Lamb Stew with Apricots from 13th Century Syria

My garden this year is producing rainbow chard.  This makes the squirrels very happy!  They eat the leafy green parts, leaving me the bare rib.  At least they don't eat all the leafy parts -- I do get some.  But those bare ribs got me thinking about recipes that ask for just the ribs, and that led me to Charles Perry's wonderful book, Scents and Flavors, A Syrian Cookbook.

ISBN 978-1-4798-5628-2

There were several candidates that looked tasty, so I made a list of their ingredients and visited my local farmers market.  When I saw how lovely the fresh apricots were, I know which recipe I wanted to make.  It is on page 139, and is recipe number 6.134.

Section on apricots, two recipes

The first recipe

Boil fresh apricots until they fall apart and thicken while boiling with a piece of bread or a handful of pounded rice.  Strain and put into a pot.  Add pieces of fat meat and leave on the fire until half done.  Add ribs of chard, mint, whole onions, and whole unpeeled heads of garlic.  Make large meatballs with rice, crushed chickpeas, and pepper.  Leave in the pan until the meat is fully cooked and falling apart, then ladle out.  If it isn't sour enough, add lemon juice.

My Redaction

2 pounds lamb shoulder

1 lb 10 oz fresh apricots (or more!)

13 ounces small onions

1 head garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 oz rice, ground

1/2 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas) from a can, rinsed and drained

5 oz chard ribs

1/2 oz uncooked rice for the meatballs

1 sprig mint

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt to taste

My Notes

Pit the apricots and slice them into eighths.  Put them into a saucepan with 2 cups water.  Mix in the ground rice.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to barely simmer until the apricots have fallen apart and the mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally.  This took two hours because I had it simmering very slowly.

Push the mixture through a sieve and discard the skins that didn't go through.  Return the mixture to the pan.

Here's where I had to make an interpretation:  The recipe calls for fat meat and for meatballs.  Were they two separate ingredients?  Or was I supposed to use the fat meat to make the meatballs?  I decided to use the meat to make the meatballs.  I think it would be fine to have them as two separate ingredients, too.

Put the lamb into the pureed apricots then slowly simmer.  I let it simmer for 10 minutes and then turned the pieces and let them simmer for another 10 minutes.  I noticed the meat's juices were mixing with the puree.  

I left the meat in big pieces, cut up only enough to fit in the pan.

Remove the lamb, cut the meat away the bones, and chop the meat coarsely.  I used a food processor.

This looked like it was cooked "half done."

Chopped!

Pound the garbanzo beans until they are mostly broken up and like a paste.  Mix that paste into the lamb, along with the pepper and whole rice.

Chickpeas before.

Chickpeas after pounding, then fluffed with a fork.

Form meatballs that are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  (They were very moist.)  Set aside.

Clean the onions by cutting off the ends and removing the outer skin.  

Clean the head of garlic.  I had trouble getting the dirt off the root end, so I decided to break apart the head and use unpeeled cloves.

Chop the chard into 1 inch pieces.

Remove the leaves from the mint sprig and finely chop them.

Onions, chard, and mint are ready for the pan!

Mix the mint into the puree.  Stir in the chard and then add the whole onions and garlic cloves.

Carefully place the meatballs into the pan.  I had to push the onions around to make room for them and to make sure they were surrounded by sauce.

Cover the pan and slowly simmer for about an hour.  I stirred it after 15 minutes and believe that was a mistake because some of the meatballs fell apart.  At the end of the hour, all the meatballs had fallen apart.  I decided that was not a problem.  

When I tasted it, I decided it needed a splash of lemon juice to make it more sour.  I estimate I added about 1 tablespoon, at the very most.  I also added a little salt.

The Verdict

I served this stew with some white rice and a watermelon salad that had mint, lime juice, olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar over the top.

There were no meatballs -- the meat was disbursed throughout the sauce.  Since I had chopped the meat coarsely, the pieces were visible and did not melt into the sauce.  I liked the way it looked.

The onions appeared to be cooked through.  I could not see the garlic cloves.

I loved the flavor!  It was subtle; you should not think it was bland.  I thought it was well-balanced.  None of the supporting flavors stood out or dominated, and there was a definite lamb flavor.  But when I focused on what I was eating, I could get the hint of apricot.

The onions cut apart easily and were cooked through, so were very mild.  Having to cut them made for a texture and activity change while eating, which was welcome.  I could choose to either cut them into pieces and mix the pieces into the stew in my bowl, or eat chunks of onion.  I did both, and liked it.

The garlic was interesting.  The cloves were cooked all the way through, so they were also mild, with just enough of a garlic burst to make it interesting.  However, my guest taster and I did not like having to pull the skins out of our mouths when we encountered them.  I think if I had been comfortable in putting the whole head of garlic into the stew, I would have removed it once the cooking was done and no one would have gotten it in a spoonful.  Perhaps the peeled cloves could have been served as a spread on bread or added to the stew as a garnish? 

It was an enjoyable meal.  My guest taster had three servings!  The watermelon salad was a refreshing, sweet-and-sour accompaniment, and we included a nice pinot noir.  

Success!

If I were to do this again (and my guest taster says I should), I think I would use at least double the amount of apricots.  It would be nice to have that flavor stand out more.  I would also use more mint, so I got its distinctive tang on my tongue while eating.  I would not want to shift the balance of flavors too much, as the subtle blend was very good.  

It would be fun to try the option of having both meat and meatballs.  I suspect that was the original intent.  The meatballs would be a good visual aspect and make the eating experience more interesting.  I think the pepper would have a chance to stand out more.

I also think I would try pearl onions, although I didn't mind the onions I used in this attempt.  

I might also start with dried garbanzo beans and pound them to a powder.  I suspect this would help bind the meatballs to keep them from falling apart.

Leftovers:  I reheated the stew and the rice, served them side-by-side, but this time I drizzled some pomegranate molasses over the top of the stew.  It was an excellent addition, adding more sweet and sour to the overall flavor balance.