[Sca-cooks] lamb breast

[david friedman]

Vicente wrote:

>The local independent grocery store is selling lamb breasts at a 
>ridiculously low price ($0.99 per pound!!!)  Now, I love lamb, but 
>I've never really dealt with this part of the critter before. I've 
>seen recipes for stuffed lamb breast; how do I carve and seve it? 
>How many people can a reasonably-sized lamb breast serve?  Should I 
>just barbecue the darn thing like pork spareribs?
>
>Anybody got any favorite recipes?

There are some recipes for lamb freast in the anonymous Andalusian cookbook.
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Roast Lamb Breast [literally, "flank"]

Pound a ratl of meat in a stone mortar and add the same amount of 
cut-up fat, a little onion and both cilantro and coriander and cheese 
...[word illegible because of a worm hole, Huici Miranda writes; 
probably an adjective describing the cheese such as "fresh"]... and 
almonds, a large handful of shelled and pounded walnuts, and some 
murri naqî' to moderate its taste; add to it Chinese cinnamon, 
pepper, ginger and pound all this with the meat until it is mixed, 
and knead it until uniform. Then take a breast of plump ram and 
cleave it between the ribs and the meat, and fill it with the 
stuffing; then sew it up with gut or palm leaves and smear the breast 
with oil and dust it with ground starch. Hang it in a tannur and shut 
it, and when it is ready, take it out and present it: it is a good 
roast.

Another Kind of Lamb Breast

Get the breast of a plump lamb, pierce it between the meat and the 
ribs, so that the hand and fingers can fit in; then get a large 
handful each of peeled almonds and hazelnuts, and a dirham each of 
Chinese cinnamon, lavender, cloves, saffron and pepper, and a little 
salt; pound all this and mix it with breadcrumbs and knead it with 
oil, and knead until it thickens and can be used as a stuffing. When 
it is stuffed, sew up the breast with clean gut and hang it in a 
tannur, and set under it an earthen pot into which what melts from 
the breast can drip, and when it is done take it out.

Another Extraordinarily Good Lamb Breast

Take the breast of a plump lamb and cook it in vinegar until it is 
done, then take it out and leave it to dry. Then take a wide frying 
pan and pour in fresh oil, juice of cilantro, mint, thyme and a 
whole, cleaned onion; when its flavor is discernible, take it out of 
the oil and put in the lamb, which should be fried until the sides 
are browned. Then sprinkle with murri naqî', sprinkle with cinnamon 
and cut it up. You might do it in the oven [instead].
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Elizabeth/Betty Cook