October is the month of lamb in Oslo

It’s interesting to see how shops in Oslo offer produces based on the season. A month ago I was craving lamb. The butcher at the grocery said: it’s raining, the wool is not wet so we can’t shave the lambs so I haven’t received any.

This month is cheap lamb month and the seasonal dish is Farikål. Farikål is a stew with lamb and cabbage, some peppercorn, juniper bays and potatoes*. I was very keen to try but then some friends said it was quite blend and I also remembered that my kids don’t like cabbage. So if I have to spend 3 hours in the kitchen, I might as well do something the family can eat… several days in a row even!

Lamb stew couscous recipe

So here is my recipe, inspired from one of the French cuisine bible: Cuisine sans souci by Rose Montigny, page 703, but with a lot less oil, no turnip nor chickpeas. Feel free to add them to taste.

For 6 people (that was enough for a dinner for us 4 plus the next day lunch box for both children and a full plate for myself):

Ingredients:

• 2 kg of lamb on the bone , it should have lots of fat too
• 3 big brown onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 or 2 big zucchinis
• 60g butter
• 10cl olive oil
• harissa paste
• pepper
• spices: I used raclette spice comprising mainly paprika and garlic powder
• chicken stock and beef stock
• couscous (semoule)

Steps:

1. chop the onions
2. in a massive pot, pour the olive oil and brown the chopped onions
3. season with some harissa paste (I squeezed our 10 cm from my tube), lots of salt and pepper
4. chop the carrots in slices of half a centimetre
5. chop the tomatoes
6. add in the pieces of lamb, stir until the meat cooks on the surface and becomes brown
7. add in the carrots and tomatoes
8. add boiling water so as all is covered in water and bring to  boil
9. I also add a cube of chicken stock and one of beef stock.
10. lower the stove power and let it simmer for 2.5 hours
11. 10 min before you eat, prepare the couscous semolina by adding double the amount of salted water and let it swell, then add the butter in the couscous. I also use the stew sauce to give it a bit of flavour.
12. 5 minutes before you eat, chop the zucchinis and add them into the pot.

By then the meat should be very tender and infused with the fat. Yum! Bon appetit!

*FUN FACT: I discovered that in Norwegian, a potato is also an employee that can do a bit of everything… because in Norwegian cuisine you can use potato for everything! Love it!!!