I don’t mean “mutton dressed up as spring lamb.” There are times—usually in England—when I like mutton; but this chapter addresses lamb. The recipes run the gamut from roast leg of lamb to more unusual recipes that I have found delicious and unctuous.
The strong flavors of the marinade are not as apparent in the lamb itself, so this subtle dish should not be served with strong-tasting vegetables like ramps or garlic that would overpower the taste of the lamb. Pungent side dishes like curry or other heavily spiced foods should also be avoided. I made the mistake; that’s how I know.
This recipe needs to be started at least a day ahead to let the marinade soak in.
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest
1½ tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
8 cloves garlic (about 1 ounce), smashed and peeled
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ cup plus 1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 short leg of lamb, trimmed (about 5½ pounds), chops removed
1 cup white wine
Purée the orange juice, zest, fennel, marjoram, garlic, sugar, and ¾ cup olive oil in a blender until smooth. Coat the entire leg of lamb thoroughly with the marinade and put it in a plastic bag. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator overnight (or for up to 2 days if planning well enough in advance), making sure to turn the bag every so often.
Remove the lamb from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Heat the oven to 500°F with a rack on the second level from the bottom.
Rub the bottom of an 18-×-13-×-2-inch roasting pan with the remaining oil.
Remove the lamb from the bag and place in the pan. Pour the marinade all over the leg. Roast for 10 minutes. Turn the lamb over and reduce the heat to 425°F. Roast another 35 minutes. Move the lamb to a platter.
Put the pan on top of the stove. Add the wine. Bring to a boil and continuously scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve in a sauceboat on the side with the lamb.
SERVES 6 TO 8
This is a wonderful stew for a party—even a buffet. It is a one-dish meal that could take a green salad. I make its warm richness in winter using the ingredients that I have put up at the end of summer. Readily available market ingredients can be substituted. The only thing that really would need to be made ahead is lamb stock, and chicken stock can be used instead.
½ cup olive oil
3½ pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound white pearl onions, peeled (see Note)
1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and quartered (about 6 cups)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, cut into thin strips, and cooked briefly in a small amount of chicken stock until limp
2 cups Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus) Base (page 209)
Large handful fresh oregano
Large handful fresh thyme
1 cup lamb stock or chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
6 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
4 cups cooked (see page 216) or drained canned navy or cannellini beans
Juice of 2 oranges
Kosher salt
In a heavy pan large enough to hold the lamb in a single layer and deep enough to hold the entire stew (I use a 12- to 13-inch-wide braising pan), heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the lamb, stirring from time to time, until lightly browned. Add the onions and white mushrooms. When the mushrooms are slightly cooked, add the cumin. Stir well and add the cooked shiitake and the oyster mushrooms.
Wrap the herbs in a large square of cheesecloth and sink into the stew. Add the stock. Cook over medium-low heat for about 1½ hours or until the lamb is cooked but not mushy. Add the garlic along with the beans about 20 minutes before the lamb should be done.
Just before serving, add the orange juice and salt if desired.
SERVES 8 TO 10
NOTE
For easier peeling, boil the pearl onions for 1 minute, allow to cool, and then peel.
A wonderful friend and co-cook for more years than either of us wishes to count is Paula Wolfert, the author—among many other books—of Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. I have never been to Morocco; but Paula has introduced me to couscous, tagines, preserved lemons, and other delights. This recipe is not her fault, and the “Preserved” Lemons are not as she would make them, but I have not been able to keep the real thing on hand. The one I make works for me. The seasonings are traditional, though not necessarily in this combination. I loved the result and hope that you will also. If you can find teff (see page 169), it is an ideal accompaniment.
Be careful when adding salt; the “Preserved” Lemons are very salty.
¼ cup safflower oil
1 medium onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1½ cups)
2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1½-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
2 tablespoons ras el hanout
1 tablespoon sumac
1 cup chicken stock (any of the homemade stocks, pages 203–4, or sterile-pack)
1 pound zucchini, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch dice (about 4 cups)
6 to 7 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped (about ¼ cup)
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves
12 “Preserved” Lemon wedges (page 202)
Kosher salt
Heat the oil in a 6-quart braising pot over high heat. When the oil shimmers, reduce the heat to medium and add the onion. Cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Toss the lamb cubes in a large bowl with the ras el hanout and sumac until coated evenly. Add the lamb to the braising pot with the onion and brown on all sides, another 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock and zucchini and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cook for 40 minutes. The recipe can be made up to 2 hours ahead to this point and then reheated. Add the garlic, cilantro, and lemon wedges and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with salt to taste.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Another lamb stew, this time in the French tradition, rather related to a cassoulet.
