Cider Lamb Stew - Sunday Best

If you're stuck in the house some weekend with a little cabin fever, here's a great meal that'll keep you busy, make your house smell heavenly (or your entire apartment building) and leave your guests feeling very satisfied. The cider marinade makes the lamb fork tender and slightly sweet. And the smoky chipotle seasoning gives the dish a little heat to keep you extra warm. I love this meal and highly recommend serving it over egg noodles which catch all that wonderful sauce. Browned almonds on top add a nice crunch. Mmm. I'm going to get me some leftovers now!


Cider Lamb Stew recipe

This recipe is adapted from one I made a long time ago from the October 1998 issue of Cooking Light.

Ingredients:
• 3-1/2 pounds boned leg of lamb
• 4 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry vermouth or white wine
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 lemon rind strips
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp chipotle flakes (optional - adds a nice smokiness)
• 1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches long)
• 1-1/2 pounds potato, cut into 1-inch (about 1 lge potato)
• 1-1/4 cups (1-inch-thick) sliced carrot (about 3 lge carrots)
• 1-1/2 cups (1-inch pieces) green bell pepper (1 lge pepper)
• 1-1/2 cups (1-inch pieces) red bell pepper (1 lge pepper)

How to:
- Trim fat from lamb and cut into 2-inch cubes.
- Combine lamb and THREE (of the 4) cups of cider in a large zip-top bag or tupperware container. Seal and marinate in refrigerator for 6 - 8 hours.
- Once the lamb has marinated, drain, discard marinade and pat lamb dry with paper towels.
- Place flour in a large container or on a large plate and dredge the lamb in flour in batches. You'll probably have to do 3 rounds of dredging. Shake off the excess flour.
- Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottom pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook lamb in batches adding an additional tablespoon of oil before each new batch. Don't pile too much in there at once because you'll want each piece to get nice and brown on all sides. Again, you'll probably need to cook in 3 batches, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove all cooked lamb from the pan and set aside momentarily.
- Spray another large Dutch oven or pan with cooking spray over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 6 minutes.
- Put browned lamb in the pot.
- Add remaining 1 cup cider broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through cinnamon).
- Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 1-1/2 hours or until lamb is tender.
- Add potatoes and carrots; bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add peppers, cook 5 minutes more.
- Discard rind strips, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.
- Recommend serving it over egg noodles and topping with some sliced almonds that have been browned in butter on the stove for a few minutes.

Serves 8