Spring Eating: Easter Lamb

Turn away today, vegetarians, because one of the two foods traditionally associated with Spring and its twin celebrations Easter and Passover is lamb. Carnivores, the bad news is lamb is not particularly popular on the American table, so the little you find in a supermarket is not homegrown but mostly flown from New Zealand. The good news is you can often find it at a farmers' market, fresh and clean. And, yes, relatively costly compared to, say, pork or chicken. I always get sticker shock when I buy farm fresh lamb. But it's a once a year tradition to mark Spring with this particular meat, so if you can handle it, here are some traditional lamb recipes from around the world.

Gigot d'agneau
This French roast leg of lamb is the Gallic go-to Easter feed. It's simple, tasty and very friendly to anything else you serve. The French frequently accompany it with white beans stewed in tomatoes, parsley, garlic and rosemary that echo the spicing of the lamb.
serves 6-8

8 lb leg of lamb, trimmed of fat
4-5 garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp ground cumin (this is not traditional but I do love the flavor it gives lamb)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
Sea Salt

About 2 hours before you're ready to roast, remove the lamb from the fridge. Wash it and pat it very dry. Let it sit on the counter, warming up.

Preheat oven to 450º. Anyway you can, make a paste of the garlic, rosemary, black pepper, optional cumin and olive oil. Cut a few tiny slits in the lamb. Rub a little extra olive oil all over the lamb, then rub on the spice paste, shoving some down into those slits. Salt the lamb. Roast it at 450º 20 minutes to get a brown crust on the outside. Lower heat to 375º and roast about 2 hours. Turn the meat over after an hour so it browns evenly.  Check after 90 minutes; if it's pink inside and that's the way you like, stop here.
    Remove lamb from pan and wrap it in foil for 10 minutes to rest and stay warm. Remove all the fat from the pan, leaving the scrapings and drippings and burnt bits. Pour in 1/2 c red wine and 1/2 c broth or water. Put the pan on the stove on medium heat and stir to get all those bits into the liquid to make a simple thin gravy.  This should take 2 minutes.
    Serve the lamb sliced with spoonfuls of sauce on top and chopped fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish.

Greek Lamb "Youvetzki": Lamb with Orzo
  serves 6-8
2 lbs boneless cubed lamb
2 tsp dried oregano
1 lb orzo pasta
8 oz tomato sauce or puree (canned or boxed)
6 tbsp butter (unsalted)
½ cup dry white wine
1 lg onion, thinly sliced
salt to your taste plus ¼ tsp fresh black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese to garnish
¼ cup freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
 

Preheat oven to 450º. In a large heavy-gauge casserole, over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp butter and add lamb, onion, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Brown lamb and onions, stirring frequently. Add wine, cover and put in the oven 20 minutes. Add 1cup water, reduce heat to 350 and bake until meat is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove meat to a plate and to the pot add 3 cups water, tomato sauce, 4 tbsp butter and pinches of salt and pepper. Cover and bake 10-12 minutes.  Meanwhile in a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook orzo 5 minutes. Drain and add to the casserole with the lamb. Bake 10 minutes more. Garnish with parsley and serve with grated cheese.

Tibetan Lamb Curry with potatoes
serves 4
1 lb boneless lamb, cubed into bite sized chunks 
1 tsp ginger/garlic paste (for the marinade)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 c plain yogurt
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cooking oil (corn, canola, safflower, mustard)
2 large onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tomatoes
1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
3 medium potatoes, cut into bite size chunks and boiled 5 minutes until almost tender
chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Combine 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste, ground cumin, chili powder, salt and yogurt and stir to blend. Marinate the lamb in the spiced yogurt overnight or at least 3 hours.

In a heavy medium casserole heat the oil. Add chopped onions and ginger/garlic paste. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the lamb, marinade and all. Cook over medium high heat for a few minutes to brown the onions and lamb. (The lamb may not exactly get brown and crisp due to the yogurt but don’t worry.) Add the star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and cloves and blend. Continue cooking two minutes.
Chop the tomatoes and add them with enough water to cover everything. Add a pinch of salt and cook until liquid boils. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 45 minutes or until the lamb feels tender when you put a fork in it. Check from time to time that there is enough liquid in the pot and add water if necessary.
     To serve: skim the solidified fat off the top. Add the pre-cooked potatoes. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer to warm thoroughly.   Remove the star anise, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. (It is imperative to remove the bay leaves as these if eaten can cause severe digestive distress.) Garnish if you’d like with chopped fresh cilantro leaves. Serve with rice or naan—something to mop up that aromatic sauce.


