Lamb

Click on any of the recipes below to go right to it.

Sherried Lamb Chops
Greek Lamb Stew"
Braised Lamb
Lamb Cassoulet
Greek Lamb Stew
Braised Lamb Shanks with Vegetables
Garlic Lamb Kebabs
Lamb Chops with Rosemary
Roast Lamb with Port and Anchovy Sauce

Dredge the chops in seasoned flour  and then brown in the olive oil and butter.  Remove the chops, saute the onion, garlic and peppers until they are tender.  Then add the sherry, tomatoes and vinegar and simmer for five minutes.  Serve with potatoes and steamed vegetables.

This pairs nicely with a Cabernet such as J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon or with  a fruity Beaujolais such as Fougeres Beaujolais.

Heat 3/4 of the olive oil in a shallow roasting pan, add the vegetables and cook in a 220°C oven (stirring occasionally)  until they are lightly browned. Rub the lamb with the rest of the oil and with salt and pepper.  Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.  Roast the lamb in the same pan until it browns (about 30 minutes).

Reduce the oven to 170°C.  Pour the Beaujolais over the roast, sprinkle in the thyme and rosemary, add the bay leaf, cover lightly with foil and bake for 90 minutes.  Baste the meat, place the browned vegetables around the roast, correct seasonings, replace the foil and bake for another 90 minutes.

Remove the meat and vegetables and set them aside. On top of the stove, add the red currant jelly to the cooking liquid and reduce it to about 1/2.  Add back the meat and vegetables and serve with lots of crusty bread.

The perfect wine with this dish is a Beaujolais such as Fougeres Beaujolais.  We have also enjoyed it with Achaia Clauss Nemea from Greece.

Soak the beans overnight in water.  Drain, add more water, the bacon chunk and the bay leaf.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Drain, discard the bay leaf, cut the bacon into 3cm chunks.  Place the bacon, beans and Polish Sausage in a large casserole.

Dredge the lamb in seasoned flour and brown in the oil. Transfer the browned meat to the casserole.  Saute the onions in the remaining oil until they are brown, then add the tomato paste, thyme, oregano, onion and water.  Correct seasonings and simmer for a few minutes, then add to the casserole.  Cover the casserole and bake in  a 200°C oven for 20 minutes.  Reduce the heat to160°C, stir the casserole, cover tightly and bake for another 2 1/2 hours.  During that time, stir occasionally and add water as necessary.  Serve with crusty bread.

Wine Matches 

Corvo Rosso is our choice here, or try Neirano Barbera D'Asti . 

Greek Lamb Stew

Ingredients

Instructions

Saute the lamb, green onions, and dill in the butter until the lamb is nicely browned.   Add the wine and water and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to about one half.  Correct seasonings.

Blanch the lettuce in boiling water.  Add it to the reduced stew and cook together for 15 minutes. Remove from the stove. Drain off the liquid and retain.  Set aside the lamb. 

Beat together the egg yolk and lemon juice.  Still beating, slowly dribble in the cooking liquid.  Heat this sauce through, then add back to the lamb.  Serve over steamed rice.

Wine Matches

We like this dish with a fruity wine such as Fougeres Beaujolais  or Achaia Clauss Demestica Red or with a serious red like Sandalford Shiraz.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Vegetables

Ingredients

400 ml Caves Velhas Romeira
400 ml chicken stock
400 ml beef stock
300 ml red current jelly
    4      garlic cloves, minced
  10 ml  red wine vinegar
    5 ml  each of dried thyme, dried basil, dried savoury, fennel seeds (this is Herbes de       Provence)
    3 kg  lamb shanks (6 shanks, each about 500gm)
             salt and pepper to taste
100 ml  olive oil
500 gm  plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
500 gm  turnips, in 2cm wedges
500 gm  fennel, cut into wedges
500 gm  carrots, in 2cm slices
250 ml   leaks, chopped
  80 ml   flour
  25 ml   tomato paste
             Topping (see below)