14 ounces dried navy or other small white beans, rinsed (about 2 cups)
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1 large sprig thyme
3 leaves sage
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1¾ pounds leg of lamb, boned and cut into 1½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and crushed
2 medium potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks (about 3 cups)
½ cup tomato purée (homemade, page 208, or sterile-pack)
½ cup cornstarch (optional)
In a medium saucepan, bring enough water to cover the beans to a boil. Add the beans. Turn off the heat. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Drain. Put the beans back into the pan. Cover with water by 4 inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until three-quarters cooked, about 20 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the bottom third.
Tie the bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and sage together with string or cheesecloth. Set aside.
Combine the salt with pepper to taste in a bowl. Add the lamb and toss to coat.
Warm the oil in a deep 10-inch-wide pot or Dutch oven. Add half the lamb and onion. Cook over high heat until well browned. Remove from the pan and reserve. Add the remaining lamb and onion to the pan. Cook until browned. Stir in the reserved lamb and onion, along with the herbs, garlic, potatoes, tomato purée, beans, and 3 cups water. Cover and bake for 1 hour, until the lamb and beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
For a thicker stew, make a slurry of cornstarch and ½ cup cold water and stir it into the lamb mixture, beating until thickened. Discard the bouquet garni before serving.
SERVES 5 OR 6
Flageolets—small pale green dried beans—are a classic with roast lamb in Bordeaux. I decided to have a little fun with the dish and think it turned out rather well. As with all dried bean dishes, this has to be started ahead by soaking the beans. If flageolets are unavailable, substitute cranberry beans. If time is of the essence, use defrosted frozen baby lima beans.
1 cup dried flageolets (see page 214)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and finely chopped
½ pound ground lamb
½ cup basil leaves, cut across into ¼-inch strips
1½ cups crushed tomatoes, fresh or sterile-pack
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Soak and cook the beans according to the directions on page 216. There should be 2⅔ cups of cooked flageolets.
Heat the oil in a 14-inch sauté pan or a 12-inch braising pan over low heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the lamb and cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Add the basil, tomatoes, and beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
SERVES 4
To every rule there is an exception. Here is one: a recipe for mutton. It may be hard to get mutton, in which case use lamb. Classically, civet is thickened with blood, more than probably unavailable. I have compensated by making a strong-tasting dish that needs to be prepared over several days. The chicken livers compensate for the absence of blood. The stew would be relaxing to make on a skiing vacation as you don’t need to stand over it the whole time and it gives intense rewards.
One 5¼- to 5½-pound leg of mutton or lamb, boned and meat cut into 2-inch pieces, bones reserved, if available
1 cup olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch rounds (about ½ cup)
1 small onion, cut across into ¼-inch rounds (about ½ cup)
2 medium shallots (1½ ounces), coarsely chopped (about ¼ cup)
½ stalk celery, peeled and coarsely chopped (scant ¼ cup)
⅛ cup packed parsley leaves
2 bay leaves
⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried juniper berries
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon quatre épices
2 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and coarsely chopped
7 cups red wine
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2½ tablespoons kosher salt, or more to taste
3 ounces very lean bacon, sliced ¼ inch thick and cut across into 2-inch lengths
1½ pounds small white mushrooms, about 1½-inch diameter each, trimmed
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ pound chicken livers, cleaned (see page 34)
½ cup cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR AN OPTIONAL MEAT GLAZE: Put the bones in a pot and cover with water or any unsalted stock by 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Skim the broth. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 12 hours or as long as the meat marinates (see below). If necessary, add more water or stock from time to time.
FOR THE MARINADE: Put the olive oil, carrot, onion, shallots, and celery in a medium stockpot over medium-low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Move them to a square of cheesecloth. Add the parsley, herbs, and spices to the cheesecloth, tie into a loose bundle, and put back into the pot. Add the garlic, wine, vinegar, sugar, and 1½ tablespoons of the salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a good simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer the marinade to a deep 11-inch-wide stockpot. Cool for 2 hours or until just slightly warm.
