"Moroccan" Lamb-Ball Stew

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chef k-dude

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Mar 11, 2015
1,358
1,296
Central Virginia
I’m not Moroccan and have no idea how authentic to Moroccan cuisine this is, but dang its good. I ran across the recipe “Moroccan lamb stew” over a year ago and tweaked it a bit. It originally used ground lamb, and that’s how I made it last winter; but I really had a hankering for some meatballs. So I looked around online and put together a meatball recipe cobbled together from other recipes.

I had a pound of lamb chunks/trimmings from a semi-boneless leg of ham I used for making Lamb Rogan Josh. I don’t think I posted that cook here.
1- lamb chunks.jpg


I ground it using the 3/16”/5mm die
4- ground lamb.jpg


My original recipe has a spice mix that is very similar to this Indian Garam Masala. I had all this in the spice stash, so I decided to use it instead of making my own. This is very tasty stuff.
3-garam masala.jpg

Into the bowl with the ground lamb went corn-flake crumbs (leftover from a Christmas recipe my wife made), an egg, sour cream (didn’t have yogurt at the time), minced onion, pressed garlic, fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, little salt and a heaping tablespoon of the garam masala.
5-lamb ball ingredients.jpg

Put a rubber glove on my hand, mixed it up, made little meatballs (two sheet pans like this) and roasted them in the oven till they started to brown.
6-lamb balls roasted.jpg


7-roasted lamb balls.jpg

This was starting to be a lot of work, so a fine stout was in order…not in the food, in my gullet! This one is 14.3% ABV, talk about “stout”! A pint of this stuff will get you hummin’.
8 bourbon stout.jpg

Sauteed onion and jalapeno in butter with another heaping tablespoon of garam masala at the end to bloom the spices, added some garlic for about 30-60 seconds. All those years recipes and chefs had me overcooking garlic…I’m older and wiser now!
9-veg sautee.jpg


Now, there IS some “dump cooking” here: Can of tomatoes, chickpeas/garbanzos (drained), diced potatoes (drained) and two cans of consume. The consommé is really pretty good, I use it for my beef dip sandwiches. The canned potatoes are remarkably good too. I hadn’t used them before, but they hold up and chew great. I used fresh potatoes my first time around last winter.
Edit: Forgot, there was also 2 cups of chicken stock I didnt take a pic of.
2-Canned ingredients.jpg


Oh yea, there are lentils in this as well
10-lentils.jpg


Everybody in the pool to simmer for a while
11-stew in pot.jpg

I had made this loaf of sourdough earlier, sundried tomato and Herbs de Provence. I forgot to score the top, but I think I like that better, there weren’t as many air bubbles and it really rose nicely. My first cut wasn’t perfect. I laid a tea towel over the loaf as it cooled on the rack…it softened up the crust nicely. Not too soft, but sometimes my sourdough crust can be a “gum killer” biting into it! It’s a work in progress; I haven’t been doing this long.
12-sourdough loaf.jpg


Served. Man is this good. Last of the leftovers is dinner tonight.
13-served.jpg

Thanks for looking
 
I found a recipe from Morocco for homemade dinner rolls. It called for fresh thyme but mine was outdated. I used it anyway. You know, as I reminisce, I really like that old thyme Moroccan roll.
 
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That's an awesome bowl . I don't do whole muscle lamb , but the sausage or meat balls are great .
Those would be good on their own .
Nice work .
The canned potatoes are remarkably good
If I want quick diced , I'll use frozen , but I buy the whole or sliced canned and heat them up in rendered bacon , onion and garlic . Add some rinsed canned green beans . It's a great side in a pinch .
 
Thanks y'all. Never thought this would be featured, but it's worthy of praise for eating for sure. Such a "different" flavor profile for a stew than most everything else I make.

Nice post
Congrats on the feature.
Got me thinking. I've got a few packages of ground lamb in the freezer.
I really dig lamb burgers. I mix in a version of my gyro loaf seasoning with less salt, cast iron griddle for a good sear, top with blue cheese sliced from a wedge (crumbles are harder to work with) and caramelized onions.

Lamb is not much more expensive than beef these days
That's an awesome bowl . I don't do whole muscle lamb , but the sausage or meat balls are great .
Those would be good on their own .
Nice work .

If I want quick diced , I'll use frozen , but I buy the whole or sliced canned and heat them up in rendered bacon , onion and garlic . Add some rinsed canned green beans . It's a great side in a pinch .
Thanks. I love this place for ideas and reminders. We picked up a can of sliced potatoes and whole too. I had pretty much forgotten about canned potatoes, or frozen. We went low carb for some years and all that stuff got erased from my mind! Except real pizza and pasta...that burned in my mind the whole time!

I keep bacon fat in the pantry (Kroger sells it around here) and Better Than Bouillon Ham. I'll have to try Sautéing some onions and garlic in bacon fat then combining with the potatoes and green beans. My method with canned green beans is to use the liquid...straining the liquid in to a pan, then boiling that with some BTB Ham flavor, turn the heat off or low and let the beans sit in it for a while to absorb the flavor before straining. Think I will do that with the canned green beans and potatoes, strain and toss with the bacon grease onions and garlic! Making me hungry and it's not even lunchtime yet.
 
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Also , forgot to say that Campbells Beef consomme is legit good .
Like you said , great for a beef dip sandwich .
Bread looks fine , but don't be afraid to add 5 grams of yeast along with the ripe starter .
Plenty of sourdough gets baked with yeast added .
 
Also , forgot to say that Campbells Beef consomme is legit good .
Like you said , great for a beef dip sandwich .
Bread looks fine , but don't be afraid to add 5 grams of yeast along with the ripe starter .
Plenty of sourdough gets baked with yeast added .
I have started adding yeast, probably because you...definitely someone on here mentioned it, and I just happen to have it. I used to make low carb breads...and starting to get back in to it. I dont think there is any way to make a good low carb sourdough though!
 
Ken that is a great bowl of stew, and I really like the flavours you added.
I use garam masala in a few meals I have made. Great tastes.

And I like your bread also, I am not one for a hard crunchy crust, so I mormally top with butter when it comes out of the oven, but thats how I like it , ( easier on the gums also ) ,

David
 
That's a great looking bowl of stew. Freshly baked bread to boot. Not certain it's Moroccan, but the garam masala spice would sure make it flavorful. Good comfort food. Nice work......
 
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