Seco de Cordero

Braised Lamb with Seco Sauce & Canario Beans

Seco, a misnomer that literally means “dry” in Spanish, is actually a very juicy, flavorful, stewlike dish made from slowly cooking down meat or poultry with aderezos, flavorings and seasonings, in plenty of liquid, usually stock. I usually add a little beer for an even richer flavor. Secos are traditionally served with white frijoles canarios, canary beans, which are also called mayocoba or Peruano beans (despite the name, they are native to Central America). I love the rich flavor and creamy texture of canario beans, but you can also substitute smashed potatoes or rice. It’s really worth the time to cook up dried beans: The texture and flavor are so much better than canned (and dried are much more economical). But this is one case where all of those incredible flavors in the seco sauce will even make canned beans taste good (drain them before reheating). You can also use this braising technique with small or larger lamb shanks.

• 5 to 6 pounds lamb foreshanks or hindshanks, oven-roasted (see page 149)
• About 8 cups Cilantro-Beer Seco Braise (recipe)
• Homemade chicken stock (page 40) or low-sodium store-bought broth, if needed
• Kosher salt
• 1 pound dried canario (mayocoba) beans or other white beans, cooked (see page 213) and drained if needed, for serving

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F and place a rack at the bottom of the oven. Arrange the roasted lamb shanks snugly in a large Dutch oven or stockpot and pour the cilantro-beer braising liquid over them. A few bones poking out the top is fine, but the meat should be mostly covered by the liquid. If needed, add a few cups of chicken stock. Cover the pot with a lid, or tent loosely with foil if using giant hindshanks that poke out of the pot.

2 Bake the lamb until the meat is fall-apart tender, 3 to 3½ hours for smaller pieces, up to 4 hours for large hindshanks. (Check smaller pieces after 2½ hours and larger lamb shanks after 3 hours.) Transfer the shanks to a platter with tongs and set them aside until cool enough to handle. Use your hands to break the lamb meat into small chunks and discard the bones. Skim off some of the surface fat from the braising liquid (it should have reduced to a jus-like sauce), but don’t worry about skimming it all away—a little fat is always tasty. Taste the meat and sauce, season with salt, if needed, and return the meat to the sauce. If you are not serving the lamb right away, let cool completely, cover, and refrigerate the meat in the seco sauce for up to 2 days.

3 To serve, pile the beans onto a serving platter or individual plates, arrange the lamb on the beans, and spoon some of the seco sauce on top (or serve it alongside, like gravy).

Cilantro-Beer Seco Braise

Makes about 8 cups

This is another of my base sauces—here, more of a braising liquid—that I came up with to keep the flavors consistent in my restaurant kitchens. Were you to taste all of these ingredients together before the braise cooks down, it would be terrible. But magic happens as they are heated and meld slowly, and all of the ingredients cook down into an almost currylike cilantro sauce.

I also use this braise to make seco de pato, braised duck (you can substitute chicken—see page 154). It would be excellent on brisket—just roast it the same way as the other meats, and use the same quantity of braising liquid as for the lamb. You could even use it on firm white-fleshed fish, as this is truly a multipurpose cooking base, but simmer the smaller quantity of sauce on its own for a solid hour before adding the fish, and cook the fish until just tender (15 to 25 minutes, depending on how thick your cut of fish).

If you are making the Arroz con Pato duck recipe (page 154), which also features this sauce, cut the recipe in half.

• 6 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves and stems (2 large or 3 medium bunches)
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled, and lightly smashed
• 2 (12-ounce) pilsners or other light beers
• 3 cups homemade chicken stock (page 40) or low-sodium store-bought broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

In a blender, puree the cilantro leaves and stems, garlic, and beer in batches until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or the cooking pot and stir in the broth and salt. Use the seco braise right away, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

Secos y Estofados

Secos are a style of slow-cooked meat or poultry stews that you find all over Peru. The word seco means “dry,” but the stews are completely the opposite—and no one I know, at least, seems to know how the name came to be. You’ll also hear some stews called estofados, which is the literal Spanish word for “stew.” The word seco goes back to the comida criolla, the hybrid style of cooking that evolved in northern Peru when the Spanish arrived. A seco usually refers to a specific style of estofado that is built around cilantro, but you can have a seco without cilantro in it, too.