not too long or the garlic will get bitter. Add the meats and brown, breaking the meat up as finely as possible as you go, until cooked through. Stir in the tomatoes, peas, wine, oregano, thyme and heat a bit, then taste and add salt and pepper until it is nicely seasoned. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer around 10 minutes.
Spread the meat mixture along the bottom of a cassarole dish, then top with the mashed potatoes. Top all of that with the cheese blend, then with ground pepper, parsley and paprika.
Bake until the potatoes are nice and golden and filling is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Tastes great as left overs as well.

This could be made in a crock pot. I have not tried it, though. Throw the meat filling ingredients in the crockpot on high-you will still have the make the mashed potatoes separately. Once the meat is cooked a bit, top with the potatoes and cheese topping, then turn the knob to low and cook until nicely browned and bubbly-do not stir!

Lamb Torta

I found this recipe in an Italian Farmhouse cookbook. I can already say, as we ate ours tonight, that I think it needs more of a sauce to it, and possibly a thicker crust, but overall, the flavor was good.

Lamb Torta
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put 2 T coconut oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Brown 1 to 1 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Remove the meat and add 1 medium onion, finely chopped, and 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and cook till softened. Add one large potato that has been diced, and 1/3 c. of a hearty red wine and cook until the potatoes begin to get tender, about 4 minutes.  Sprinkle the mix with 1 T all purpose flour. Stir, then cover and cook until everything is close to tender and the liquid has thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Mix, in a separate dish, 1/4 c dried parsley, and 1 T rosemary.
Roll out a little more than a softball sized chunk of five minute a day bread dough, in a manner large enough to cover the bottom of your dish of choice ( a pie plate worked well), plus overlapping the top a bit in order to make a bit of a tart. Put in your onion mix, a handful of crumbled feta, the lamb, and the seasoning, then fold the sides of the dough over to the top, leaving a gap in the center for steam release.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top begins to brown just a bit.