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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Recipe and a book review

 Recipe
As my friend AnnMarie would say, this recipe was "yummo!"  I had three recipes in front of me and kind of smooched them together. I'd never had lamb until I went to Ireland a couple years ago. Wow, the lamb stew I had in a Dublin pub was awesome! I had to order it a couple more times while we were there and it was just as good at a restaurant in Killarney and at Cabra Castle. I finally decided to try my hand at  lamb stew today and it was heavenly!  My husband thought it would be good with rice, but of course being half Irish, I boiled potatoes:) The meat was so tender it quite literally fell off the bones. I think adding potatoes to the crock pot would have been even better.

Lamb Stew
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons flour

2/3 cup beef broth (or chicken broth)
loin lamb chops
1 can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 scant tablespoon tomato paste
1 green chopped, chopped
1 Vidalia onion sliced into rings
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
chopped parsley

Heat oil in frying pan. Coat lamb chops with flour and brown quickly. Transfer chops to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients to pan and bring to a boil. Pour over lamb and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes, then on LOW for 5-7 hours. Taste to check seasoning and sprinkle with chopped parsley. 

Book Review
I like this author, I just knew I'd like this book... but sadly I did not. It is a romantic suspense set against a backdrop of archeology and Mayan artifacts, which sounded perfect for a history major right? Well, I got to page 84 and finally gave up. I found it tedious and there were innuendos and subtle humor and witticisms that I just didn't 'get.' The story moved too slowly for my taste as well. I want a book to grab me and keep me on the edge of my seat waiting to turn the page, and this book did not deliver.