Instant Pot Lamb & Winter Squash Tagine with Apricots

After circling campus not once, but twice, before finding a parking spot, I jumped out of the car and half walked, half ran to the ATLAS building--one of my favorite buildings on campus when I was a student. It was probably just my favorite because it hosted a tea shop, but today I didn't have time to wait in line for a cuppa. 

The building was exactly the same but I still felt a bit lost, my years away from campus quickly piling up. When I finally found the basement, rows and rows of stackable chairs were already filled with students. A projector blasted light to a screen in the front, which said, "Kimbal Musk: Real Food For Everyone." 

I found a seat in the back--the only place there was room- and pulled Evernote up on my phone. Is this what it feels like to be a journalist? I wondered. 

When Kimbal emerged on stage there was applause, and he started into his presentation quickly. First, a quick background on his life, then a slide for each of his new ventures, all aiming towards to same goal: make the production of real food (i.e., not industrial food) scalable, so that everyone can be healthier, farmers are supported, and our food is good. 

I jotted down just about everything I heard, as is my note-writing style. Over the last year I have started writing a monthly food trend report at work, which is sent to our clients or whoever else signs up (if you're interested, you could sign up here). 

An hour later I was back on the street. My mind circled on what Kimbal said, the questions students asked, and questions I wished I had time to ask. I thought to myself, If I were a journalist, what would be the lead story here? As a marketer, just pretending to be a journalist for the morning, I was coming up short. I dove head-first into other work hoping an answer would just come to me.  

This tagine is everything you want in a stew on a cold winter day. It is sweet from the squash, and spicy from the blend of spices. Both flavors pair perfectly with lamb. And it's easy to find local lamb, at least in these parts! Head to your farmers market, or ask your grocer if their lamb is local. You can use almost any type of winter squash (I would skip spaghetti squash, but butternut, kabocha, and pumpkin would all work well), so use something from a fall farm stand or better yet, something you grew this summer. The chickpeas are optional (obviously including them would make this dish not Paleo compliant), but I find they add something that would be missing otherwise. Then again, I'm just a sucker for chickpeas.

Instant Pot Lamb & Winter Squash Tagine with Apricots

Published November 9, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound cubed lamb shoulder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inches fresh ginger
• 1/2 pound or medium-sized winter squash (I used Red Kuri, but kabocha, or butternut would all work well)
• 1 tablespoon ras el hanout (buy it, or make your own - I used half of this recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 cups beef stock
• 3/4 cup dried apricots
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• Optional: 1 14-ounce can chickpeas (For Paleo, skip these)
• For serving: A few leaves of cilantro
• For serving: Cooked cauliflower rice, rice, quinoa or couscous

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of your Instant Pot on the sauté setting. Dice onion, and add to the pot. Sauté until transparent.
2. Add cubed lamb to pot, browning on all sides. Mince garlic and ginger, and add to pot. Stir.
3. Cube the squash: first, cube the squash in half, and remove the seeds. (you can choose if you would like to remove the skin. I leave it on for kabocha and red kuri squash, as it gets quite soft). Dice into 1-inch cubes. Add to the pot, along with the ras el hanout, black pepper, salt, stock, dried apricots, canned tomatoes, and chickpeas, if using. Stir everything until incorporated. Then, secure the lid on the Instant Pot and set to “Stew” setting for 20 minutes.
4. Once 20 minutes is up, release pressure. Serve over cauliflower rice/rice/quinoa/couscous, and top with a few cilantro leaves. Serve hot.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Update: This recipe was updated with new images and a few recipe tweaks on 11/9/2018 to make it better than ever! I’ve been slowly updating images on old recipes because I’ve learned so much about photography in recent years!

Phew. 

After searching for over a year, we finally moved to a new home! My emotions are a mix of excited for the months ahead and--if I am being honest- exhausted. It's true the move was tiring: packing up and hauling everything to a new place is always an ordeal, but we had great help from friends (thanks!!) which made it feel more like an adventure. The truth is, it was looking for a home that was the ultimate exercise in patience, convincing myself that even after a year of visiting at least a hundred properties, something would come up. Not only would something come up, but somehow, someway, we'd be lucky enough to move there. (No one tells you quite how exhausting it will be). 

