Hello guys! During our Mediterranean lunch on May 1st
some of you asked me for the recipes. I’m extremely pleased and flattered that
you liked my food and am going to post some lunch recipe as promised. I’ll
start with the lamb recipe since it seemed to be the most popular dish.
There are two simple rules to get your braised meat super tender, no matter whether it is lamb, pork, beef or even poultry.
First of all, buy a right cut of meat. Tough cuts with lots of connective tissue and tons of intramuscular fat work the best. Like shoulder, shanks, legs and such. The more marbled the meat, the juicier it will be when cooked. Leave lean and tender cuts like loin and tenderloin for quick high-heat preparations like roasting and grilling. Braising, which is the opposite of quick and high heat, will turn them into a shoe sole, tough, rubbery and tasteless.
The second secret is a so called low and slow cooking. That is, cook meat for a long time on a very low heat until it becomes fork tender. Never let the braising liquid boil or even simmer; there should be barely any motion in it. And let meat cook in it at least 2-3 hours, depending on its toughness and size.
If you want a simple stew or pulled meat, get a nice boneless leg of lamb. Costco has good deals, BTW. Or, if you prefer bigger pieces on a bone, buy several shanks instead. They will turn even juicier and more tender.
Trim the exterior fat and discard or freeze for a later use (lamb pilaf, for instance). Cut the leg into 2.5 x 2.5” pieces if you’re planning to make pulled lamb or into about 1.5 x 1.5” if you want to serve lamb in whole pieces. If using shanks, leave them whole.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brown the meat on all sides in a small amount of oil and transfer to a braising pot. Do it in batches and avoid overcrowding the pan or else the meat will release its juices and simmer in them rather than get brown.
In the same skillet you browned the meat, sauté some coarsely chopped onions in a medium heat until they become wilted. Add several chopped garlic cloves and cook, stirring, for another minute or so. Add a couple of generous pinches of ground cumin, the same generous pinches of ground fenugreek, a couple of bay leaves, salt, black pepper, a juice of half a large lemon and enough beef broth to cover the meat at least up to 2/3.
Bring to a boil and pour over the lamb. Cover the pot with a lid and put into the oven and cook at 350F for about 10 minutes or until the sauce start to show first signs of simmering. Immediately reduce the heat to 200F and cook the meat until fork tender (if planning to serve it in whole pieces) or until it starts falling apart (for pulled meat). It can take from 2.5 to 5 hours. Every now and then take the pot out and give its contents a good stir to ensure even cooking.
When the meat is ready, take the pot out. If the braising sauce is too thin and there’s too much of it, pour it out into a clean pot and reduce on a high heat to a desired consistency. If you making pulled lamb, while the sauce is getting reduced, pull the meat apart with two forks.
Pour the sauce back into the braising pot. Add a handful of berberis, if you’re lucky to have them (I got my last batch in Vancouver, BC) or some other tart dried berries and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Instead of berries or in addition to them, you can take some olives as well. Both green and black kinds will work with this braising sauce.
When the time is up, remove the pot from the oven and stir in some chopped cilantro and parsley. Serve on top of polenta, mashed potatoes, couscous or oatmeal or any other side to your liking.
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