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barbedaykitchen2023-02-26 03:16 pm
ilyena_sylph) wrote in barbedaykitchen2023-02-26 03:16 pm
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Heroes' Feast Braised Lamb
Asp got ahead of me because I was being lazy, but here's what I did for dinner on Saturday!
From Heroes Feast again, Braised Lamb.
Straight up: this recipe and I had some fights, because I took the instructions too literally. Also, I had bought the wrong version of the cut of meat intended, but I managed to get it to come out tasty anyway.
I reduced the recipe by about 2/3rds because I did not need to feed six people. Therefore you get those proportions.
Ingredients:
some olive oil
5 tsps diced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme (it wanted fresh, I don't have fresh)
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 lb leg of lamb (this is where we got into trouble. start with butterflied boneless and it might go better)
kosher salt
some canola, safflower, or vegetable oil
1 c sherry, divided (recipe wanted vermouth, i've spent enough on booze this month)
1/2 lb pearl onions (recipe wanted frozen that had been thawed and drained)
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 a bag of mint tea (recipe wanted 1/8 c chopped fresh mint)
Preparation:
In a small nonstick skillet over medium heat, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Give it about 3 -4 minutes, then scrape that into a bowl, reserving 1 1/2 tsp into a different bowl.
Now we tackle the meat, and we see where I got into trouble. Instructions as written: "With a boning knife, trime the fat, gristle, and silverskin from both the interior and exterior of the lamb."
This ended with me attempting to remove ALL the silverskin, and therefore with many, many very small pieces of meat. I watched a video where a chef tackled this recipe, and he somehow managed to keep the thing together. He also left way more silverskin than I would want to eat on his lamb, though.
Anyway. After I had all my bits, I reassembled them as directed between layers of plastic wrap and pounded it out to an even thickness. This was a VERY thin even thickness because of my issues with the directions. Therefore I didn't really need to score the meat to get the majority of the garlic and herbs spread onto the meat. The not-a-single piece, though, made it difficult (but not impossible) to get it rolled up and tied with kitchen twine.
For some reason, it needed to rest for an hour at that point? Okay, cool, whatever.
After that hour, I started the oven heating to 400F, and meanwhile heated the not-olive-oil over medium heat to sear my roll of lamb on all sides. I then tucked it into the oven for 20 minutes (because it was so small. for 3lbs, go with the 40min cooking time).
While that was going on, I started working to get the pearl onions peeled. 20 minutes was not enough time, we'll just leave that there.
It came out... very, very done, all the juices cooked off because of how small it was, and the lamb was removed off onto a carving board, The whole 'all the juices cooked off' part made the next step... interesting.
'Taking care with the screaming-hot skillet' the recipe says, and yeeeah. Definitely do that, while you turn your burner back to medium heat and throw half a cup of the sherry into the screaming skillet, using a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan.
(I had to stop to run the sherry through a strainer and then return the vermouth sans charcoal to the pan. The recipe claimed 'return pan to a simmer'. Mine had immediately boiled and then began boiling again. So another half a cup of sherry went in. Then the pearl onions went in along with 1/2 tsp of salt, I covered it, and gave it 10 min to cook (the recipe wanted 5, but those onions weren't fresh). At that point, in went the brown sugar and the rest of the garlic-herb mix, that got stirred in, and it cooked for about 4 minutes.
Last, the skillet came off the heat, the butter was stirred in until it melted, the lemon juice went in, and at the veeery last, half of a teabag of mint tea went in/on to add the flavor.
Remove the twine, slice your lamb, either pour the onion sauce over it on a serving platter or in plates/bowls, and serve.
I should have made rice to go with, but I didn't think of it early enough.
Asp says it was delicious, and I happen to agree.
From Heroes Feast again, Braised Lamb.
Straight up: this recipe and I had some fights, because I took the instructions too literally. Also, I had bought the wrong version of the cut of meat intended, but I managed to get it to come out tasty anyway.
I reduced the recipe by about 2/3rds because I did not need to feed six people. Therefore you get those proportions.
Ingredients:
some olive oil
5 tsps diced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme (it wanted fresh, I don't have fresh)
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 lb leg of lamb (this is where we got into trouble. start with butterflied boneless and it might go better)
kosher salt
some canola, safflower, or vegetable oil
1 c sherry, divided (recipe wanted vermouth, i've spent enough on booze this month)
1/2 lb pearl onions (recipe wanted frozen that had been thawed and drained)
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 a bag of mint tea (recipe wanted 1/8 c chopped fresh mint)
Preparation:
In a small nonstick skillet over medium heat, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Give it about 3 -4 minutes, then scrape that into a bowl, reserving 1 1/2 tsp into a different bowl.
Now we tackle the meat, and we see where I got into trouble. Instructions as written: "With a boning knife, trime the fat, gristle, and silverskin from both the interior and exterior of the lamb."
This ended with me attempting to remove ALL the silverskin, and therefore with many, many very small pieces of meat. I watched a video where a chef tackled this recipe, and he somehow managed to keep the thing together. He also left way more silverskin than I would want to eat on his lamb, though.
Anyway. After I had all my bits, I reassembled them as directed between layers of plastic wrap and pounded it out to an even thickness. This was a VERY thin even thickness because of my issues with the directions. Therefore I didn't really need to score the meat to get the majority of the garlic and herbs spread onto the meat. The not-a-single piece, though, made it difficult (but not impossible) to get it rolled up and tied with kitchen twine.
For some reason, it needed to rest for an hour at that point? Okay, cool, whatever.
After that hour, I started the oven heating to 400F, and meanwhile heated the not-olive-oil over medium heat to sear my roll of lamb on all sides. I then tucked it into the oven for 20 minutes (because it was so small. for 3lbs, go with the 40min cooking time).
While that was going on, I started working to get the pearl onions peeled. 20 minutes was not enough time, we'll just leave that there.
It came out... very, very done, all the juices cooked off because of how small it was, and the lamb was removed off onto a carving board, The whole 'all the juices cooked off' part made the next step... interesting.
'Taking care with the screaming-hot skillet' the recipe says, and yeeeah. Definitely do that, while you turn your burner back to medium heat and throw half a cup of the sherry into the screaming skillet, using a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan.
(I had to stop to run the sherry through a strainer and then return the vermouth sans charcoal to the pan. The recipe claimed 'return pan to a simmer'. Mine had immediately boiled and then began boiling again. So another half a cup of sherry went in. Then the pearl onions went in along with 1/2 tsp of salt, I covered it, and gave it 10 min to cook (the recipe wanted 5, but those onions weren't fresh). At that point, in went the brown sugar and the rest of the garlic-herb mix, that got stirred in, and it cooked for about 4 minutes.
Last, the skillet came off the heat, the butter was stirred in until it melted, the lemon juice went in, and at the veeery last, half of a teabag of mint tea went in/on to add the flavor.
Remove the twine, slice your lamb, either pour the onion sauce over it on a serving platter or in plates/bowls, and serve.
I should have made rice to go with, but I didn't think of it early enough.
Asp says it was delicious, and I happen to agree.