Sweet Onions Stuffed with Lamb

In the past year I have discovered lamb. It is healthy (at least according to Jordan Rubin), and it has it's own unique flavor. I recently found a recipe for Sweet Onions Stuffed with Spiced Lamb and had to try it. It was really good when I first made it, but I wouldn't recommend for left-overs (could be pregnant taste talking there though too). So, here is how you make it, courtesy of Food and Wine Magazine with my adjustments:
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 c. dried apricots
2 tspn. finely grated lemon zest
6 medium sweet onions, 10 oz. each, unpeeled
4 tblspns butter
1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt and pepper
6 tblspns finely chopped mint
6 tblspns finely chopped parsley
4 tblspns coarse dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. water

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a small sauce pan, combine chicken stock, apricots, and lemon zest and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the apricots are plump and the liquid is reduced to a few tablespoons - about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut the top third off of each onion; reserve the tops. Using a melon baller (or a spoon like me), remove the center of each onion, leaving a two-layer shell. Coarsely chop the centers. Trim off the root ends and stand the onions upright in a medium baking dish.

Here is Micah helping me with this step (he is a big onion crier!)

• In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the chopped onions and cook until soft, about 12 min. Add the lamb and cinnamon, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat until the lamb is cooked through and any liquid has been evaporated- about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the apricots and the chopped mint and parsley.
• Spoon the lamb filling into the onion shells, packing it tightly and mounding it over the onions. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, and dot with the remaining butter.
• Set the onion tops beside the stuffed onions and add the water to the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 20 min. longer, until the onion shells are tender and the tops are golden.
• Let the onions rest for 10 min. then sprinkle with remaining mint and parsley. Transfer to plates and serve!

I made cous-cous as the side, and it was a perfect accompaniment, and the 5 min. it takes to make that, helped make up for this more labor intensive main dish. All in all, yummy and if I say so myself, quite fancy too.