Palestinian Lamb with Chard and Chickpeas

I've posted this before because it's so popular and easy to make.
Serves 6

1½ -3/4 lb boneless lamb stew meat, lean if you can get it

2 tsp ground allspice
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3-4 tbsp olive oil, 1 reserved til the end
1 lg cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
5 cardamom pods, cracked to release the seeds
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 lg bay leaf
2 tsp salt, divided (1 tsp of coarse sea salt if you have it)
3½ -4 cup water or vegetable broth or combination of the two
½ cup medium grain or paella rice or Fregola or Farro
1 14-0z can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 bunch chard, thick stems removed, washed, leaves chopped
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste
6 garlic cloves
½ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Lemon wedges for garnish

Coat the lamb with the allspice. Cover the bottom of a heavy gauge lidded pot with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add onions and sauté 2 minutes to soften. Add the lamb. Sauté until meat is brown, 5-7 minutes. Add cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves, bay leaf, and nutmeg. Stir to blend. Add the water/broth (use 4 cups if you plan to use farro), bring to a boil, cover and lower heat. Simmer 90 minutes or until lamb is tender.
   Stir in 1 tsp salt, black pepper, chickpeas and the rice or fregola or farro. Raise heat to bring to a boil, then immediately lower to simmer and cook until grain is soft. (Rice will take 10-12 minutes, fregola 12-15 and farro 15-20.) If you need more liquid, add water. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Add chopped chard leaves, stirring them in as you go.
     Mash or mince the garlic cloves with 1 tsp coarse sea salt. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small frying pan and brown the salted garlic, 1-2 minutes. Add to the stew and blend. Remove the stew from the heat. When ready to serve, stir in the lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve in bowls with lemon wedge and pita.

Swedish Lamb with coffee
serves at least 6

1 leg of lamb, 7 to 8 pounds, boned, rolled and tied
3 tbsp butter mixed with 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced (optional)
1 tsp salt
6 black peppercorns
4 c hot stock (lamb or chicken) or water
1 c hot coffee with sugar and cream

Preheat oven to 450º. Prick the lamb all over with the point of a sharp knife and rub the butter and parsley mixture into the holes. Butter a roasting pan lightly, put in the meat, carrot and onion and brown in the oven 15 to 20 minutes.
    Lower the heat to 350º, sprinkle the meat with the salt and add the peppercorns and 2 cups of stock. Baste every 15 minutes, adding the coffee and the remaining stock gradually. Cook until the roast reaches the internal temperature desired (140 degrees for rare lamb, higher for well-done).
  Remove the roast to a platter and keep it warm. Strain the pan liquid and skim off the fat. To make a roux, combine 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp flour for every cup of liquid in a skillet, cook it briefly over medium heat, add the pan liquid, whisk until smooth and boil until it starts to thicken. Simmer 10 minutes. While this is happening, slice the lamb. Pass the sauce with the lamb.

Armenian Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas
serves 4
olive oil to coat your pan
4 lamb shanks, trimmed of fat and gristle
4 lg tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 medium red onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cayenne or chili pepper
4 c heated vegetable broth, or water
1 20-oz can chickpeas (2 c), rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 450º. Coat the bottom or a large roasting pan lightly with olive oil. Cover with lamb shanks and roll them to coat in the oil. Roast 30 minutes, turning halfway so they brown evenly. Remove pan from oven and reduce heat to 400º. Cover the lamb with the tomatoes and onions. Add the garlic, herbs, spices plus salt and pepper to your taste. Pour the hot broth or water around the meat. Cover the pan and return to the oven. Roast 1 1/2 hours.
   Uncover, stir and add chickpeas, stirring them into the sauce, and roast another 20-25 minutes. By now the lamb should be close to falling off the shank bone. If not, keep roasting.
Serve garnished with chopped flat leaf parsley and flat bread to mop up the yummy sauce.

Other lamb dishes you might explore are Moroccan tagines, Turkish moussaka, Scotch shepherds pie, and Mogul kebabs.