Category: Lamb

Lamb Shawarma

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 – 6

Any sort of spiced, Lebanese lamb is good.

There isn’t anything not to love.

In keeping with tradition, this recipe is no different. Spice, great scent, wonderful middle eastern flavour.

What I would say is that if you can do it inside on a griddle, do so. It is surprisingly delicate and a hot BBQ will be too much. You want the meat to still be medium rare.

Marinate the night before and enjoy as a cracker mid-week meal; we did these on skewers though would be just as good in the pan on their own.

If you can do some spiced potatoes or a fattoush, go for it! We had a tzatziki as a side which was awesome.

The week just got a whole lot better.

Ingredients

½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup water
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cumin
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp ground cloves
¾ tsp ground mace (we used allspice)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Lamb shoulder or leg cut into strips

Method

  1. Mix all the ingredients and then mix in the lamb strips to coat. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and marinate in the fridge overnight.
  2. On the grill or in a pan, on their on or on skewers, cook them until browned and still medium rare inside and serve.

Lamb braised with Vinegar and Green Beans

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 -6

A traditional recipe from Abruzzo – where you would refer to the dish as stufatino di agnello con l’aceto – you will love.

Served with mashed potatoes and a green salad, it is beautifully comfortable food. Dark and slightly rich, you could eat the flaking lamb all day.

If you need warmth one Saturday lunch, start the weekend well by serving this and a glass of red and in turn, setting a pretty awesome mood for the rest of the day.

Ingredients

½ cup olive oil
1.2kg diced lamb shoulder
½ onion, chopped
⅔ cup good quality red wine vinegar
450gm green beans, trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths
Mashed potatoes and a green salad to serve

Method

  1. In a casserole dish or heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in batches for 6 – 8 minutes until browned all over.
  2. Add the onion and stir for 4 minutes or until translucent. Return all the lamb to the pan, add the vinegar and season. Increase the heat to high and cooking, stirring, for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low. Add beans and further season. Cover and gently simmer for 1 ½ hoursor until the lamb is very tender.

Rick Stein’s White Lamb Curry

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

Otherwise known as Safed Maas – ‘safed’ meaning white in most North Indian languages – this curry is literally the opposite of rogan josh.

Aromatic, mild and off-white. Fragrant and luxurious.

Historically, this recipe is a royal dish from the region of Rajasthan, a region famous for its upper-class cooking.

So background aside, why would you consider this.

It’s hard to know where to start!

It is a brand new curry! After a billion rogan joshes and so forth, this is like finding out you have a tail!

It tastes extraordinary. With some rice and chapitas, it is so moorish and – second time I have used this word – luxurious, you will pause to take it all in. Heaven.

And it is from Rick Stein, a man who gets it right almost every time.

If you like curry and you like Indian, I present to you your new tail.

Start wagging. It looks great!

Ingredients

For the spice blend

2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp green cardamom pods, seeds only
1 black cardamom pod, seeds only
1 tsp cloves
4cm cinnamon stick
1 Indian bay leaf

For the lamb

100gm cashew nuts
1 tbsp boiling water
1gk boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 4cm cubes
4cm fresh ginger, finely grated
5 cloves garlic, finely crushed
100gm Greek-style yogurt
150gm ghee (or oil)
1 small onion, sliced
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cardamom (seeds from 30 green pods)
40ml double cream

To serve

Pilau rice
Chapatis

Method

  1. Fry the spices in a frying pan over a medium-heat for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted and aromatic and then blend to a powder using a grinder or a mortar and pestle.
  2. For the lamb, tip the cashew nuts and water into a mini food processor and blend to a paste. Set aside. Put the lamb in a large bowl and mix well with the spice blend, ginger, garlic and yogurt. Set aside and marinate for 30 minutes.
  3. Heat the ghee in a large pan over a low-medium heat and fry the onion for 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the meat and its marinade and pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Add the salt, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour or until the lamb is tender and the sauce is thickened.
  4. Stir in the cashew nut paste, ground cardamom and a splash of water if needed to give the sauce the consistency of double cream. Heat through and the stir in the cream and serve.
  5. Close your eyes.

