Here’s a way to make a tasty stew.  This recipe was originally given to me from Jon Fowler.

1.5-3 lbs lamb or beef, cubed into roughly 1? chunks, salt and peppered
and refrigerated overnight or as long as possible

one onion, diced
a few garlic cloves, crushed and diced
root vegetables if you want them, chopped into fairly large chunks

raisins, apricots, and/or other dried fruit–maybe a total of 1 cup
minced ginger–about an inch of a skinned root or a tablespoon or the
minced.
1/2 tsp cinnamon or one stick
about 3/4 cup red wine
one juiced orange
mint leaves
bay leaves
other spices like parsley, rosemary (available wild all over Berkeley),
marjoram are good.

Heat the pan with a thin layer of oil on the bottom over medium high heat. Put in the meat to sear. It is really important to do this right: the meat must be placed with a little bit of space between pieces, not just poured in, because you want to sear the meat, not steam it–often you end up having to sear the meat in two or three batches. Turn the meat with prongs or a fork to sear on all sides; this typically takes about four minutes per batch (Unless you want to make this right away, you may want to watch someone do it right before attempting it yourself.)

Remove the meat from the pan, pour off excess froth, and saute onions and garlic until semi-translucent, 2-3 minutes. Put the meat back in, deglaze the pan with the wine (turn heat on high for a few seconds, pour in the wine, scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to take up the seared bits), then add all the other ingredients and cover. If you’re doing this in a pressure cooker, seal the cooker, bring the pot to it’s high pressure mark (80 kPa gauge pressure), stabilize the pressure (medium to medium low heat usually suffices), then cook for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool naturally until pressure valve is released. In a regular pan, cover the pot, reduce temp to low, and simmer for at least 2 hours, checking every half hour or so whether there is adequate liquid and topping off with broth or water.

BROWN RICE AND CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH EDAMAME AND WALNUTS
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons tamari soy sauce* or low-sodium soy sauce

2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced crosswise
1 teaspoon honey

4 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice, cooked according to package directions, cooled
2 cups shelled cooked edamame beans (from about 26 ounces of pods)

2/3 cup chopped green onions
Stir walnuts in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons tamari over walnuts; stir until tamari coats walnuts, about 45 seconds. Cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store at room temperature in airtight container.)

Combine chicken, 2 tablespoons tamari and honey in medium bowl; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add cooked rice and edamame; reduce heat to medium and stir-fry until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide rice mixture among plates. Sprinkle with green onions and walnuts.