Pulled Lamb Shoulder Carnitas V2 [Zack]

"Lamb Carnitas" have been the most popular keywords in a Google search that have led people to Mama Tommy's blog.  This only slightly edges out the keywords "bang bang sex", which leads to my mom's Bang Bang Shrimp post.  I still don't understand how someone looking for bang bang sex gets distracted and clicks on a picture of shrimp (or I don't even understand what bang bang sex means), but there are more important things to ponder in life.

This second version is easier than my first Lamb Carnitas post.  You don't need to confit the cubed shoulder, you just brown the whole sucker in a pot, and then let it roast in a covered vessel for about 6.5 hours.  The meat will fall apart with just one stern look at it when it comes out of the oven.

The savory, juicy pulled lamb is accompanied with a fresh tomato salsa that brightens up your tacos.  It will make your taco pop!

Process:

Arrange your ingredients for roasting the lamb shoulder.

Start a large oven-proof pot over medium heat.  You will brown your shoulder in here.  Loosely chop your big red peppers, slice your spicy peppers, and chop your onions.

Salt each side of the lamb shoulder and add it to the pot with 1T of oil.  Brown all sides of the shoulder, then add your whole cumin seeds, whole unpeeled garlic cloves, and your chopped veggies.  Stir it all around for a few minutes until you can smell the cumin and the veggies develop a bit of color.

Add in your chicken stock and then dust the lamb shoulder with your cumin and coriander powder.

Cover your pot and add it to your oven at 250F / 125C.  Let this roast for 6 hours or so, and then poke it with a knife to see if the meat falls apart.  I decided to pull mine at 6.5 hours, but it's not a science.

I placed the whole pot into the fridge and let it sit covered overnight (yes I added a 2nd shoulder because I wanted to make a lot and freeze it).  It's not necessary to let it sit - you can go straight to the shredding step if you can't contain yourself.

The next day, the fat had solidified on the top of the liquid and I scraped off the the fat with a spoon.

Shred the lamb with your fingers or a couple of forks.

Don't waste the valuable tasty liquid!  Heat it up and reduce it down a bit.  Puree the mixture until it's a smooth sauce.  You can use a tablespoon of this to add juiciness to the lamb (after cooking it in the frying pan).  Also, you'll have sauce more left over - this is a great sauce for pasta, use it as a base for a soup, be creative - go nuts!

Now, it's time to prep your salsa.  

Lightly chop the tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers (de-seeded if you want to cut down on the heat), and cilantro.  Toss it all in a food processor with 1.5T of red wine vinegar, and puree until chunky.  Add a pinch of salt.

In a frying pan over medium heat with 1T to 2T of oil, add in the lamb and cook until parts of it  become crispy and brown.  This should take about 5 minutes.  Add in 1T of the sauce if you want right before taking it off the heat.

Spoon it into a nice tortilla, top with salsa, cilantro, and maybe some fresh avocado.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2.5 lb / 1.1kg lamb shoulder
2 onions
1c chicken stock
1T cumin powder
1T coriander powder
1T whole cumin seeds
3 birdseye chiles, sliced in half
6 whole garlic cloves
a few tortillas
a few cilantro leaves for garnish
1 avocado (optional)

Salsa:
4 finger-hot peppers
1 handful cilantro
1 medium red onion
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
1.5 T red wine vinegar


Song:  Jamie Cullum - Wind Cries Mary (cover of Jimi)

Hacked Sous Vide Lamb Rack [Zack]

Wowee does that title rhyme. 

I normally try to post my own recipes on this website. This is a case where I shamelessly stole from my favorite food writer Kenji Lopez. Since he's a genius and I'm developing a man-crush on him, I decided to try his method to replicate the sous vide process. Even though I have a lot of kitchen tools, I don't own a sous vide machine yet, so I called up my buddy Sven and we used his beer cooler instead.

I've always wanted to try sous vide cooking from the moment I went to Per Se with Lauren. That meal was the first time either of us had had sous vide meat before and it really blew us away. It was so tender and perfectly cooked!

