Spicy Lamb Stew

Ingredients.

2-3 lbs of lamb shoulder stew meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Olive oil
3/4 cup white wine
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 dry pasilla chilies, chopped, stems and most seeds removed
1 Tbsp hot Hungarian paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of ground cardamon
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
14 oz of canned whole tomatoes, put through a food mill, or pureed
8-10 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley
4-5 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup currants
Salt and pepper

Hot Hungarian paprika is not the regular Hungarian paprika which is sweet and mild. I taste tested hot paprika with cayenne and found it even hotter than cayenne. If you don't have access to hot paprika, I would advise substituting 1/2 with sweet paprika and 1/2 with chili powder.

The original recipe calls for a pound of plum tomatoes, cut and roasted for 45 minutes in the oven at 375°F, and then put through a food mill. Given that at the time of this writing plum tomatoes are out of season, I opted for using canned.

1 Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel. Drying the lamb this way first will help the lamb pieces brown. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy, high-sided skillet over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the lamb pieces in batches, being careful not to crowd them. Cook, turning as needed so that the lamb pieces brown evenly on all sides, for 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a bowel. Pour off excess oil over the lamb.

2 Return skillet to medium high heat. Add wine to skillet and stir with a spatula to release any meat bits that have stuck to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes and pour over the lamb.

3 Return the skillet to medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the bell pepper and pasilla chilies and cook uncovered for 20 minutes until tender.

4 Make a bouquet garnish by placing the parley, thyme and bay leaf in the center of a doubled over cheesecloth square. Gather the ends and secure with kitchen string. Set aside.

5 Stir in the paprika, cumin, and cardamom and cook for a minute. Add the pureed (or cooked tomatoes put through a food mill) tomatoes, lamb, chicken stock, raisins, currants, and bouquet garnish. Bring to a boil over high heat, decrease heat to low. Cook, partially covered, for about 3 hours, or until lamb is tender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.