Archives for the 'Lamb' Category
When in doubt, stuff it
When I ordered a leg of lamb from Eric and Carrie Johnson they asked me if I wanted it boneless and I said no; I always prefer my meat roasted with its bone in as it increases the flavor of the final product. But that’s just my stock answer, actually I had no idea how to cook a leg of lamb and even on Sunday as the lamb sat on my counter I still wasn’t totally sure what to do with it.
I have a Cook’s Illustrated book about roasting meat checked out from the library, so I consulted it. Very rarely does CI steer me wrong, and yet when they do (much like google maps) it can be a confusing and tense situation. Unfortunately for me this proved to be one of those instances of “what the hell were they thinking”. They began by advising me to place the leg, meaty side down! What do they mean, meaty side down, it’s all meaty? Then they instructed me to remove a gray lymph node from the leg, cautioning me not to pierce the node with my knife. So I fondled the meat, trimmed the excess fat, and hesitantly poked about for this “lymph node”. At that point I’m doubting the whole idea of leg of lamb, and that’s when I decided that those well defined lobes of meat were coming off the bone.
This brings me to a truth I’ve encountered on more than one occasion, but which I always forget; the best way to get to know a new cut of meat is to debone it. Working my blade through the tender meat allowed me to see clearly that there was no lymph node hiding anywhere. Not there, thank god! I butterflied all the large pieces of meat and the odd scraps and bits were chopped fine and cooked up for Lovejoy.
I have a standby, foolproof, stuffing for meat that is so simple and flavorful it never misses. I take 4 slices of whole wheat sandwich bread and toast them. One they are cool I grind them up in the food processor along with 2 cloves of garlic, a 2 inch chunk of Parmesan, half of a frozen cigar of basil, salt and pepper. Add just enough olive oil to make it come together and it’s done.
Season the lamb on both sides with salt and pepper, spoon the stuffing onto the meat and pat it evenly across. Add strips of a fire-roasted bell pepper. Roll it up, secure it with string and bake it on a roasting rack in a 350F oven until the thermometer reads 135F. Remove it, let it rest for 10 minutes, cut the strings off, slice and serve.
The results were, much to my relief, extraordinary. The lamb was flavorful, tender, and almost sweet. The stuffing was indeed the perfect foil, and it was cooked perfectly for our tastes. Everyone liked it and I’ll certainly make it again.
Lessons learned: Cook’s Illustrated is sometimes scary wrong, using your knife to get to know a new cut of meat isn’t a bad thing, and when in doubt, stuff it.
End of the month round-up
I’ll admit it, I’m happy to see this month recede. Don’t get me wrong, I usually adore October, brisk chilly mornings, sun drenched indian summer afternoons, leaves turning brilliant reds, blues, and oranges, and good food to eat. But my cooking hasn’t been that interesting and there was this, which seems to be lingering to some extent. Also my appetite betrayed me. For the longest time all I wanted to eat were delicious falafel, crispy brown and tucked into a warm pita lined with tomatoes, chopped parsley, and yogurt sauce seasoned with garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Actually, I just had one for dinner tonight and I don’t see this obsession of mine waning at all. You’ll notice there are no pictures of falafels, too busy eating. But we have enjoyed eating these lovely pears from our CSA fruit share.
This club sandwich brought me right back to a road trip vacation with my parents and my brother. I must have been 9 or so and we drove west. Whenever we’d stop and eat in a restaurant I’d order a club sandwich. I thought it was so cool. Also I had a pair of cowboy boots that I wore all the time, a bad perm, an overbite, and cat woman glasses as thick as a coke bottle. Yes indeed folks, I was quite a beauty. But this sandwich is the real thing, beautiful, totally local and tastee.
This herb encrusted Icelandic lamb with purple potatoes, both from Jordandal Farm, were lip smacking good with great lamby flavor, and so much fun to eat. Those potatoes are another one of my obsessions this month. The first time I bought the potatoes I only got a few because our CSA keeps us well stocked in taters. But these were not typical spuds…on no my friends, these were potatoes of the gods. When I went back 2 weeks later Eric didn’t have anymore with him. I explained how much I loved these potatoes and what fine and awesome taters they were, and poor Eric took pity on me and said he’d see what he could do. Sure enough he wrangled me a good sized bag of them and now it’s all I want to eat. I cut them into a 1/2″ dice, steam them, and then toss them with shallot butter, coarse kosher salt, and some coarse pepper…ummm, I’m in heaven. They’re perfect warmed up in the microwave with leftover whatever on top. Again no photos, too busy eating.
Beef, eggplant, and mushroom stir fry is one of my favorite combos. I sauce it with some soy, siriracha, and a dash of rice vinegar. I always use dried shitakes for this because they have such a bold flavor and a great texture.
This was a huge pot of soup featuring diced french fingerling potatoes, squash, chard, onions, and carrots. Totally local too.
Another sandwich…this is made on a ciabatta and filled with Brunkow’s pepper-jack cheese, Jordandal’s beef summer sausage, olives, and those beautiful sweet and spicy red peppers from Whole Foods’ olive bar…I have no idea what they’re called but I love, love, love them on everything. I made this into a panini using my new electric griddle and and a cast iron skillet as a weight.
Another easy-peasy obsession of mine…stir-fried rice noodles with egg, sriracha, and topped with ribbons of fresh basil. I know it’s ridiculous, but I like it.
I can already hear the humming of the interweb as it gears up for the gluttonous holiday season. I’ll get there…after a few more falafels.
Sunday Roast on Tuesday
The simplest of meals are usually the best. Exceptional products and ingredients join together to provide a meal worthy of a queen…namely me. This was certainly the case yesterday. I didn’t get started putting this in the oven until after 5:30 but the prep work was minimal and by 6:30 we were happily dining on roast rack of lamb, roasted new potatoes, and stir-fried bok choy. By 6:45 we were fighting over the last ribs of lamb…complete with snarling…regal snarling on my part of course.
But here’s the thing. Yes, this was simple…but because it’s so simple it’s often difficult to find the details of how to prepare the roasted meat…everyone just says “it’s simple”. So here it is:
Roasted Rack of Lamb for Dummies
Special equipment: pan large enough to hold the rack of lamb, meat thermometer, foil
Ingredients
Rack of lamb
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
Rosemary, fresh or dried
Salt and pepper
Take the lamb out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 425º. Position the oven racks so that you have room for the pan with the lamb and room for your roasted potatoes too. Line your pan with foil if you want to make clean-up easier.
Using a sharp paring knife create a bit of space between the outer layer of fat on the lamb and the inner layer of meat. Insert your knife into the lamb in several places and stuff slices of garlic into the slits. Layer the meat with the remaining garlic and rub salt and rosemary onto the meat layer and the outer layer of fat.
Place the lamb in the pan, insert the meat thermometer and place the pan in the oven. If your thermometer is digital set the temperature alert to 125º, if it’s not…well then I guess you’re going to have to peek into the oven after about 20 minutes or so to see where its at. Put the potatoes in at about the same time.
Once the temperature reaches 125º take the lamb out of the oven and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest for 7 - 10 minutes. Keep your eye on the potatoes as they may need to come out too. Cook up your veg and serve.
This was my first rack of lamb so if these instructions seem wrong let me know.
Recent comments...