I bet right now you're thinking: why would someone pay $500 to put some vacuum-sealed food into a temperature-controlled water bath? If you have been to a fancy restaurant before and have wondered how the heck your steak so tender and how it's cooked so perfectly on the inside, the answer is probably sous vide.

In short, the process allows you to cook your food to the perfect desired temperature (i.e. if you want a medium-rare steak to be 135F, you cook it in 135F water so it doesn't over-cook). Then you can take it out of the bag, sear the steak on both sides for some caramelization, and proceed to amaze your guests. Some people even claim that it will save you money in the long-term because you can buy less expensive cuts of meat and cook them in your machine to make them heavenly. I don't believe that though :).

If you have wanted to try to cook sous vide, this recipe and process is the poor man's version. You won't get the pin-point accuracy of the machine, but you'll get very very close. This was hands-down the best lamb I've ever cooked and it was also the most fun way to cook it.

If you want to study the master, here is Kenji's link on cracking sous vide cooking.

Process:

I suggest doing 2 full racks of lamb ribs if you are going through the trouble. I bought 2 racks from my local butcher and sliced them in half so I could have separate servings prepared. Make sure you take your lamb out of the fridge 45 minutes before you submerge it in the water bath so it comes to room temperature and therefore cooks more efficiently.

Prepare the shallots by slicing them. Peel your garlic, ready your rosemary, and divide up the ingredients between four 1 gallon-sized ziploc bags. Add one portion of lamb ribs to each bag and ½ T of olive oil. 

Here is the tricky part: boil a few pots of water so they reach 140F. We had to guess how much heat we would lose by pouring the water into the water cooler and also how much it would cool down sitting in the cooler for 1.5 hours. We started with water at 140F and it ended at 130 right on the nose.  We guessed perfectly!

Since you want to get all of the air out of the bags so the meat has maximum contact with the water, you should keep the tops open and slowly submerge the bottom of the bag so the water displaces the air. Seal at the top right before the water rushes in.

Do this to all 4 bags and submerge them in the water. They shouldn't float if you've done this correctly. Cover the cooler back up and make sure the lid is tightly closed.  I let the lamb cook for 1.5 hours in the water and did something else (AKA had a beer).

Pull out one bag and test the internal temperature. I wanted mine right at 130F (which non-coincidentally the same temperature that the water ended up at the end). It was spot-on.

Place it back in the bag and then back into the water until you have your finishing heat source ready to go. Fire up the grill or to heat up a pan with some oil to medium-high.

Your next mission is to brown the outside of the meat without cooking the inside any further. Since the inside is perfectly cooked already, we want to sear the outside as quickly as possible. Brown all 4 sides on your hot grill until they have a nice color.

My partner in cooking crime Sven is finishing the racks off on the grill.

Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes, slice between the bones, and arrange them artistically! 

Since you are cooking a lot at once, I suggest saving the lamb you don't want to eat immediately in the fridge for a day or 2. When you want to finish off the left-over portions, heat up a pot full of water to 130F, take it off of the heat, and submerge for 30 minutes. Then repeat the browning process.

Ingredients:
2 shallots:
3 cloves of garlic
4 fresh rosemary sprigs (or thyme or even tarragon)
2T olive oil
2 lamb racks, bone in, fat mostly cleaned up.
You'll also need a large beer cooler and some zip-loc bags.


Song to sous vide to:  James Brown - The Payback

Lamb and Roasted Butternut Squash Curry [Zack]

Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines.  I got introduced to it pretty late in life - in college by my Indian exchange student friends.  I've been making up for lost time ever since.

The first dish I ordered was the ubiquitous Butter Chicken.  I loved how silky-smooth the sauce was, the complexity of the spice mixture, and the kick of heat at the end of each bite.  I quickly learned that Butter Chicken was not the only good dish that the Indian culture had to offer and quickly expanded to favorites such as Saag Paneer, Dhal soup, Chana Masala, Lamb Vindaloo, etc.