Now that it is done it is almost unreal, as if none of it ever happened and we've been here all along. We made a lot of compromises over the last year, decided what we really want. Coming to peace with hard decisions is never easy, but I'm not one to dwell. Personally I've always thought that worrying about the un-changeable is a painful waste of energy. Instead, I prefer to see my mark and make the most of it, determining my next play. 

What helps is cooking up a storm, and filling the air with home scents like pumpkin pie and autumn stew. 

This autumn stew is like a traditional beef stew — simmered slowly with broth and wine, bay leaves and thyme - but also calls for winter squash (I used butternut, but kabocha or red kuri would work, too!) which gives it a fall touch. Especially in late fall, when the weather is brisk (the high today was 41°F!).

I find that more beef stews go well with Pinot Nior and this one is no exception! Plus, made in your slow cooker, it’s easy-going.

I do all my chopping in the morning before heading to work, and put everything in the removed stainless steel pot of an Instant Pot. Then, when I get home I take the pot out of the fridge and put the pot back in the Instant Pot, place the lid on, and set the timer for 4 hours. We head to gym, run errands, all that jazz, and get home to a flavorful meal. (P.S., you can cut the cooking time a bit short (30-45 minutes) if you get home before the 4 hours is up. Just check to make sure the beef is cooked through! The last hour does let the flavors mingle and does really soften up the beef, but some evenings you just run out of time. Obviously if you’re able to start the pot at 1 or 2, it’s a mute point because it’ll be done cooking before the sun goes down.)

Serving with warm mash potatoes or a piece of crusty bread is spot on.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Autumn Vegetables

Published October 17, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 4 hours

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Ingredients:

2 pounds beef chuck, cubed (ask your butcher to dice it for you if it is not already diced)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup wine

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup beef or chicken broth

3 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 small winter squash, peeled and seeded (butternut, kabocha, kuri, etc)

1 tablespoon Italian herbs (or, a mix of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano)

2 bay leaves

1 pinch fennel seeds

Several dashes salt & pepper

Optional, to serve: minced parsley

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of your Instant Pot or slow cooker on the Sauté setting. When the oil is hot, add diced onion, minced garlic, and celery and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Add cubed beef to the pot, allowing it to brown on the edges. Stir every 2-3 minutes to brown each side.
3. Pour in the wine, diced tomatoes, and broth, and add the chopped carrots and squash. Add herbs, spices, salt and pepper and stir.
4. Place lid on Instant Pot and set to “Slow Cooker” setting. Adjust to “high” and set timer for 4 hours with the vent in the sealed position.
5. When timer goes off, open pot and laddle into bowls. Top with minced parsley and serve hot.

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Coconut Curry

I am newly obsessed with this curry. I see piles of squash as I walk through the grocery store; I begin wondering how many bowls of curry I could make, and how many cans of coconut milk I should buy. 

What's better is that my grocery list is short: I add cauliflower, carrots, and check my cupboard to ensure I have all of my typical spices on hand. Onions, garlic, and ginger are already sitting in the vegetable basket, as if they knew this was coming. 

When it comes time to put everything together, I pull out the Instant Pot-- this stew is no waiting game, you just throw it in the Instant Pot and hit go. I chop everything up, pour in the coconut milk and spices, and lock the lid. I take a shower, and next thing you know this curry is piping hot and ready to go. Does it get any better?

Butternut Squash Coconut Curry

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Naturally sweet and nutty butternut squash meets bold and spicy curry to create this new-comfort dish.

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 20 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 inch ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 white onion
• 1 serrano chile
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 butternut squash
• 2-3 large carrots
• 3 sprigs cilantro OR Thai basil, plus more for serving
• 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
• 2-3 cups vegetable broth
• 1- 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• A few cracks each of salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Dice the onion, ginger, garlic, and serrano chile. Then, roughly chop the carrots, and cut the cauliflower into small bite-sized florets. Peel and seed the squash, and chop that into bite-sized pieces as well. Add all of the vegetables to the pot.
2. Add cilantro, coconut milk, vegetable broth, and spices to the pot. Secure pressure cooker lid, and set Instant Pot to Stew setting with the timer at 4 minutes.
3. Once Instant Pot is done, release the pressure. Remove lid, and store curry. Serve in bowls and top with cilantro sprigs.