Armenian Lamb Stew

Welcome back!

Well, my girlfriend and I took a swing at Tass Kebab recently. I found the recipe in "On Our Immigrant Ancestors" (by The Frugal Gourmet) in the Armenian section. I really like lamb, so I thought it was worth a try.

First, we had to cut up 2 pounds of lamb into manageable pieces. The recipe called for boneless leg, but I opted for the cheaper route of two 1-pound lamb steak packages (4 steaks total) with the bones. Navigating the bones was a bit tricky, but we managed.

The next step was to finish the prep work. She made short work of chopping 2 medium onions. Meanwhile, I diluted 1/4 cup of tomato paste in 1/2 cup water. Then we melted 2 tablespoons butter in a frying pan.

The next step was browning the lamb in the butter. Using a slotted spoon, we scooped up the lamb into a Dutch oven. Then we sautéed the onions in the butter and lamb drippings. In the pot they went too.

Also came into the pot 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each of paprika, black pepper and ground allspice. 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon went in the pot too, along with the diluted tomato paste. We gave the mixture a good stir. It looked rather dry, but I didn't panic. We covered the pot, and simmered the stew for 45 minutes. We checked it once, and to my amazement we had a sauce.

Then came 2 tablespoons red wine, briefly stirred in. We put the lid back on and simmered about another 15 minutes.

The recipe said to serve the stew over rice, but we opted to eat in cereal bowls, minus the sauce. It was really good, but it went fast. I suggest serving it the original way, to make it stretch. Don't waste the sauce like we did. If you think you don't like lamb, this recipe will convert you. Trust me! One last thing... next time we might try adding bell pepper. It's not purist, but I think it would be authentic.