If you like butter chicken, this recipe is the next logical step to branch out.  The butternut squash and coconut milk create a very smooth curry that feels like you are riding in a luxury sedan.  The cardamom spice sings over top the flavors and really gives it an interesting twist.  If you prefer pumpkin, feel free to substitute it for the squash.  If it's too intimidating finding and grinding those spices, you can always use a curry paste from the grocery store.  You can add spice directly proportional with the amount of chest hair your dinner guests will have.

This curry is dedicated to Gita Pitel - thanks for teaching me how to cook Indian food!

Process:

Pre-heat your oven to 400F / 200C.  Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and coat lightly with olive oil or peanut oil.  Sprinkle with salt and roast until caramelized - about 30 minutes. 

Next, while your squash is roasting, you'll want to toast your spices for your curry paste.  In a frying pan over medium heat with no oil, add the cumin seeds, dried chiles, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, anise seeds, and seeds from 7 cardamom pods.  Toast until you can smell the spices and they are slightly browned, about 5 mins on med heat.  Make sure to shake the pan around so they they toast evenly and don't burn. 

Grind them up in a mortar and pestle.

Add in roughly chopped minced garlic, ginger, and birdseye chiles (take out the seeds for less spice).  

Mash to a paste.

Cube the lamb shoulder, cutting off as much fat and silver skin as your sanity will allow.  Alternatively, you can save 5-10 minutes by buying cubed lamb.

Brown the cubes in batches in 2 T of oil in a large pot.  Don't over-crowd the pot or else you won't get proper browning.  Transfer each batch to a plate.  

Once you are finished cooking the lamb, add your diced onions to the empty pot.  Cook for a  few mins in the lamb goodness. 

Your squash should be about finished by now.  Pull it out of the oven and keep it nearby so you can scoop it out into your soup pot with a spoon.

Add your curry paste to the onions and cook for 2 more mins until fragrant.  Watch out – the spice may get into the air and pepper spray the room if you add a lot!  

Add 1/2 of your roasted squash into the pot along with your chicken stock.  Let this come up to a gentle simmer and then blend the whole thing with a stick blender or in your food processor.  This will smooth out your sauce and provide a nice base for the curry.

Start your rice.  Toast 1T of cumin seeds in 1T of oil or butter before adding the rice according to the directions on the box.

Add the lamb back in.  Also add in your curry leaves and the rest of the squash to the pot.  Give it a good stir.  You'll get a pleasant contrast between the smooth and creamy base and the chunks of squash. 

Keep stirring for about 10 minutes, add your turmeric powder, coriander powder, and taste to see if you want to add any chile spice (lal murchu).  Adjust the salt content as well.  Simmer for about 10 more minutes to thicken it up.  The last step is to add the coconut milk into the curry.  This will take it over the top!

Check one last time for salt and spice content.  Serve over some freshly-made cumin rice.  For garnish, dice an onion and sprinkle lemon juice over the top of it.  

Ingredients:
Instead of the below spices, you can use a red curry paste from the grocery store.

1 2 lb boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed and cubed

2 cups of cubed pumpkin, roasted

1.5 cups chicken stock

1 medium onion, diced

2 inches ginger

2 large cloves garlic

2 birdseye chiles

2/3 tsp cumin seeds

4 dried chiles

1/3 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/3 tsp mustard seeds

1/3 tsp anise seeds

1/3 tsp cinnamon

7 cardamom pods (only the seeds)

1/2 tsp tumeric

1 tsp ground coriander

10 curry leaves

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup basmanti or brown rice
1 T cumin seeds

garnish:
1 medium onion, diced
juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Song to cook that curry:  James Brown - the payback

Family secret / Breast of lamb [Nick & Mike]

Mom and dad never had much money, yet I don’t remember ever wanting for anything. When you have a mom who’s Italian, there’s always pasta with gravy on the table or dishes that tasted great yet were very inexpensive to make. Here’s a great example: breast of lamb. I’ll bet no one has ever seen it on a restaurant menu. That’s because breast of lamb is always layered with tons of fat; you had to really dig deep to find those thin layers of lamb in between. But there was a wow factor… it tasted great. It was a poor man’s version of a well-marbleized rib eye steak.

