Citrus Scented Lamb Stew

I have no idea where this recipe came from, I've had it for a long time...ok, I just searched for it online and found it in a Food and Wine magazine from March 2004 (see, told you I've had it for a while!). Anyway, I'm not a big lamb lover but this stew is one of the exceptions - it doesn't have strong lamb flavor, it's similar to beef stew although it's a little sweeter with the addition of cinnamon, allspice, and the citrus.

I change the way I cook it tho from the recipe - instead of doing it on the stove top I make it in a cast iron enameled pot and after step 2 put it in a 350' oven for a couple of hours. Add the peas during the last half hour. I made this for Sunday supper and was worried that it wasn't hearty enough so added a couple chopped potatoes, not sure it was necessary but the addition was great. Served with crusty bread and a leafy salad my friend Janis made that had dates, onions, and toasted broken pita chips (almost like croutons) in it, I didn't get the recipe from her but I know she'll share it if anyone wants me to post it. All-in-all a great dinner with friends!

For the 3" strips of lemon and orange zest I use my vegetable peeler to remove a long wide piece (make it big enough so you can find it to remove before serving).

The recipe calls for boneless lamb shoulder - if you can't find boneless the grocery store usually has semi-boneless and ask the butcher to de-bone it for you (or just cut it out yourself if you want!). There is usually quite a bit of fat on the roast, I try to cut off what I can to make it less greasy - leave some for flavor but remove the big sections of fat.

Click here for the recipe.

Don't be scared off if you see "lamb" and think you won't like it - trust me, it's delicious!