Monday, May 15, 2006

1/3 c onion
3 T vegetable oil
2 T ground coriander
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 T ground cardamom
1 t ground ginger
1 t turmeric
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t ground red pepper
2 lb 1” cubes lamb stew meat
2 c beef stock
salt
1/4 c plain yogurt
1 t fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion and saute until golden about 4 minutes.  Reduce heat to low add spices and stir 1 minute.  Add lamb to skillet.  Increase heat to medium high and cook stirring frequently until meat is evenly browned 10 to 15 minutes.  Add stock and salt.

Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until meat is tender about 20 minutes.  Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens about 20 minutes.  Stir in yogurt and lemon juice.  Serve immediately over cooked rice.

*Cook’s note.  I make my own curry powder, so I just substitute a couple of teaspoons of it for al of the spices, save the pepper and red pepper.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Meats • Lamb
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Sunday, April 09, 2006

Lately, I’ve been trying to do some stuff with lamb.  I’ve never been a huge fan of it, but I know the DH loves it.  It all boils down to being bored with chicken and beef.  We eat a lot of both, as it’s the easiest to do stuff with.  You can grill it, fry it, bake it, broil it and usually it’s all good.  He’s not a big fish fan, and while I love fish like salmon and tuna, I’m not as keen on cod or other mild white fish so we tend not to eat a lot of fish.  For me, shrimp belongs in a shrimp cocktail and little else. So finding new meats and new tastes are right now key to keeping me interested in cooking and not getting too down about having CD. 

Which brings me to lamb.

I’ve been playing around with it a bit, starting with that French Provence lamb slow cooker dish I did a few weeks ago.  It was really good, but I wanted to try something else.  I found this minted lamb recipe and wanted to try it.  Thursday night I pull the meat down from the freezer to have it ready for Friday.  Friday night I’m all ready to cook it and guess what?  It needs to marinate for at least four hours!!  Now what?  I look closely at the list of ingredients for the marinade.  I could do a dry rub with part of it then the liquids could be made into a sauce and reduced a bit.  Cool, let’s get started.  Hmm.  The 8 bits of lamb I thought I had?  Try 4 big pieces. Oops.  Ok, no biggie, two skillets should do the trick and just split the sauce between both.  Except one of my skillets is steel and the other is hard anodized aluminum.  It was a bit tense trying to watch both, as they were wanting to cook at different rates, and one was smoking (First time I set off the heat/smoke detector in a while.) and while all this is going on, I’m trying to roast up some carrots to go with it.  As frantic as it all looked, it came together well.  I can definitely see doing this again, and I’d probably do it the same way, except I’d get a chunk of bobneless lamb and cut it up.

Minted Lamb Chops
8 lamb rib chops with bone, cut 1” thick
1/4 cup snipped fresh mint
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons worth)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp bottled mince garlic or 1-2 cloves fresh
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 Tbsp finely shreddded mint

Trim fat from chops.  Place chops in resealable plastic bag or in a shallow dish.  For the marinade place all the ingredients except the finely shredded mint into a bowl and mix.  Pour over chops. Seal the bag, if using.  Turn the chops to coat. Cover if in a dish.  marinate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Drain chops, discarding the marinade.  Place chops on a grill or in broiler 3-4 inches from the heat.  Grill or broil til desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking.  Aloow 12 minutes or so for medium-rare and 15 or so for medium.

If using the skillet method, heat pan over medium high heat.  Add a bit of oil.  When the oils starts showing the first wisps of smoke, add the chops.  Wait for several minutes, oil the side facing upwards, then flip, letting them sear.  Cook until desired doneness.

Transfer chops to a serving platter and sprinkle with shredded mint. 

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Lamb
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

In this culinary trip around the globe, i decided that one needed to be done via the slow cooker.  There really something to having your dinner ready the second you walk in the door, isn’t there?  Last summer my low cooker (crock pot) got a major workout along with the grill.  The problem I found though is that boneless, skinless chicken breasts really didn’t work for us.  The meat was rubbery and never really held the flavor of the ingredients in there.  Now beef, I’ve never had issues with.  It’s only been chicken.  Chicken with bone in/skin on does ok, but I still wasn’t a big fan of it.  But being adventurous as always, I decided to give it a new lease on life.

I wanted to add some lamb to the rota.  We’ve been eating a fair amount of lamb recently and I’ve really grown to like it.  I found the perfect trial recipe for the slow cooker attempt - Lamb Stew Provencal from my 200 Low Carb Slow Cooker recipe book.  The only thing in there that I wasn’t sure of was the fennel.  I’d never had fennel before so I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not, but why not give it a go.  This morning was the “dump and go” maneuver.

It was extremely tasty!  The lamb fell off the bones, the veggies were all done and the sauce was thick enough that I didn’t even bother trying t thicken it more.  The one thing I will say is that this is one of those stick to your rib stews, so I wouldn’t want it if I was in the mood for a light dinner or during the hottest part of summer.  This is the perfect cold, rainy night meal.  One note - make sure you know how big your crock pot is!!  I only had 2.5 lbs (including bones) of meat and it *barely* fit.  Feel free to adjust the recipe to your slow cooker

Lamb Stew Provencal

3 lbs (1.5 kg) lamb stew meat (I did bone in shoulder, but go for the cubed, deboned meat)
3 Tbsp (45 milliliters) olive oil
1 whole fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
4 cloves of garlic, crushed (I did 6 and sliced)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary, whole needles
15 oz (425 grams) canned black soybeans, drained (I used a cup dried black beans due to the soy allergy.  You can use canned beans if you want.)
1 cup beef broth (Again, I substituted chicken both (that’s what I had on hand) with a gf “beef” vegan bouillon cube and some red wine)
1 tsp chicken bouillon concentrate (this got left out - didn’t see the point since I was already using chicken broth and added a large bouillon cube already)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried majoram
1/2 tsp dried savory
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Guar or xantham (if needed)

Season the lamb with salt and pepper.  In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and brown the lamb on all sides over medium-high heat.

Place the fennel, onion, and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker, Add bay leaf and rosemary.  Dump the beans (whichever you are using) on top of that.  When the lamb is browned, put it on top of the veggies.

Add the one cup broth to the pan to get all those nice browned lamb bits off the bottom.  Transfer that to a bowl and stir in the bouillon, and the herbs.  Pour the mixture over the lamb.  Cover, set to low and let it cook for 8-9 hours.

When it’s done, (if needed) thicken the liquid to the texture of heavy cream with the guar or xantham.

Tomorrow we are setting off to Vietnam.  I’ve already got the chicken marinating and the dipping sauce is all prepared.  All I have to do tomorrow is cook the chicken and prep the salad.  Man, when did I get so organised?

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Lamb
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