Lamb Recipes - How to Cook With Lamb

Of all the red meats lamb tends to be the sweetest, most succulent and less strong. Typically this is because lamb is generally slaughtered between 3 and 6 months of birth. However, in some instances lamb can have an unpleasant aftertaste due to the lanolin (the oil that protects the wool) being transferred onto the meat. However, this is very easy to remove if you rub the meat all over with a lemon or a lime, allow to marinate for 20 minutes then wash thoroughly under plenty of cold running water. Dry thoroughly and cook as you would normally.

Lamb is an extremely versatile meat and can be both cooked and used wherever beef would be used. There are also a whole range of recipes (typically originating from mountainous or Muslim countries where lamb is the meat of choice) that are specifically designed to be cooked with lamb.

Below are two classic lamb recipes:

Lamb Shanks with Chickpeas

Ingredients:
6 lamb shanks
220g cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp butter
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
250ml lamb or beef stock
60ml red wine
2 tbsp tomato purée
6 garlic cloves, minced
110g flour
salt, black pepper and chilli flakes, to taste

Method:
Place the flour on a bowl, season lightly and dredge the lamb shanks in this. Melt the butter in a heavy frying pan and use to brown the lamb shanks all over. Transfer the lamb to a heat-proof casserole then use the frying pan to cook the onion and garlic for about 6 minutes. Then add the red wine to deglaze the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Season to taste then add to the casserole with the lamb shanks.

Cover the pot and cook in an oven pre-heated to 210°C and cook for about 60 minutes, or until the meat is tender and beginning to fall off the bone. Serve hot with herbed mashed potatoes.

Of course, you can't have a selection of lamb recipe without including a classic Welsh dish:

Welsh Lamb Stew

Ingredients:
2kg lamb shoulder, diced
olive oil
2l lamb stock
4 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
2 medium potatoes, coarsely diced
2 leeks, coarsely diced

Method:
Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add a little oil to a frying pan and use this to fry the lamb until nicely coloured. Add the stock and bring to a boil (skim-off any fat that raises to the surface). Now add the bay leaves and the rosemary and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes before adding the remaining vegetables and cooking for a further 15 minutes. Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley and accompanied by warm, crusty, bread.

I hope you have enjoyed these classic lamb recipes and now want to find out more about the different methods of preparing lamb.

Dyfed Lloyd Evans runs the Celtnet Recipes website where you can find hundreds of lamb-based recipes as well as the internet's largest collection of traditional Welsh recipes.

Friends Link : calphalon unison 10 piece set lodge logic pre seasoned 10 1 2 inch round griddle all clad cop r chef 8 inch fry pan