Winter comfort food

It could be rabbit stew?
Nope. Ms. Bunny, if she can escape the coyotes, cats, wolves, the mink, hawk, and all the other predators, there is no way we could do that!
She likes to feed on the grass in the evening and the dark morning hours.

Instead, with son Jesse Martyn visiting from Vancouver, fresh off of his Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat gig he had in Kamloops, I popped a stew into the crock pot. It simmered all day. Smelled so good!

I wanted something different. I wanted, too, to disguise the lamb (not a fave for hubby). We ended up giving Jesse a quick tour of Perth, and I didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen.

Jesse and I went to the LCBO and grabbed some wine from Niagara-on-the-lake. In case you think I'm being paid for all this, I'm not! Jesse was at Shaw Festival for a couple of years. We had fun visiting him. We usually visited a couple of the wineries. Reif Estates, Malivoire, too.

These NOTL wines bring back good memories for us.

Such a beautiful town.

Good to see Jesse! He lives in Vancouver.

I dug out our 5-ingredient Slow Cooker Recipes (Better Homes and Gardens, 2004). While many go to the Internet for recipes, we have a couple of cookbooks hanging around.

I adapted this one, and it was a fine meal. With some lovely bread chunks, and red wine, We had a fun dinner. 

We don't often see Jesse during December. He usually has to work. This was a pre-Christmas visit and whirlwind tour for him, visiting family and friends.

Lamb Stew

• 2 lbs. lamb cubed
• Indian Masala spices
• potatoes, cubed (a couple per person - you want leftovers!)
• two onions, two carrots and whatever else (celery?)
• 1 14½-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1. Plug in the crock pot. Turn it onto high for now.

2. Heat up a frypan, throw in the lamb cubes. Sprinkle the cubes with the spice. (You can do this a half hour ahead. I didn't bother as I was slow cooking it on low all day!) You want to brown the outside of the meat, turn them over and around, and sprinkle a generous amount of the masala on it. My recipe suggested 1 tablespoon, but you can judge it for your family's taste buds!

3. Once the meat is lightly browned, throw it in the crock pot.

We had leftovers!

4. You want to add the veggies that take the longest to cook first, e.g., potatoes. Then pile on the carrots and whatever else. I added some chunks of onion, large enough to be speared by a fork!

5. On top of this, dump the canned, diced tomatoes, liquid and all. Put some water in the empty can (¼ or ½ cup or so) and swish that to get all the good bit and put that on top of your stew. Do not stir for now, as the meat should be on the bottom.


6. Turn the slow cooker to low, if you have 8 - 10 hours cooking time. Otherwise, you can cook it on high for 4 hours.

We had some nice bread chunks to sop up the liquid. The recipe suggests you top the serving bowl of stew with yogurt. Twas a lovely dinner. Even better the next day!