This past July 4^th weekend, I decided to create Mom’s breast of lamb recipe with Nick. Talk about an impossible task. Every butcher or grocery store I called in Columbus had never heard of breast of lamb, or never carried it. I even called several meat wholesalers, no luck. I finally tried ­­­Blues Creek at the North Market. They said they would get me a batch. I ordered 15 lbs and 2 days later I picked it up. Price? $1.79 a pound. Why so cheap? The high fat content.

Mom never parboiled the lamb when she made it, but it was so fatty my brother Tommy suggested to do it. After an hour or so we removed the ribs and let them cool. Nick took a bunch of lemons and squeezed them, and chopped garlic. We poured the juice and added the chopped garlic into a pot that held the lamb. We added oregano, and put the mixture into the refrigerator for several hours. The grill was fired up. I told Nick we had to be careful because the fat content was still high and would cause flames and burn the lamb. Finally they were done. Nick and I each took a section of the breast of lamb to taste… “Oh my gosh, the best lamb ever.”

Roasted Leg of Lamb [Zack]

The first time I learned to cook a whole leg of lamb was with my uncle in Jacksonville FL. This was during one of our frequent cooking hangout sessions where he taught me some of his cool tricks (while drinking wine of course). I had never roasted large piece of meat before besides the occasional chicken, so I was excited to understand how it all worked. Tom (of course) took it a full step further and we grilled it.  It added a great flavor and was interesting to see how you can grill using indirect heat.

One of the techniques Tom showed me was to make small garlic clove-size holes in the meat using a paring knife and shoving the cloves down in there. This really maximizes the flavor in the meat. It was an “aha!” moment for me and I had one of those feelings like “why didn’t I think of that??” Kinda like the beer helmet.

Since I currently don't have a grill, I referred to my good friend Jamie Oliver. In one of his episodes, he roasts a leg of lamb on the grated oven rack and then places all of his vegetables on a try below it.  This allows you to utilize all of the juice drippings to make flavorful veggies, but also insures that there will be a nice crust all around the leg instead of having a steamed bottom part.

Process:

Start by bashing up some herbs. You can use any strong herb with lamb such as thyme, rosemary, tarragon, or oregano to compliment the meat. Or you can use a combination of them. Take a rolling pin and bruise the herbs on a cutting board (or in a mortar and pestle).

Then hit the garlic once to crush it with the same instrument and peal the skin off. Add it all into a bowl with some hot pepper flakes and add in a few glugs of olive oil. Let the flavors combine for a while and start working on the lamb leg.

Next, get your lamb leg out and make evenly-spaced 1 inch deep holes in meaty parts of the leg. 

Salt and pepper the leg. Take your olive oil, herb, and garlic mixture and rub it all over the leg. Make sure to push the garlic cloves down into the holes you made - try to get some rosemary in there too. 

Bag the leg up and let it sit for a while in the fridge to marinate, up to a few days. I didn’t leave it for very long and it was still amazing. 

Start preparing your vegetables by boiling some quartered potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain them and scuff them up in the colander so they grab more juice (kinda like the fork indentations in gnocchi). Cut a few tomatoes in half and quarter some large red onions. Place all of these in a baking dish and toss with a small bit of olive oil so they don’t stick to the bottom of your baking dish.

Pre-heat your oven to 400F / 200C.  30-45 minutes before you want to start cooking the lamb leg, take it out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature.  Otherwise, it will not cook evenly.  Place your baking dish of vegetables on the bottom rack and put the lamb leg on the grate in the middle of the oven.

Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes (for medium-rare) until the leg looks nicely browned and the veggies have good color.

Let the lamb rest for about 20 minutes loosely covered and carve and serve.  

Recipe:

1 large 4 lb bone-in lamb leg
Fresh rosemary (or other herbs such as fresh oregano, thyme, or tarragon)

Hot pepper flakes to taste (AKA a lot)
~6T of olive oil

½ head garlic
Salt
Pepper

Potatoes, quartered and boiled for 10 minutes (any type is fine)
Halved tomatoes
Quartered red onions

Grilled Lollipop Lamb Chops [Tom & June]

This is one of those great foods you can eat with your hands. Some people believe lamb can taste gamey. The balsamic vinegar marinade will mask any gamey flavor.

