[Sca-cooks] Any good Lamb recipes?

[Elaine Koogler]

marilyn traber 011221 wrote:

>>I was recently asked to cook feast for an event in June. The 
>>autocrats had requested a main dish with Lamb (with a choice of 
>>chicken for those who don't like lamb)  Anyway, it is have been some 
>>time since I have cooked lamb, and then it was a simple roast barded 
>>with garlic and rosemary . Anyone have any recipe they would like to 
>>share? The feat will have about 100-150 people.
>>
>>  I wasn't given any specific region or time that they wanted me to 
>>stick with, so it is pretty much open. As for a budget, that hasn't 
>>been determined yet, but I would like to give them a few choices 
>>(inexpensive, moderate and oh my gosh how much?)
>>
>>  Rosemary is out though (His Majesty is allergic to it)
>>
>>  -Muiriath
>>    
>>
>
>Two that rather run the range as far as expense would be the Bal Po Stew from 
>Soup for the Qan (primarily leg of lamb abd chickpeas/garbanzos. The other 
>would be Sabina Welserin's Easter Lamb in a fence of butter. Since it 
>requires an entire suckling lamb, it would tend to be pretty pricy.
>
>The big thing you need to remember about lamb is that it's a rather delicate, 
>but strongly flavored (for those who aren't used to it) meat. Despite the 
>many US cookbooks who want you to cook it to well done, it's actually at its 
>best rare or medium rare. Cooking it to well done will give you strong 
>tasting shoe leather. Even boiling it too long in a stew wuill give you 
>strong tasting chewy bits.
>
>One suggestion, as you look over recipes, is that if you cook it with bacon, 
>it eases the strong, lamby taste considerably, as does minimizing the fat. 
>I've fed lamb to people who think they don't like it (because usually their 
>only experience has been with strong tasting shoe leather, a la various well 
>meaning cafeterias) by taking loin chops, defatting and deboning them, and 
>wrapping them in a bacon strip, like people do with filet mignon, and 
>broiling or baking them.
>
>And yes, rosemary and mint are the most common and tasty accompani\ying 
>spices for lamb (as long as you stay away from most nasty commercial mint 
>jellies) but many other flavors go very well with it- juniper berries, as an 
>example.
>
>Phlip
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>  
>
I have made Bal-po a couple of times, once for a feast. It turned out 
very well. The hardest part about it was locating the tsaoko cardamom 
that it calls for. I can send you my redaction of the recipe if that's 
the kind of thing you'd like.

There are also a number of lamb stew recipes in Medieval Arab Cookery. 
One that I'm fond of uses lamb with prunes and jujubes. Served over 
couscous, it's not all that expensive and is tasty.

*Recipe of Marwaziyya [/marwazi/, of the **Central** **Asian** **City** 
of Merv]*

**A pound and a half of meat, four ounces of prunes, half a pound of 
onions, a /nsif/ and a /rub/ (three quarter, sc. of a /dirham/) of 
saffron, two and a half ounces of raisins, four ounces of good wine 
vinegar, an ounce of jujubes, half a bunch of green mint and /atraf 
al-tib/. The fry the meat with the spices, and when the meat smells 
good, put in the measure of a bowl of water, the measure of a pound and 
a half. When the water boils, wash the onions after cutting them up. 
Wash them in salted water and (then, in plain) water. Then put them on 
that meat and leave them until the onions boil and are halfway fragrant. 
Let the prunes be soaked in water. Put them in the pot, and the raisins 
and jujubes after them. Then let it rest until the prunes and raisins 
are fragrant. If you wish, put three ounces of sugar on it after that. 
And when it boils, put vinegar on it. And when it boils much, throw in 
the mint and /atraf al-tib /and let it settle.

--/Kitab Wasf al-At’ima al-Mu’tada /(The Description of Familiar Foods)
trans. Charles Perry

Redaction:

1 ½ lbs. lamb
3 cups water
4 oz. prunes
½ lb. onion (2 medium)
2 ¼ grams saffron
2 ½ oz. raisins
4 oz. red wine vinegar
1 oz. jujubes
2 tsp. mint
3 tsp. mixture of pepper, mace, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom
3 oz. sugar

   1. Soak jujubes and prunes in water to soften.
   2. Fry the meat with 1 ½ tsp. spice mixture
   3. When browned, add water to cover and bring to a boil.
   4. Chop onion into a large dice.
   5. Add onions to meat/water mixture.
   6. When onions are halfway tender, add prunes (cut in half), raisins
      and jujubes (cut in half and seeded) and bring to a slow boil.
   7. Dissolve saffron in a little of the meat broth; add this and
      vinegar to stew.
   8. If desired, add 3 oz. sugar.
   9. Bring to a full boil and add mint and remaining spice mixture
  10. Simmer until tender.
  11. Can be served over couscous.

Hope this helps!

Kiri