I have to start this blog thanking Loretta Blume for sharing her recipe of this delicious dish. She’s been making it for years for her family. Mom has heard Loretta talk about the stew, but it wasn’t until recently did we decide to make it. Not sure why but it doesn’t matter.

Mom was excited about making this dish, and bought many of the ingredients we needed early in the week. Most ingredients were easy to find or ones we had in the cupboard. I bought a Moroccan spice blend, not in Loretta‘s ingredient list, so technically I cheated a little. When she bought the lamb shoulder, she cut it up, deboned, cut off the fat and then put it in the freezer. Why freeze? We were concerned that we might have to postpone our weekend cooking because of the Nor’easter hitting the north east region starting Friday night. The snow stop falling around 11 AM on Saturday. I got 4 inches and mom got between six and seven. It was a good weekend not to be in Pine Beach because they got around 21 inches. Coast got hit bad.

Inspired by the wonderful spices and flavors used in Moroccan cuisine, this wonderful stew is a hearty one-dish meal. The braised lamb is fall apart tender, and melts in your mouth. If you Google Moroccan lamb stew, there are endless variations, but a few things that are consistent across all of them.

• Start marinading the lamb overnight. Then sear the lamb in a Dutch oven. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and cook on all sides until browned. Once the lamb is browned remove and set aside.
• Sauté onion, the add garlic, cinnamon and oregano. Add plum tomatoes and chicken broth. Other recipes call for adding carrots, ginger, cumin, coriander, chickpeas, potatoes, dried apricots, and raisins. I added a teaspoon of Raz el hanout (moroccan spice blend).
• Stir the ingredients, and cook for 1.5 hours. It’s important to cook on low so the lamb gets as tender as possible.
• Serve over basmati rice and top with freshly cut mint and feta cheese. Serve with a side salad. Detailed recipe below.

Mom thought it was so good she recommended we add it to our next cookbook. My question about would you make this again is an easy yes. The recipe was not very difficult to make, and delicious. Thanks Loretta.