THE LAMB SAGA: PART I
I’ve never been a huge fan of lamb. That being said, this slow-braised stuffed lamb and the upcoming lamb stew were life changing.
The recipe calls for three lamb breasts but the butcher at Rain Shadow Meats gave us a huge hunk of lamb shoulder. Since we intended to stuff and roll up the meat before cooking and Robin’s right hand is pretty much useless these days, I went right to work carving usable breast-like pieces from the shoulder. I think I might have a future in butchery, but I’m not quitting my day job just yet.
Next we seasoned the breasts with salt & pepper (immature giggle) and gave them a healthy sprinkling of oregano, red chili flakes, lemon zest, and anchovies. I wasn’t crazy about that last one either but trust me - it all works out in the end.
Then we carefully rolled and tied each one so they wouldn’t fall apart during cooking and browned them for a few minutes on each side.
We set them aside and cooked up the onions, garlic, kalamata olives, capers, wine, and canned tomatoes...
...then all we had to do was throw the lamb back into the pot and let it do its thing in the oven for a couple hours.
We sliced up the lamb rolls and, just to be fancy, decided to serve them up with a side of sautéed kale. Nom.
The flavors were awesome, the lamb was super tender, and the anchovy stuffing melted in my mouth. My only complaint was that the combination of anchovies and olives made the dish taste really salty.
Thanks to the butcher's up-selling, we had more than enough leftover lamb for an extra recipe (coming soon!). But first, mac n cheese with cauliflower...
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HOW THE ENGLISH DO MAC N CHEESE
With the stuffed lamb cooking away in the oven and Robin watching Cricket in the other room, I decided to tackle the macaroni and cauliflower bake on my own. I knew this would not be a problem since I am a renowned mac n cheese master chef.
Gordon uses three kinds of cheese in his recipe, two of which are obscure English cheeses that can only be found in specialty stores here. Robin said he had to ask for them at the counter and I’m pretty sure he also flashed his British passport or did the secret handshake or something to prove he was legit. In any case, we ended up with Lancashire, Cheshire, and aged cheddar.
I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like. However, Cheshire cheese is, to borrow a phrase from the totally awesome Buffy musical, a skeazy cheese. It’s very similar to bleu cheese, which has never been my favorite. But hey, they can’t all be winners, and cheese is cheese!
First you have to boil the cauliflower until it’s tender and, if you’re smart, you’ll save the hot water for the pasta. Then you can simultaneously cook the pasta and prepare the sauce. Check out this multitasking:
The cheese sauce is pretty straightforward. Just combine butter, flour, whole milk, mustard powder, cayenne, and cheese in a saucepan. Let it get all melty and creamy before pouring it over the cooked macaroni and cauliflower.
Finally, sprinkle it with a mixture of breadcrumbs, thyme, and more cheese and bake until the top is golden brown and crisp.
Of course I loved this because it's mac n cheese, but I will say that the Cheshire was a bit overpowering and the cauliflower didn’t bring anything to the dish. I don’t have anything against veggies, I just think it would have been better on the side. And, if we're being nit-picky, it could have used more cayenne, too.
Oh baby. Lamb stew is up next!
I’ve never been a huge fan of lamb. That being said, this slow-braised stuffed lamb and the upcoming lamb stew were life changing.
The recipe calls for three lamb breasts but the butcher at Rain Shadow Meats gave us a huge hunk of lamb shoulder. Since we intended to stuff and roll up the meat before cooking and Robin’s right hand is pretty much useless these days, I went right to work carving usable breast-like pieces from the shoulder. I think I might have a future in butchery, but I’m not quitting my day job just yet.
Next we seasoned the breasts with salt & pepper (immature giggle) and gave them a healthy sprinkling of oregano, red chili flakes, lemon zest, and anchovies. I wasn’t crazy about that last one either but trust me - it all works out in the end.
Then we carefully rolled and tied each one so they wouldn’t fall apart during cooking and browned them for a few minutes on each side.
We set them aside and cooked up the onions, garlic, kalamata olives, capers, wine, and canned tomatoes...
...then all we had to do was throw the lamb back into the pot and let it do its thing in the oven for a couple hours.
We sliced up the lamb rolls and, just to be fancy, decided to serve them up with a side of sautéed kale. Nom.
The flavors were awesome, the lamb was super tender, and the anchovy stuffing melted in my mouth. My only complaint was that the combination of anchovies and olives made the dish taste really salty.
Thanks to the butcher's up-selling, we had more than enough leftover lamb for an extra recipe (coming soon!). But first, mac n cheese with cauliflower...
HOW THE ENGLISH DO MAC N CHEESE
With the stuffed lamb cooking away in the oven and Robin watching Cricket in the other room, I decided to tackle the macaroni and cauliflower bake on my own. I knew this would not be a problem since I am a renowned mac n cheese master chef.
Gordon uses three kinds of cheese in his recipe, two of which are obscure English cheeses that can only be found in specialty stores here. Robin said he had to ask for them at the counter and I’m pretty sure he also flashed his British passport or did the secret handshake or something to prove he was legit. In any case, we ended up with Lancashire, Cheshire, and aged cheddar.
I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like. However, Cheshire cheese is, to borrow a phrase from the totally awesome Buffy musical, a skeazy cheese. It’s very similar to bleu cheese, which has never been my favorite. But hey, they can’t all be winners, and cheese is cheese!
First you have to boil the cauliflower until it’s tender and, if you’re smart, you’ll save the hot water for the pasta. Then you can simultaneously cook the pasta and prepare the sauce. Check out this multitasking:
The cheese sauce is pretty straightforward. Just combine butter, flour, whole milk, mustard powder, cayenne, and cheese in a saucepan. Let it get all melty and creamy before pouring it over the cooked macaroni and cauliflower.
Finally, sprinkle it with a mixture of breadcrumbs, thyme, and more cheese and bake until the top is golden brown and crisp.
Of course I loved this because it's mac n cheese, but I will say that the Cheshire was a bit overpowering and the cauliflower didn’t bring anything to the dish. I don’t have anything against veggies, I just think it would have been better on the side. And, if we're being nit-picky, it could have used more cayenne, too.
Oh baby. Lamb stew is up next!
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