Garlicky Lamb and Lima Hamin with Little Eggplant Boats

Name: Garlicky Lamb and Lima Hamin with Little Eggplant Boats
Yield: Yields: 6 to 7 Servings
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or ¾ teaspoon dried, crumbled; Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon; 1½ cups chopped plum tomatoes (about three-quarters of a 28-ounce can, drained, or 1 pound fresh); 1 whole head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled; 6 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade; Beef Stock; or use good-quality, low-sodium purchased; ½ pound lean ground beef; 3 small-medium eggplants (6 to 8 ounces each); Coarse salt; 2 cups dried large lima beans (about 1 pound), washed, picked over, soaked overnight in cold water to cover by at least 2 inches, and drained; 1½ cups long-grain rice, rinsed and drained; 6to 8 small lamb shanks (5 to 6 pounds total); 6 tablespoons olive oil; 3 cups chopped onion plus ½ cup chopped shallots, or 4 cups chopped onion; Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation info

Yields:
6 to 7
Servings

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Jewish Holiday Cooking

By Jayne Cohen

Published 2008

About

This Sabbath stew celebrates timeless Sephardi tastes. Nestled on top of limas and rice, garlic-suffused lamb simmers slowly overnight to melt-in-the-mouth tenderness. For added dimension, I cook little meat-stuffed eggplants along with the stew. Sephardim frequently include stuffed zucchinis or other vegetables in their hamins; they are analogues of the gonifs, the starchy dumplings Ashkenazim add to their cholents. Like a gonif, these eggplant boats seem to pilfer the fragrant arom