Add the meat to the marinade, turning the pieces to coat. Marinate, uncovered, at room temperature for 12 hours or up to 24 hours if the room is cool or cold. Remove the cheesecloth bundle and squeeze out the liquids.
FINISH THE MEAT GLAZE: Remove the bones from the stock. Strain the liquid and put it back into the pot. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup. Reserve ½ cup for use in the stew. Save the rest as a dividend for other dishes.
COOK THE MUTTON: Transfer the meat to a colander or two sieves. The oil will have risen to the top of the marinade. Use a large spoon to remove as much oil as possible and reserve.
Heat the reserved oil in a large wide pot (use two if necessary). Add the bacon and meat. Cook for 20 minutes, turning the pieces to brown on all sides. Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes. Add the reserved marinade and ½ cup meat glaze. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool in the refrigerator. Remove the fat that will rise to the top and solidify. Allow the stew to come to room temperature.
An hour before the final cooking of the meat, trim the mushrooms by cutting the stems flush with the caps. Halve them. Toss with the lemon juice. Set aside.
Forty-five minutes to an hour before serving, add the mushrooms to the stew. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer.
While the stew is simmering, place half the livers and cornstarch in a blender with ¼ cup stew liquid. Purée until smooth. Repeat with the remaining livers, cornstarch, and another ¼ cup stew liquid.
After the stew has cooked for 25 minutes, stir in the liver purée. Raise the heat to a good simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Season with the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and lots of pepper to taste.
The finished stew can be served now, kept warm over a simmer burner or a burner at lowest heat with a heat diffuser on top, or refrigerated and brought back to temperature very slowly with a heat diffuser. Serve with rice, gluten-free noodles, or steamed small new potatoes.
SERVES 10 TO 12
Lamb neck is not a cut that usually springs readily to mind; but I wanted to make a deep-tasting braise/stew, and lamb neck has an ideal ratio of bone to meat to give a lovely, silky, gelatinous texture. I used half a neck, but the recipe can easily be doubled as long as a pan is used that is just large enough to hold the lamb in a single layer. Cut off any semiattached pieces of meat and add them to the pan.
The half neck is enough to feed four as this is rich. I served it with fingerling potatoes in their skins. Rice noodles would be fine as well.
¼ cup olive oil
2½ pounds neck of lamb (about ½ neck), cut into 4-inch-long pieces
1 pound yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
1 cup red wine
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt
Heat the oil in an 8-inch saucepan until shimmering but not smoking. Add the lamb pieces and brown lightly, turning them from time to time. Add the onions and red wine. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Push the softened onions down into the liquid. Re-cover and cook for an hour. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste.
SERVES 4
European chefs have created some classic dishes pairing poached meats and flavorful sauces. There is, for example, the Italian dish vitello tonnato, poached veal served cold and thinly sliced in a tuna fish sauce. The French dine on boeuf à la ficelle, poached beef filet, sliced to show off its rosy interior and served cold with any one of a number of sauces. Such dishes are delicious and hearty enough to please a crowd of meat eaters without being too heavy.
Inspired by the classics, my leg of lamb is very good cold with a sardine sauce that is a variation on the tuna sauce made in Italy. An enriched vinaigrette can be used as an alternative, its anchovies and capers making it a tasty fish-meets-meat combination.
You can also substitute pork loin as the meat and cook it in the same way.
Remember to turn the meat in the pot so it will cook evenly. This is particularly important since the lamb will swell up and not be fully covered by the liquid at all times.
1 bay leaf
4 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
One 2¾-pound boneless leg of lamb, rolled and tied
Sardine Sauce (page 196) or Enriched Vinaigrette (page 195)
In a 10½-inch-wide braising pan or stockpot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil with the bay leaf, garlic, and rosemary. Add the lamb and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1½ hours, turning the lamb every 20 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stove and allow the meat to cool in the liquid. Remove the meat from the liquid and slice across into ¼-inch-thick slices; there should be 25 to 30 slices.
Spread a cup of sardine sauce on a medium platter or in a baking dish. Place a layer of lamb slices on top of the sauce and then spread the slices with more sauce. Continue until all of the sauce and meat have been used. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 3 days. If you are using the enriched vinaigrette instead, simply drizzle it over the sliced meat just before serving.
SERVES 10