Green Masala Lamb Chops on a Fennel, Tomato and White Balsamic Salad

This recipe is a twisted variation on one that i found from Neil Perry. This is the first time i've used Neil Perry as an influence for a dish because although i've not been to one of his restaurants, his dishes come across to me as very finnicky (this is not a negative reflection - i just dont have the patience to cook them myself, marvelous though they may be).

There are two things that make this dish so good: Firstly, the green masala marinade brings the lamb to life with fresh herbs and tangy spices, and the fennel seed matches so well with the crisp fennel salad. Secondly, the white balsamic makes the salad stand out. Sure, you could use red wine vinegar, or even regular balsamic. But i encourage you to seek out white balsamic for its slightly tarter but more sublte and simpler flavour to traditional balsamic. 

Lamb Fesenjan - Persian Lamb Stew with Pomegranate & Walnuts

Pomegranate molasses. It's certainly having a little dance across the culinary world at the moment isn't it? Amongst a raft of other vinegars and preserves which seem to be de rigeur at the moment. And i'm a sucker for some fads, and pomegranate molasses is one of them!

But rather than go out and spend $20 on a pretty slender jar of the stuff, it's unbelievably easy to make at home. Pomegranate juice, lemon juice, sugar. Boil to a syrup. The end!

But then you're left over with some. And you scratch your head as to what on earth to do with it beyond a delicious salad dressing. Well! That's where the crafty Persians come into the mix. Bring on the Fesenjan!

This beautiful stew is like no other i've ever eaten. The slight acidity of the molasses reminds me of the tartness of tamarind in a thai curry, or of vinegar in a vindaloo. But it's much more delicate than either, and the bitter nuttiness of the walnuts adds another level of dimension.

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Lemon Thyme Roast Vegetables

 

It's so difficult for me to decide whether my favorite meat is pork or lamb! Sure, if it was for every day, i would probably pick pork with it's added versatility in small goods but i don't think there is a meat so irresistable to me as the lamb roast! I am always getting into the roast early, trying to wrangle the lank shank from my mother/aunt/grandmother before my dad or cousin does. Something about the roast shank with it's sticky fat and stringy tender meat is just about the best thing in the world to me! And when you get a cut like shoulder and cook it properly, the result is an entire plate full of that succulent fatty meat! 

Penne with Lamb Shank & Swiss Brown Mushroom Ragout

In case you can't tell, i'm really getting into mushrooms lately. There' something in them that you cannot substitute, something in the rich umami flavor that has lately stuck in my mind, drawing me to make more mushroom dishes! And this comes from a guy who, in his younger days, could not stand mushrooms. Years of eating only your standard field mushrooms, always reduced down to a ridiculously strong flavor through grilling, or pizza toppings, made me detest the humble mushroom. Since then my palate has grown but i still never use regular mushrooms in cooking, finding their flavor to be a bit too harsh.

And so in comes the swiss brown. Whilst i normally gravitate towards mushrooms suited to Asian cooking, such as enoki, shiitake (my favorite) and oyster, these mushrooms simply aren't well suited to the Italian richness of a ragu. Swiss browns are a close relative to the standard mushroom but with a more earthy flavor. Their texture is also a touch firmer so they stand well to the rigor i put them through in this dish.

Note that in this dish i take the meat off the shank before i cook; this is simply because i forgot to get them cut to fit in my dish! In an ideal world, put the whole shank in the pot. 

Prosciutto Wrapped Lamb Fillet with Pomegranate Reduction on Potato & Asparagus

Whenever i watch Iron Chef Sukai on SBS i am fascinated by his use of caul, a fatty membrane surrounding the organs of some animals, to encase pieces of meat. The fat of the caul keeps the mean juicy and succulent as it is being fried, or more generally, roasted.

With the same concept in mind, i have seen, and on occasion tried, wrapping lean cuts of meat in thin shaved slices of fatty prosciutto. In addition to retaining the juices of the lean meat, the prosciutto adds its own seasoning, flavor and personality to the dish.