Instructions

Marinate the lamb shanks overnight in 250ml of the wine, the beef and chicken stocks, half the red current jelly, the herbs, vinegar, and minced garlic. Turn occasionally during the marinating. Pat the shanks dry, season with salt and pepper and brown in half of the olive oil in a skillet. Transfer shanks to a roasting pan along with all of the vegetables. Add the marinade to the skillet, bring to a boil, scrape up the brown bits in the pan, and pour over the shanks and vegetables. Cover and bake in a 160°C oven for about two hours. Remove the meat and vegetables to a serving platter and keep warm. Skim the fat off the cooking liquid. In a heavy pot heat the balance of the olive oil, stir in the flour and cook about five minutes. Add the skimmed cooking liquid, the rest of the wine, the rest of the red current jelly, and the tomato paste. Simmer until the sauce is thickened (about ten minutes). Correct seasoning, spoon over the meat and vegetables, and top with a mixture of minced parsley, grated lemon and orange peel, and minced garlic.

Wine Matches

Try the shanks with Neirano Barbera D'Asti or Bleasdale Cabernet Sauvignon.

Garlic Lamb Kebabs

Ingredients

750 gm lamb shoulder, boneless
  60 ml  light soya sauce
120 ml  dry white wine such as Achaia Clauss Demestica White
  40 ml  olive oil
    8       garlic cloves, crushed
  10 ml  dried rosemary
    5 ml  cayenne pepper

Instructions

Trim fat from meat and cut into 3-4 cm cubes. Marinate lamb in a mixture of all remaining ingredients for a few hours, turning the meat occasionally. Thread meat onto skewers and barbecue for about 10 minutes.

Wine Matches

Try Achaia Clauss Nemea or Corvo Rosso with the kebabs.

Lamb Chops with Rosemary

Ingredients

    8         lamb loin chops, trimmed of most but not all fat
  30 ml    olive oil
               salt and pepper
               flour
    1         small minced onion
450 ml    dry red wine such as Corvo Rosso
  25 ml    ground fresh rosemary
450 ml    chicken stock
  50 ml    butter

Instructions

Season the chops with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and fry over medium heat until they are nicely browned and of the desired degree of doneness. Remove the chops from the pan, cover lightly with foil and place in a slow oven to stay warm.

Pour off all but about 30 ml of the fat in the pan. Sauté the onion until it is soft, then add the wine and rosemary and simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all of the cooked-on bits until it is dark and syrupy (about 8 minutes). Add the broth and cook until it is reduced to about 300 ml. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.

Serve the sauce with the meat. We prefer this with either plain white rice or boiled potatoes.

Wine Matches

Our choice here would be  J.Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon.

Roast Lamb with Port and Anchovy Sauce

Ingredients

  2 kg       shoulder or leg of lamb
  2           garlic cloves, thinly sliced
                black pepper
50 ml      olive oil
                rosemary, chopped or powdered
  4            anchovy filets, mashed
300 ml     beef stock or consomme
150 ml     Port
  10 gm    butter
  10 gm    flour
    5 ml     light soya sauce
                salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Score the meat in a diamond pattern, insert garlic slivers under the skin, dust well with black pepper and brown the meat on all sides in the olive oil.  Remove the meat to a baking pan, pour over the oil from the browning process, dust with rosemary and bake in a 200°C oven for about 90 (medium rare) or 120 (well done) minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the anchovy, stock, Port, and salt and pepper until reduced to about 1/2 (10 minutes or so).  Use this to baste the roast as it cooks.

When the roast is done, remove it to a heated serving platter.   Remove excess fat from the roasting pan, add any remaining anchovy/Port basting liquid, and bring to a boil.  Then add small bits of the flour mixed with the butter and stir as the sauce thickens slightly.  Add the soya sauce and correct seasonings.

Serve with baked potatoes and a green vegetable.  The sauce can be poured over the roast or served on the side.

Wine Matches

This meal deserves a  powerful Italian red such as Villa Caffagio Chianti Classico.

 Last updated August 8, 2006