Karen Martini’s Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Eggs and Coriander

.Reading time 2 minutes.
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Meatballs out of the oven and waiting for the passata and eggs.

Serves: 4

I am yet to do a Karen Martini recipe that hasn’t been a keeper and this is no exception.

What a Sunday night treat, served with this clever Adam Liaw salad.

The spicy lamb meatballs are divine, what with the richness of the egg and the sweetness of the tomato sauce. And it all presents beautifully.

Sadly, so well that you will struggle to make a lunch out of it the next day. This really is a dish that is hard to stop eating.

Both of the boys loved them with Oliver describing them as ‘better than better’. Little did he know he was eating chilli, sumac and coriander.

A winner on all fronts.

Ingredients

1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
½ bunch coriander, finely chopped
2 tsp salt
½ onion, finely diced and cooked with a little oil until soft
500gm lamb mince
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
7 eggs
½ bunch parsley, leaves picked
½ bunch coriander, leaves picked
2 tbsp sumac
8 tbsp tomato passata
1 lemon, juiced

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. Place spices, chopped parsley and coriander, salt, onion, lamb, 1 egh and breadcrumbs in a large bowl and combine well with your hands.
  3. Roll lamb mixture into 8 oval football shapes, coat in parsley and coriander and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with sumac and bake for 15 minutes; remove from the oven.
  4. Spoon passata into an ovenproof dish, place meatballs on top, crack 6 eggs over the top and bake for 12 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve.

Spiced Lamb Burgers with Tzatziki

.Reading time 2 minutes.
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Hello Tuesday! The week just got a whole lot better!

Serves: 4

This recipe by Tobie Puttock had us at ‘spice’ and ‘lamb’.

Spicy lamb is a last meal contender, right?

At 447 calories a serve, they’re not too bad though they make up strongly for this in taste: predictably, as you read through all the ingredients, they taste great.

A really special, warming midweek dish.

Served with tzatziki and a wonderful Pea, Snowpea, Almond and Feta salad and highly recommended.

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin oil
¼ onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried chilli flakes (do 1tsp and don’t hold back!)
1 tbsp dried mint leaves
500gm minced lamb
Small handful, flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Small handful of dill, roughly chopped
1 egg, lightly whisked
100gm reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Tzatziki to serve

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a small fry pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often for 2 minutes, until slightly softened though not coloured.
  2. Stir in the allspice, coriander, cumin, chilli flakes and mint and cook for a further minute. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
  3. Place the lamb in a large bowl. Add the onion mixture, parsley, dill, egg, feta and season with the salt and pepper.
  4. Use your hands to mix everything well; shape the mixture into four patties, place on a tray and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
  5. Preheat a grill plate on high. Add the patties and cook for 3 – 4 minutes on each side until almost cooked through.
  6. Serve with a dollop of tzatziki.

Mr Singh’s slow-cooked Lamb Curry with Cloves and Cardamom

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

From India by Rick Stein really is a beautiful cookbook. It feels as bright and colourful as Rick himself and the stories behind each recipe are inspiring and wonderful to read.

You really appreciate the origin of what you are about to cook and it really does take appreciation of the dish to the next level.

And appreciate you will this excellent curry from Rick – or Mr Singh – a talented and well-kept cook he met in India.

The pureeing of the base ingredients changes the texture and makes the whole thing simply feel as one. There is a nice lingering heat and of course after all that time cooking, the lamb is starting to fall apart.

As far as solid, homemade winter curries go, you could do a whole lot worse than this one.

Win.

(I have changed the ordering and wording of the method versus Rick’s recipe. With an hour and a half of cooking time up your sleeve before you need the powdered spices, you would be mad – or with plenty of time on your hands – to do the recipe in reverse as per its original writing.)