When i was making this dish i felt like it belonged in the annals of an old Women's Weekly 'entertaining' cookbook. With the asparagus and mashed potato, the dish harks back to what was considered haute cuisine when i was younger. The retro style of the plating reflects that. However in using prosciutto rather than say, bacon, and with the addition of balance through the sweet-sour pomegranate reduction, i think i've been successful in achieving a bit of 'retro-chic' with this dish.

A note on both asparagus and the pomegranate reduction. Firstly, asapargus is best in season in Spring, when the spears shoot up from the ground and are at their sweetest and most succulent. The worst thing you can do to these delicious vegetables is overcook them! Blanch in salted water for 30 seconds at most! And to the pomegranate reduction: you can buy ready reduced pomegranate juice in the form of pomegranate molasses. But why pay $20 plus for a bottle of the stuff when pomegranate juice is easily available and ready for reduction at any local supermarket. Look for Pom, it's normally located in the fresh produce aisle of your supermarket.

Lamb Shank & Pearl Barley Soup

Soup soup soup! Dear god how many soups can i cook? From Wikipedia;


"Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth."

enough said. This is my weekly soup recipe! The rich fat from the lamb shanks gives this soup it's delicious mouth feel, and yet it is also nutritious and healthy, abounding with vegetables. Light enough for the beginning of spring, but warming enough for the lagging winter chill.

Slow Braised Lamb Shanks with Preserved Lemon & Gremolata

I love a good lamb shank, the way the succulent morsels of meat fall of the bone in juicy chunks, covered in a thin film of sticky fat. And a slow cooker is an ideal way of cooking them! This recipe which i've adapted from Three Tastes is a great example, with the lemony richness of the preserved lemon permeating the meat over it's long cooking time. There's something satisfying about throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pot, waking up the next morning, and finding the most delicious, tender meal waiting for you for dinner. As a further effort, i like to remove the shanks from the slow cooker and place them in a very hot oven for a short while, to crisp them up a little on the outside. This add a little extra texture to a soft, melt in your mouth dish. 

Lamb Harira

So I am on to my fourth weekly soup recipe, and this time i thought i'd try something with a bit more Eastern influence: Harira. A Moroccan soup of complex flavours, it is the soup traditionally used to break the Muslim Ramadan fast. The version i've cooked below is lamb harira however you can omit the lamb and make an equally delicious vegetarian dish.

Moussaka

Whenever my dad eats a meal, it's a running joke in the family that the quality of the food is judged by the amount of times in a row he says 'yum'. Well this dish got a 'yummo, yummo, yummo' so i'm happy to say it turned out pretty good!

Moussaka is a Greek dish, essentially an eggplant and lamb lasagne without the pasta. It's a very warming and comforting food, perfect for a rainy Autumn evening.

Saoji Curried Lamb Shanks with Aloo Paratha

What better a way to welcome in the cooler months in style than with a rich lamb curry and crisp flaky Indian Breads?

A saoji, a traditional curry of Nagpur, would normally be made with mutton, but seriously the lax guidelines used in Australia to delineate between lamb and mutton mean that unless you're buying it from a reputable butcher, chances are that 'lamb' you're buying is actually borderline mutton. In this case, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. This is not a burn-your-buds sort of curry but rather a rich and hearty one which sticks to the ribs.

A paratha is a flaky Indian flatbread which literally translates to 'layers of cooked flour'. The recipe below is for aloo paratha, or spiced potato paratha. It is easy to make but don't feel confined to the ingredients below, or even to potato. Parathas can contain minced lamb, cheese, herbs, even, as at The Langham Buffet in Melbourne, mini m&ms. (darn, now i wish i made one of them whilst i was at it. Next time!)

Rosemary & Garlic Lamb Rack on a bed of Mashed Peas

If you want to easily impress someone for a meal, the lamb rack is a pretty good option to go for. Succulent medallions of lamb with just the right amount of fat attached to almost decorative frenched bones always make me salivate.  I much prefer to buy lamb cutlets on the rack so that i can roast them; pan frying them leaves me feeling that they're a little too oily. The best time to cook this dish would be spring, when both the lamb and the peas will be at their best.