My apologies for the scarcity of posts lately. I have been a bit preoccupied since January w/ a major and very important project… remodeling my kitchen!! I didn’t realize how involved this process can be. Meeting w/ the contractor, lining up the financing, picking out fixtures, emptying the cabinets, and dealing w/ the little surprises that inevitably pop up! Getting all these things accomplished during my time off left very little time for blogging.
To say goodbye to my old kitchen I decided to have some friends over for “the last supper”. Lamb stew served over spinach noodles sounded like a good choice for a cold winter evening, so that’s what I prepared.
Lamb Stew w/ Spinach Noodles
Ingredients:
10 cloves garlic – peeled and crushed (for marinade)
1 ounce dried morel mushrooms
4 tomatoes – 1 inch dice
1 bunch Swiss chard (1/2 pound) – chopped crosswise into 1 inch pieces
10 crimini mushrooms – sliced
3 pounds lamb stew meat (1 inch cubes)
2 mulato chiles – crumbled (for marinade)
1 butternut squash (1 1/2 pounds) – 1/2 inch dice
4 celery stalks (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
5 carrots (peeled, halved and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1 leek (white part only) – 1/2 inch slices
1 bag red pearl onions – peeled (10 ounces)
1 tablespoon cumin (for marinade)
1 bouquet garni (2 sprigs of thyme, 10 black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 bay leaves all wrapped in a leek leaf tied w/ twine)
1 cup red wine (I used a nice red from Portugal)
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds spinach noodles
salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
1) Place lamb into 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish w/ garlic, chiles and 2 tablespoons olive oil; sprinkle w/ cumin, mix well then cover w/ plastic wrap and place in fridge for 1 to 2 hours
2) For veggie stock: In an 10 quart pot, pour in 1 tablespoon olive oil then over low heat sweat the carrots, celery, butternut squash, pearl onions, leek and crimini mushrooms for 5 to 7 minutes; add 6 quarts water and bouquet garni then simmer for 45 minutes; skim off foam periodically
3) Rehydrate morels in 1 1/2 cups warm water for half an hour
4) When veggie stock is ready, add tomatoes and morels w/ liquid; continue simmering
5) Remove lamb from fridge, heat a large pan, add the marinated lamb; when lamb is browned use a slotted spoon to place the lamb (w/ the garlic and chiles) into simmering stock
6) Deglaze the lamb pan w/ the red wine and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup; make “red roux” by adding flour to the pan, stirring frequently while roux is cooking (be careful not to burn the roux)
7) Add the roux to the stew pot and continue simmering the stew for 1 hour; add the chard during last 1/2 hour of cooking; salt and pepper to taste
8) Let stew cool, cover and place in fridge
9) The next day, remove stew from fridge 1 hour prior to service and reheat over gentle heat
10) For noodles: Fill a very large pot w/ enough water to cook pasta; bring water to a boil; salt the water well then add the noodles and cook until “al dente”
11) Strain noodles in colander, place in a large serving bowl and melt butter into noodles
12) Place a nice portion of noodles in each plate and ladle stew over the noodles
13) Savor your “last supper” w/ a delicious full bodied red wine (we popped open a bottle of 2003 K Vineyards Cabernet/Syrah blend, The Creator, Walla Walla Valley, Washington, as well as several other bottles of nice wines!!)
Farewell old kitchen….
To the future… and my new kitchen!!!
Until then,
** dinner photos courtesy of Michelle
Very cool that you’re getting a new kitchen. I remodeled my entire house (while living elsewhere!) and my biggest advice is be patient! It will be worth it in the end. (And don’t even ask about how much more it cost than I planned on; you don’t want to know that right now.)
Hi Bruno, oh how much I can follow with this post ! And how good idea to throw an extra party on this occasion. Well, I did not do that but when I prepared a welcome dinner for a new family member two weeks ago I knew for myself that it would be the last feast prepared in THIS kitchen. Could not help having some sentimental feelings, even though the new one will be my dream kitchen per se, but aren’t so many happy memories connected with a cooking place ? All the best and here’s to our new kitchens and many recipes created in them, angelika
I was wondering where you’d disappeared to! I’d like to remodel my kitchen, actually, I’d like a whole new one, if that ever happens, your last supper sounds like a great one to say goodbye.
Kalyn – I promise to be patient! I’m afraid to ask how much more you paid for your remodeling, so I won’t!!
Angelika – I thought you would definitely identify w/ this post. Here’s to our new kitchens and all the great memories we will be creating in them!!
Brilynn – Yes, I’m sidelined for awhile, but it won’t be long before I’m back in action!
Thanks for the thumbs up on my lamb stew… and remember dreams do come true so your new kitchen will someday become a reality!!
Where’s there’s a Last Supper, there’s a First Supper too?
Very true Alanna, very true!
Break a spatula!
Good luck – sounds very exciting…
Thanks Karen! I like your saying…
lamb stew from a new remodelled kitchen!! how i love that!!!
Thank you very much Arfi!! That’s my old kitchen in the photos. The new one is still under construction.
That stew looks and sounds wonderfully good. And I like it over the spinach noodles. Yum!
Best wishes on your remodel. I, too, have had a kitchen (whole house, basically) remodeled, and it can be a frustrating process, but as others said, so worth it in the end.
Thanks Lisa! The stew w/ the spinach noodles was a great combo.
I’m looking forward to getting my kitchen back… I’m tired of microwave food!
mmm, that looks like an interesting, hearty combination.
Thanks David… yes, stew over noodles is delicious!
It’s getting cold outside down here in Sydney. This lamb stew would be the perfect remedy for the cold. Looks enticing.
jenjen – Thanks! I think you will really enjoy the lamb stew… it’s a great dish for cold days!!
Thank you for sharing!