lamb leftovers - suggestions?

So, on Christmas this year my family cooked a lovely leg of lamb. About 5 pounds of it, give or take. I’ve been charged with making the leftovers into something tasty and different. We’re not gigantic soup/stew fans, though that’s a last resort option. I’m thinking of something more along the lines of lamb curry … anyone have some ideas?

I’ve got a slow cooker and so recipes that take advantage of it are welcome. I’m also wiling to stand by the stove and stir all afternoon if need be.

Suggestions with recipes get double points.

Moussaka!

But cold lamb is delicious anyway.

Curry!

My default leftover Legolam dish is shepherd’s pie.

[ul][li]Slice the leftover lamb and run the slices through a meat grinder.[/li][li]Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.[/li][li]Add the leftover gravy.[/li][li]Mix it up and put it into a baking dish.[/li][li]Top with mashed potatoes or colcannon (depending on what you had with it)[/li][li]Bake at about 375º until heated through and the potatoes are browned.[/ul][/li]
I’ve also made lamb curry, but I just sort of make it up as I go along. Cut the lamb into cubes. Put into a pan with some chopped onions. When the onions are tender, add plain white yoghurt and curry powder and simmer until it’s tender and tasty. Serve over rice. (I know it’s just a ‘quick, shortcut’ recipe, but it works for me.)

Of course, there are always lamb sandwiches. In my house, leftover lamb roast comes first. Then sandwiches. Then shepherd’s pie or curry. (Yes, I tend to have a lot of leftovers.)

Vindaloo.
I was looking through some cookbooks for lamb recipes last night, and found lots that would do for you - but looking on the Web would be efficient.

While we’re there, anyone have ground lamb recipes for something more interesting than meat loaf? At the moment we’re going to use it in place of diced lamb, but a recipe that calls for ground lamb might be interesting. (And I’ll be looking it up soon.)

Lamb burgers are tasty. I tend not to make them, but to order them at a local brew pub.

At home I like to mix a pound of lamb with a bunch of parsley, chopped onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. (I use a food processor to make short work of the veg.) I shape them into patties and pan-fry them in a cast-iron skillet, or mould them around skewers and grill them over charcoal. I eat them with couscous.

Gyros - mmm. Slice your lamb thinly and warm it, microwaving is fine but fried lightly in a pan with some slivered garlic and olive oil for maximum flavour. Sliced tomatoes, red onion, lettuce and tzatziki sauce (Greek yogurt mixed with finely diced cucumber, mint and garlic) served in your favourite flatbread - our supermarket has a nice brand of naan which works much better than those yucky hollow pita breads for this purpose.

My other go-to leftover recipe is called Happies - chop up leftover meats and veggies to small dice, stir with some kind of sauce or gravy, whatever’s on hand, add some cheese, and wrap in puff pastry from the freezer. Bake at 400 for 30 min. Bliss! It’s basically a freeform pie.

MMMmmmmm I could really get into some Roasted lamb ragout over a fresh rosemary parpidalli, That’s some good eatin’.

Everything thing above me sounds good too…

tsfr

Lamb Kofta (but this is raw lamb, not cooked):

The amount of spices used is up to the cook, but these are very strong flavors, so caution is advised. I would recommend about ½ tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg and perhaps 2 teaspoons of cumin to start.

1 lb ground lamb
½ cup chopped mint (cilantro can also be used)
Grated nutmeg
Ground cinnamon
Ground cumin
¼ cup pine nuts
½ cup chopped onion
Salt & pepper
½ cup bread crumbs
1 egg
Olive oil

Saute onion until nearly translucent. Add the pine nuts and the spices and sauté for about two minutes. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, taking care not to overwork the mixture. Form the kebabs into 2” logs by squeezing a small amount of the mixture in your fist just until it holds together. Place the kebabs on a plate and chill for a couple of hours.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet at medium heat. When hot, fry the kebabs in the pan until well-browned and cooked through. Turn frequently, but carefully. Remove and drain excess fat. Serve with saffron rice.

Saffron Rice

1 cup Basmati or Jasmine rice
Cooking water, per package instructions
½ cup raisins
1 generous pinch of saffron
1 tsp salt
¼ cup sliced almonds
Butter

Wash the rice well. Place in cold water along with the raisins, saffron, salt and about a tablespoon of butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until done, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly toast the almonds in a tablespoon of butter and set aside. When the rice is done, add the almonds and serve with kebabs. Makes about 2-3 cups rice.

Being a New Zealander, left over lamb is frequent thing. I found this recipe a while ago and it is a family fav now.

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipes/show/83-roast-lamb-fritters

YES!!!

Mulligatawny stew.

Grind it up and make haggis. Brown the finely ground lamb, then mix it with cooked steel-cut oats and barley, salt, pepper, finely chopped onions and whiskey. Lots of recipes out there for haggis just google it.

I like to make lamb sandwiches. Simple but delicious.

Crusty white bread - not yer supermarket shit, something with a bite to it but soft inside.
Slice the lamb thin and blast in the microwave.
Spread one half generously with mayo mixed up with mint sauce (not mint jelly - use chopped mint leaves in vinegar). The other half you want to soak up the lamb juices.
Assemble, add salt and pepper, eat.

Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) filled with ground lamb and rice.

Cordero a la pastora, “shepherd’s style lamb”… the basic recipe, given that your lamb is already cooked, would be along the lines of (with my apologies for any translation mistakes):

set up tomato sauce to cook (the kind my mother uses for this is barebones tomato sauce with some strips of red pepper - I think okra dice would work well too); when it’s almost done, add the lamb chopped up in small bits (the size you’d normally use for curry, or maybe a bit bigger). If you have a lot of lamb juices, you can use those instead of oil/fat to cook the sauce (add the juices at the beginning and the lamb meat at the end).

If the lamb was raw, what you’d do is set the sauce on a slow boil without adding oil/fat to it, lightly sautée the lamb, moving the pieces from the frying pan to the one with the sauce as they get golden-brown, and once all the lamb is there add the oil from the pan; let it slow-boil normally.

Actually lamb meatloaf is yummy as long as you don’t treat it like beef mince meatloaf :slight_smile:

My go to flavoring for ground lamb is minced fresh ginger, fresh cracked pepper, fresh cracked long pepper, freshly cracked grains of cardamom*, grated lemon zest and juice from half a lemon, fresh chopped oregano, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, fresh mint, splash olive oil and a large pinch of kosher salt for about a pound of ground lamb. I add egg and half a box of tebbouleh made to directions on the back per pound for beastloaf, or just make patties and fry them up.

*don’t do what that jackass on TV did and grind up the damned pods too, it is the null tasting membrane and does nothing for the recipe.