Intrepid Murmurings

Crock Pot Lamb Stew
I made lamb stew yesterday and it was great! And lots of leftovers! I kind of combined a couple recipes I had found online. It was just right for my whimpish tongue (about 2 star, if we were talking Thai), so add more if you like it spicier, less (of the turmeric & red pepper flakes) if you want it less so. Here it is, roughly:
Crock Pot Lamb Stew
1 1/2 lbs lamb stew meat 2 large sweet potato/yams 1-2 onions, sliced 4 cloves garlic 1 t cinnamon 2 t turmeric 2 t ginger 1 t crushed red pepper flakes 14 oz (or so) beef broth Optional: dash of orange juice (or orange zest) 1 cup dried apricots, cut roughly 1 cup peas Optional: 1 T cornstarch, whisked into some hot water salt/pepper to taste
1. Lightly salt & pepper the meat and brown in a pan. Transfer to crock pot. 2. Saute onions & garlic for 2 min, then add spices and cook for another few min or so. Add dash of broth & scrape pan, add all to crock pot. 3. Peel and roughly cut sweet potatoes into large chunks (2" or so?), add to crock pot ** 4. Pour in rest of broth and OJ/zest (if using). 5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (I noticed the meat was much more tender after 9 or so than just a few hours earlier) 6. 1-2 hours before serving, add apricots, peas, and cornstarch (if using)
Note: The sweet potatoes were really soft and starting to break down after cooking for so long. We liked it, but if you prefer more solid potatoes, you could add them halfway through. I ended up not adding the cornstarch because the sweet potatoes had thickened the broth enough as it was.