Even in summer we can enjoy our stews using cheaper cuts of beef or lamb to render very tasty dishes that are economical and lightened with an accompaniment of couscous.
If you bring everything to the table in large bowls and dish out according to appetite it means that leftovers do not have to be scraped from plate to bin and wasted but instead can be frozen in portion sizes or simply kept in the bowls in the fridge for reheating. I recommend dishing out small portion sizes with the proviso that if you’re sill hungry that there is plenty more but good food is not going in the bin.
Moroccan Beef or Lamb with Couscous & Broccoli
You will need:
1 medium onion
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
500-600kg diced stewing lamb (or beef pieces, e.g. shin)
3 garlic cloves
3cm thumb–width piece of ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
100ml water
2 tbsp runny honey
250g couscous (half pack)
Knob of butter
250g hot chicken stock (made from half stock cube)
Half head of broccoli
Method (Stew):
Preheat the fan oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 3.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Heat the olive oil in a large casserole pot and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes over a low heat.
Raise the heat to medium, push the onion to the sides of the pot, add the meat pieces, and brown for 2 minutes.
Peel and crush the garlic and finely chop or grate the ginger and then add it to the centre of the pot to cook for 1 minute.
Add the ground cinnamon and ground coriander and cook for 1 minute.
Add the tomato puree, canned tomatoes, 100 ml water and honey and mix well.
Cook the casserole in the oven for 1and a half hours with a lid on. Check it after an hour and if there are any signs of it drying out, add some more water.
Method (CousCous & Broccoli):
(Cook just before serving)
Melt a knob of butter in a medium sized saucepan on the hob, add the couscous and mix with a wooden spoon to absorb the butter for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat.
Make up 250g hot chicken stock with boiling water and pour this over the couscous. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile break the broccoli into florets and place in a saucepan of boiling water ,return to the boil and cook until just tender, drain and keep warm.
Remove the lid from the couscous and fluff it up with a fork
Enjoy,
‘Til next time, Sheila