moroccan lamb stew

when we came home for the summer, we found out that our parents had purchased a lamb. or, more specifically, every cut of a lamb, wrapped in paper and taking up our entire freezer. the family slowly worked our way through each parcel, until all we had left was 4 packages of stew meat. so of course, we had to make lamb stew.
i'll be honest, this was not my favorite recipe. it was perfectly fine, but nothing i'd make again. i'm picky about stews, they have to be cooked forever and have the meat falling apart for me to like them, because i HATE (ooh, you know its serious when caps lock is involved) chewy meat, especially if its boiled. i also think this would have been way better if we'd used the called for blood oranges, but we couldn't find any. i don't think they're in season right now? and i'd up all the spices, because it really just tasted like orange juice to me.
and with that ringing endorsement, the recipe:
Moroccan Lamb Stew from bon appetit, via epicurious

yield: Serves 4

This fragrant stew is great over couscous.

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3 1/2 pounds o-bone (round-bone) lamb shoulder chops, well trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces, or 2 pounds lamb stew meat
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/3 cups water

• 2 large blood oranges
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon honey

Preparation

Mix salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice in medium bowl. Add lamb and toss to coat with spice mixture. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add lamb to pot and sauté until brown on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Return all lamb to pot. Add onion, garlic and ginger to pot and sauté 5 minutes. Add 1 1/3 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until lamb is almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate peel from blood oranges and reserve. Cut all remaining peel and white pith from oranges and discard. Coarsely chop oranges. Add oranges and grated peel to lamb. Cover and simmer until lamb is very tender, about 20 minutes longer. Stir in parsley and honey. Season with salt and pepper.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Moroccan-Lamb-Stew-101388#ixzz0vIkOahAe
-Lola
p.s. in the spirit of being positive, because i wasn't in love with the stew (and because i'm bored), i thought i'd share some things i do love...
1.

my new boots! madden girl zoiie boots, photo (and my pair) courtesy of amazon.com
2.jogging by the beach this morning. look at that fog! typical san fran beach weather.
3. the fact that i am currently importing a britney spears cd onto my itunes. don't judge me and my love for 90s pop =)