I wanted a pound of lamb shoulder for the cassoulet (looks like I’ll attempt it sooner than expected), but the butcher would only sell the whole piece. So I bought it and had him cut it up into a half-dozen steaks. I’ve just had one, seasoned simply with garlic salt and black pepper, pan-fried medium-rare in a cast-iron skillet. I’m getting all my lamb from this butcher. It’s much better than the shoulder steaks at the supermarket. Tender and tasty!
I like roast leg of lamb, grilled or pan-fried lamb steaks, and ground lamb seasoned with garlic and parsley. I’ll try to make a cassoulet. Someday I’ll learn to make souvlaki.
Lamb kofta is a favorite around here (made with cinnamon, cumin, mint or cilantro, and pine nuts), served with saffron rice made with raisins and sauteed almonds; also lamb curry. Lamb chops with rosemary and garlic, of course, accompanied by roasted potatoes with more rosemary.
I almost forgot meatloaf made with ground beef and ground lamb. It’s a variation on Alton Brown’s recipe.
I usually make a rogan josh, a fairly mild lamb curry that can’t make up its mind whether it wants to have a yogurt base or a tomato base. I make a mean lamb korma, but my wife complains that it is too hot for her poor little sphincter, so that’s fairly rare. (I don’t know what she’d make of my lamb vindaloo, which actually is quite spicy.)
Sometimes I’ll make a fairly straightforward stew with rosemary dumplings. You know, for those times when you want to feel like somebody’s maiden auntie. (And to have praise lavished on you by people with very mild tastes. Like, *Quebecoise *mild.)
Just simmer simply with some yoghurt, water, dried chickpeas, some curry masala for some few hours, and finish with your favorite or available fresh herbs… mint, basil, thyme, and rosemary. Salt of course.
I used to love the preseasoned leg-o-lamb from Trader Joe’s. Unfortunately, they stopped carrying it. So jonzin’ for a roast, I bought one from Don and Joe’s. I rubbed it with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and dried rosemary. The rub was very similar to TJ’s, but the meat was much better. The shoulder steak I had tonight was also better than TJ’s or Fred Meyer’s. Don and Joe’s gets their lamb from Superior Farms in Davis or Dixon, CA, so it’s almost quasi-local.
It’s variable to the point of vagary, and it’s a bit painful to go through the steps in my head, since I know I’m unlikely to make a vindaloo any time soon – but here it is approximately, as an act of masochism:
[INDENT]1 pound of lamb, cubed
1/4 cup of yogurt
1 tablespoon coriander paste
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tsp chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
8 chili peppers, finely diced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard (yes, really)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 onion, diced
1 potato, diced
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of beef stock
Mash up the chilis and garlic with the coriander paste, then mix in the dijon, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, cinnamon, vinegar and yogurt.
Sautee the onion and potatoes in the olive oil over a medium heat until onions are soft and add the spice mixture. Stir ocassionally for 5 minutes or a little longer, adding a bit of water (or a very little bit of rosewater) midway. I sometimes throw a splash of ale in there and nobody has complained about it.
Raise the heat to medium-high and throw the lamb in there. Stir constantly for five minutes or so.
Add coconut milk and beef stock, allow to come to a boil, then simmer for up to an hour, with a little attention.[/INDENT]This is probably a little less acidic than a proper vindaloo. I sometimes add a little Shriracha sauce near the end; I’m not proud.
Each year, I have a freezer lamb from my own flock and it seems like every year, I have a new part that I fall in love with. At first, legs and chops were my go-to for recipes and the rest sat in my freezer a bit too long. Got to the end of it and discovered that all this time, my lonely package of neck bones were sitting neglected in the freezer and they are by far my favorite lamb part. Stewed, baked or bbq’d - the flavor and tenderness can’t be beat.
This year, I decided I would start with more difficult cuts like the shoulder and save the chops and leg steaks for a pinch. I de-boned the shoulder, saved the bones for stock (which I’m still debating what to do with ) and made kabobs to die for. Mmmmm.
Found a good curry marinade recipe here Laura’s Lamb Marinade which is great on leg steaks. Thinking of bringing my rack of riblets to the next family bbq - been trying to convert my family of non-lamb eaters but so far, cooking it away from home hasn’t turned out as well as I hoped.
add chopped chili
chopped coriander(cilantro) - substitute rosemary if you dislike the coriander(cilantro)
grated lime or lemon zest plus a squirt of juice
to the mince and make patties
make burgers (tomato, lettuce etc) using aioli to butter the bread.
using lamb steaks -
add the chili, cilantro/rosemary, lemon/lime to the aioli
cook lamb steaks, smearing at the end with above mixture
assemble into burger using lots of the aioli mix to butter the bread.
’