Ingredients

½ tsp cardamom seeds (for about 8 green pods)
4 – 6 cloves
3 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
10 garlic cloves roughly chopped
4 cm ginger, roughly chopped
75ml vegetable oil (or ghee)
100ml Greek-style yogurt
1kg lamb shoulder (or leg), deboned, trimmed of excess fat, 3cm pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp cream

Method

  1. In stages, using a mini food processor and rinsing out in-between, blend the onions to a puree with a little water; puree the tomatoes; blend the garlic and ginger with a tablespoon of water to a slack paste.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat and gently fry the onion paste for 15 minutes until golden; add the ginger and garlic and fry for an additional 3 minutes. Stir in the yogurt, meat and salt and cover over a low-medium heat stirring occasionally for 30 minutes or until browned.
  3. Stir in the garam masala and chilli powder and then pour in just enough water to cover the meat. Simmer, covered for 40 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, grind the cardamom seeds and cloves to a fine powder. (This, in my experience, needs a glass of wine.)
  5. Stir in the cream and pureed tomatoes followed by the cardamom and clove mix. Seal the pan by first covering in foil and then the lid. Cook over the lowest heat for 40 minutes until the lamb is tender.
  6. Remove the seal and quickly cook off any remaining liquid until you have a good gravy.
  7. Enjoy with rice and more wine!

Bill Granger’s lamb curry with yoghurt and tomatoes

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 6

I sat for 5 minutes wondering how to start this post.

For I am just not sure how I feel about Bill Granger. I’ve cooked some of his recipes and had real success; others, well I didn’t cook them because they just looked strange.

Nat and I had a very good breakfast at his restaurant in Hawaii – breakfast of course being his signature meal – though at a lunch we had just this weekend at Bills in Bondi, the fish curry was excellent though the chicken salad was… strange. (Nice vibe though).

Is he genuine or cute? Is he too simple or is that the genius?

Am I over-thinking this? Absolutely.

What I can confirm is that this dish is a great one. Really great. And really simple.

Cook the lamb for as long as you like, serve with coriander and enjoy as a weeknight dinner.

Well done Bill. I’m still hanging in there.

1kg leg of lamb, cut into 5cm cubes
2tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cardamom pods, crushed
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp fresh ginger, freshly grated
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
2 large onions, chopped
400g tin (chopped) tomatoes
1 c yoghurt
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp sugar
Coriander
Steamed Rice
Chutney

Method

  1. Place the lamb in a large bowl, add the spices and ginger and toss to coat well. Season with sea salt.
  2. Place a large heavy-based pan over medium-high heat. Heat the oil and butter and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the spiced lamb and cook for 5 or more minutes until browned.
  3. Add the tomatoes, yoghurt and 1 c of water to the pan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down load, cover and simmer for 2 hours.
  4. Stir in the lime juice and sugar and serve with steamed rice, chutney and coriander.

Nat’s Keema (Lamb (or beef) mince with peas)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

So we have a new rule in the house.

If we find a recipe though it needs a solid change in method or ingredients, we are calling it our own. So introducing Nat’s Keema: a beef (or lamb) mince masala with peas.

We originally had this dish at a fabulous local Indian restaurant a fortnight ago and promised to reproduce it if only because it was a mince recipe; mince falling only slightly behind brisket and pork shoulder/belly in the genius stakes in our opinion.

Though there is a surprising lack of such recipes online for Keema, including on P-interest (Pinterest) which has become a bit of a destination where we swap recipes whilst at work.

The ingredients in the original recipe we finally sourced were fairly right though the method was shot.

We regrouped, changed tact, quadrupled the peas (because they are amazing) and here you have it.

It won’t change the world though it is a damn comfortable mince, low calorie and pretty special for a Monday dinner and lunch the next day. And the mushrooms are a hit.

