So Many Dishes

When I found a package of lamb cubes at the supermarket a few weeks ago, there was no doubt in my mind that we would be eating some sort of lamb stew for Easter. And I had a pretty good idea of what it would be: the meat in a Greek tomato-based sauce served over orzo.

Then I went looking for the recipe. And what I found wasn’t at all what I remembered. So I checked every Mediterranean cookbook I own, plus a couple of meat and/or stew cookbooks in our collection. I found other lamb stews that I’ve made, some of which had elements that fit what I was thinking about, but none that were the actual recipe.

So I did what any self-respecting foodie would do: I made up my own recipe.

I started by lightly dredging the lamb cubes in flour seasoned with salt and pepper after I had trimmed them of a considerable amount of fat. I started with 1.25 pounds of meat, and, out of curiosity, weighed it again after trimming: one pound on the nose! I then browned the cubes in batches in olive oil. I had decided to cook in my little 2-quart Dutch oven, which meant a lot of small batches.

I had planned to cook chopped onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil, but decided at the last minute to add a chopped bell pepper, too. Good idea. After the veggies were softened, I added bay leaves oregano, both fresh from the plant. It’s a real treat to have a bay laurel tree just outside the patio fence.

The sauce also included a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, two tablespoons of tomato paste, and a healthy pour of white wine, about 1/2 cup. Once I returned the lamb cubes to the sauce, I covered the pot and put it in the oven for two hours.

The result was all I could have hoped for. The meat was tender and delicious, and the sauce was a perfect match. We served the stew over orzo. All it needed on the side was a simple salad of baby lettuce, tomato and cucumber, dressed with the wonderful calamansi vinegar that I’ve talked about before and a fruity Italian olive oil that was a gift from Ben, one of the oils from his olive oil subscription service.

For the holiday, I pulled out the good china. For being 53 years old, it’s still in pretty good shape, and in all those years we’ve only broken one dinner plate. The meal also was the perfect time to enjoy the bottle of Prosecco that Ben and Annie put in this year’s gourmet basket, too. A perfect holiday dinner.

Happy eating!