I wasn’t going to post this, but after a little Facebook chat with Savanna New of Picktainment and some prodding from her during The Hunger Games Fireside Chat #14, I feel guilty enough to post this disgusting culinary failure of mine. Being a big fan of The Hunger Games, I’ve had lamb stew with dried plums on my to-do list for months. I’d looked and looked at recipes online and eventually chose this one at Food.com, largely based on the reviews it got.
Sure, I bought a huge 4 pound lamb leg, plated it as nice as I could, and bought wild rice just to serve it on but holy cow was it the most awful thing I’ve ever cooked in my life! I was actually pretty shocked that Baby Girl ate a few pieces of the meat before telling me it “tasted funny”. I had to force myself to eat it and hubby apologetically told me that if there was anything else to eat, could he please have it?
It could be that my red wine just wasn’t good anymore, but I’m pretty sure it was the spice combination that killed it for me. It was like tossing together beef stew and pumpkin pie with wine poured in. We fed the rest to the dog and he later threw it all up under the avocado tree. Thanks Max.
For years, my mom had turned me off of lamb, telling me she can’t stand the stuff because of the smell. Thanks to her I went 32 years without eating lamb and this wasn’t exactly the best introduction to it. Next, I’ll try adapting a recipe I saw on AllRecipes, which has been my most reliable and favorite recipe site since college. I should never have strayed! That’s what I get for being disloyal!
[ratings]
This is too funny. I am not a fan of lamb or plums; so everytime this was discussed in the books all I could think was “YUCK!” Maybe Suzanne Collins has some origin of this recipe since it is so huge in the books. It would be interesting to hear her story of the infamous stew.
Haha, well, I’ll try it again and if it still sucks, then I guess it’s just not my thing. Talk about expensive mistakes tho!
u should
at least you tried i wouldn’t know where 2 start.
Poor dog. . .
Yeah, I hope he didn’t feel too sick afterwards. lol
I love lamb! I don’t know if it’s because I’m Greek but I love it. Lol. Good try! And I am planning to cook the other one, let’s see?
Hope you like it, I thought it was amazing. Julia Child FTW!
Its to bad it doesnt taste good it looks yummy!
Looks can totally be deceiving! lol
Looks really yummy but the other one looks better and i bet it tastes better too! I have tried every recipie on here except for the purple melon. All of them are wonderful but the better version of this stew is my absolute favorite! I also like the fish stew.
Ps.
Poor doggie!
Thanks so much!
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Which recipe did you use? And have you found one that you like better?
Oh definitely! Search the site for Lamb Stew Take 2!
Eep! You poor dear! Lamb is sooo good.
But, it’s also /extremely/ finicky. If you aren’t careful with trimming the fat (or just don’t get really lucky) it can turn rancid in the heat of the oven or grill, and ruin the whole thing. ^_^;
When I read “lamb stew with dried plums” the first thing that comes to mind is Tagine – it’s a Morroccan dish cooked in a covered clay vessel also called a tagine – highly spiced, with dried fruits (most commonly plums/prunes). I have seen some unappealing recipes for it, but I think, made right, it is delicious. Maybe I will post my version of it, once I figure out what all the measurements are (I just “wing it” when I cook).
Your mom is my mom quite literally. She told me I would not like lamb which I insisted on ordering at a Greek restaurant irregardless of what she said. It was delicious. Lamb as well as deer I understand has to be cooked a certain way. My mother also insists I would not like duck, one of my uncles favorite food. Still have yet to try that. Duck eggs though have a very different taste from chicken eggs.