Enjoy! (And thank Nat later…)

Ingredients

1kg extra lean beef mince (or lamb mince as per the original)
4 green chilies, diced
2 handfuls of fresh coriander
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
20 small mushrooms, diced
2 onions, sliced
500gm frozen peas
400gm fresh tomatoes, diced (a few tomatoes)
4 tsp garam masala
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  1. Heat the oil in the pan and add the onion and the garlic; cook until the onions are soft and starting to become golden.
  2. Add the mince and cook down until the liquid has evaporated and the meat can start to brown.
  3. Add the tomatoes, ginger, salt, turmeric and chilli. Mash the tomatoes and other ingredients to add a shine to the meat.
  4. Add the mushrooms, lower the heat, add a cup of water and cook down for 45 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and cooked through. Add more water if necessary and stir regularly until the liquid evaporates.
  5. Add the garam masala, coriander and peas. Cook for a few minutes more, stirring until the peas are cooked through.
  6. Season, spice it up if you want and serve.

Arni Psito (Greek Roast Lamb)

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 – 6

This dish is a classic recipe from my incredibly capable mother.

She cooked this countless times for us as teenagers and we had it again last night and my two boys loved it. Talk about a generational recipe!

The original recipe is from the New York Times Cookbook, though she adapted it so that the onions, parsley and mushrooms cook on top, caramelise and blacken. This is where the genius of this dish comes from and I just cannot recommend it enough.

We had it with Greek potatoes, green beans and a wonderful Greek salad and the memories came rushing back.

Thank you Ellen for introducing me to food. What a life skill and a fantastic way to spend a weekend!

Ingredients

1 leg of lamb
Salt and pepper
Dried oregano
Chopped garlic or garlic powder
¼ c butter, melted
Juice of 1 lemon
Diced onion
Chopped parsley
Sliced or chopped dried mushrooms

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 250 C and place the lamb on a rack.
  2. Season the lamb with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic.
  3. Arrange the onion, parsley and mushrooms over the lamb and carefully pour over the butter and lemon juice.
  4. Add ½ cup of water to the pan and roast for 20 minutes.
  5. Add another ½ cup water, lower the temperature to 180 C and roast for 22 minutes per 450gm, basting occasionally.
  6. Serve the lamb with the juices and vegetables spooned over.

Lamb marinated in yoghurt

.Reading time 3 minutes.

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Lamb sans glug.

Serves: 4

Super simple Matt Moran recipe I pulled from The Australian Financial Review in 2008! Gives you some indication of the backlog.

I was introduced to ras el hanout about 10 years back and it is one of the most versatile spice mixes you can get. Ras el hanout means ‘house spice’ and in Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East, every spice shop competes with their own version of it.

Some interpretations have up to 30 spices included in it.

You won’t find it at Coles though Herbies and David Jones (Food Hall) have it.

I haven’t made it myself though I have included Matt Moran’s take on the spice and once I am out of my current supply, I will give it a go.

I served the lamb with cous cous (which according to Natalie I cannot master and so she refers to it as ‘glug’) with chicken stock, almonds, currents and coriander and at Nat’s highly successful recommendation, roasted red onion pieces and baby carrots, sautéed in the pan with honey.

You’re welcome!

Ingredients

600gm lamb backstrap
100gm natural (fat-free) yoghurt
1 tsp ras el hanout
Bunch of mint, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp preserved lemons thinly sliced

Ras el hanout

2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp table salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp ground fennel seeds
3 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves

Method

  1. For the ras el hanout, combine all the ingredients well and store in an airtight container.
  2. To prepare the lamb, cut the lamb into 3cm pieces. In a bowl, mix the yoghurt and ras el hanout with half the mint. Place the lamb in the bowl and coast with the marinade. Marinate overnight.
  3. To prepare the skewers, soak some bamboo skewers in water for an hour (to prevent burning).
  4. Pre-heat the grill to hot. Place four to five pieces of lamb on each skewer and season with a little salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
  5. Grill the skewers for a minute on each side.
  6. Serve the lamb and scatter over the preserved lemon and remaining mint.
  7. Glug.