What you will need:
~ Rack of Lamb - 8 chops
~ 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
~ 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
~ 4 minced garlic cloves
~ salt and pepper

Racks usually have 7 to 8 chops. You will need to cut them, have your butcher cut them or you can purchase them individually.

Place the chops in a baking dish. Salt and pepper. Pour 1/2 of the balsamic vinegar over the chops. Turn them over and then pour the remainder of the vinegar on top. Top with the garlic and rosemary. Cover and refrigerate until 10 minutes before you are ready to broil or grill. Do not marinate for more than 1 hour.

We grilled our chops and then added a balsamic reduction to add some pizzazz! Our side dishes are an eggplant tower and grits.

Lamb Carnitas Greek Style [Zack]

One of my favorite things to do is cruise the internet looking for interesting recipe ideas.  One of my favorite people to read is Kenji Lopez-Alt because he approaches cooking very scientifically.  This recipe took the traditional way of making Carnitas and gives a practical approach for the home cook.  I adapted his recipe for Pork Carnitas by using lamb and taking it in my own direction.

This dish is a great heavy appetizer at a dinner party or goes great with a fresh Greek Salad.  It's great to prepare the day before a party since all you have to do is heat and assemble it.  Plus the flavors get to know each other better ;)

Process:


Find a nice large lamb shoulder (preferably de-boned, but if not, you can easily figure out where it is and where to cut by feeling around) and dice it into 1 inch cubes.

Start a large frying pan on medium heat and let it get hot for 10 minutes while you continue to dice.  Once the pan is properly heated, add 3 T of olive oil and then brown the meat.  Do this in batches!  Don't over-crowd the pan - there should be even spacing between the chunks of lamb or else you will just steam it :(

Transfer the browned lamb to your cooking vessel (I used a large casserole dish) and then pour the excess oil and juices into the same dish if you are worried about it browning too much on the bottom of the pan.  Finish carmelizing the outside of the lamb with the remaning batches and adding it to the casserole dish.

Add the dried peppers, sliced onions, and oil to cover the lamb pieces.

Add in the powdered spices, juice from the orange, and cumin seeds (toast in the leftover oil in the pan if you are feeling fancy.) 

Give everything a good mix, and transfer it to your pre-heated oven at 275 F / 135 C and let it slowly cook for 3-4 hours.  During cooking, the onions will slowly and deeply carmelize, the peppers will rehydrate and release their heat, and the spices will give the lamb nice zing.

Check the lamb after 3 hours by seeing if it will easily pull apart with a knife or 2 forks.  If not, put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes and check again. 

If you cooking in advance, you can place the tray covered in the fridge for at least a week.  When you are ready to serve, take the lamb and pour it into a mesh strainer set up over a bowl to let the juices and oil drain.  Shred the lamb with 2 forks and add back a few T of the oil/juice mixture to moisten.  Place under a broiler and stir every few minutes to make sure it crisps and browns evenly.

Save the oil for round 2 in a jar in your freezer.  This recipe is one of my favorites and I'm sure you will want a second batch within a few weeks....

Greek Yogurt Sauce:
Combine the yogurt, diced feta, diced cilantro, the lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste. 

To Assemble:
Toast the sliced bread (make your own!) with some olive oil or garlic butter.  Top with the browned pulled lamb, then the Greek Yogurt Sauce, then the minced shallots.  Enjoy!

Recipe:
Pulled Lamb:
1 lamb shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes (4-6 lbs or 2kg)
3-4 cups of olive oil (depending on the size of your cooking vessel)
1 large onion, sliced into moons
2 T cumin seeds (or 1.5 T of cumin powder)
5-10 dried chile peppers
1 T of salt (can add more at the end)
2 T corriander powder
Juice of one orange

Greek Yogurt sauce:
1 cup greek or natural unflavored yogurt (no sugar!)
1/3 cup diced feta cheese
1 bunch diced cilantro
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Diced shallots
toasted, sliced bread