| Lamb in herbs [message #30230] |
Sun, 06 June 2010 11:51  |
 amp15
Messages: 96
Registered: February 2009
Location: Denmark |
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A topic in Talk reminded me of my favorite lamb dish. I usually make it as a stew using cheap cuts such as lamb shoulder or mutton leg, but there's no reason not to use the same ingredients around a leg of lamb heading for the oven with or with out a foil cover. Unless you are fond of lamb-fat, it's a good idea to remove as much visible fat as possible before cooking.
ANETTE'S LAMB STEW
1-2 pounds of de-boned meat or breast cut into ribs,
oil,
lamb or vegetable stock,
mint,
thyme,
lemon balm or 3-4 tablespoon lemon juice,
garlic chives or 1-2 garlic cloves,
2-3 tablespoon Dijon mustard.
Brown the meat in the oil, add stock enough to almost cover, about a handful of each herb, and the mustard.
Let it simmer very gently until the meat is tender. That should take about 1 hour for shoulder or breast of lamb, but as much as 3 hours for mutton.
Remove the herb-stalks, and skim off the fat from the cooking liquid. Boil the liquid rapidly to reduce a bit, or thicken it with corn starch. Taste and season. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
Reheats very well, and any leftovers are delicious rolled in unsweetened pancakes and reheated in the oven.
Anette, the Great Dane
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| Re: Lamb in herbs [message #30376 is a reply to message #30319 ] |
Thu, 10 June 2010 13:21  |
amp15
Messages: 96
Registered: February 2009
Location: Denmark |
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It is to the best of my knowledge my own invention, but I think the flavoring came from a Maine recipe for roast leg of lamb combined with the French Lamb Sainte Menehould. 
When I was 13 we moved from a small apartment to an old house with a full cellar, which gave my father flashbacks to his rural upbringing. One of the results was the installation of a big freezer and buying meat as whole animals. Having an entire pig or sheep hanging from a hook in the cellar gave my mother fits - even when it was bought cleaned - but I learned how to start with a carcass and get just about every bit of food out of it. This has saved me an incredible amount of money over the years - not because I still buy in bulk, but because I had to learn what to do with all the cheap but flavorful cuts.
The lamb stew started as a way to use the rib and belly cuts of the big lambs and young sheep my father preferred. Normally in Denmark the belly would be stuffed with parsley and/or spices, briefly cured/salted, and then boiled. The rib cut would be de-boned, rolled around a meat mince stuffing and roasted. In both cases the fat would be enclosed during cooking, and be difficult to remove when served. I wanted a dish where I could fry away as much fat as possible, where the meat - regardless of the age of the animal - would be so tender that any fatty layers would be easy to separate from the meat, and in a sauce with enough umph and acidity to counteract any remaining greasiness. We are - at least in some cases - talking mutton.
I think I've made this dish a couple of times every year since my teens, sometimes with the meat of a leg for and informal dinner party, sometimes with a de-boned shoulder and the first mint from the garden, just for myself.
Anette, the Great Dane
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| Re: Lamb in herbs [message #30723 is a reply to message #30712 ] |
Sat, 19 June 2010 14:30 |
amp15
Messages: 96
Registered: February 2009
Location: Denmark |
Member |
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Mince/mash/mush/finely chop in a blender or food processor. Usually done with the pulse button, so you can scrape the pulp down once or twice during the process.
I think the term blitz usually also indicate that the purpose is not to make a liquid or something to be sieved. At least liquidize is something else.
Anette, the Great Dane
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| Re: Lamb in herbs [message #31433 is a reply to message #31400 ] |
Fri, 16 July 2010 16:12 |
amp15
Messages: 96
Registered: February 2009
Location: Denmark |
Member |
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Mine tend to develop brown edges to the leaves at some time during the summer, but since the leaves are also getting coarser at that point, I just cut the plants back, and they'll put out fresh stems for the autumn.
Anette, the Great Dane
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