Lamb curry

I had not made a curry (until today) in years. My inspiration came from having about a pound of leftover leg of lamb from Sunday's dinner. The only thing I needed to buy was a can of coconut milk. If you need a recipe for this just do what I did - go to Google. I jotted down the names of the ingredients but nothing else. When I measure it's by pinches of my fingers or little mounds in my palm. As aside: my step-father had one redeeming feature, he had been a cook in the army during WWII and made pie dough by measuring flour in his hands, pinching off pieces of butter from a slightly softened brick of it, and adding whatever he needed by feel. Those pie doughs were good, good, good. It takes some time and some courage to build yourself up to the point where you throw things together with panache (I always keep a jar of panache in my fridge lol). I could have served this over rice, but I had a great big baking potato I cooked in the microwave. It became a one-dish meal (well, one dish plus the salad we had on the side).

Lamb meatloaf

In years past, when Peter and I lived in DC we frequently ate at a Chinese restaurant called Taste of China. We always had the same things: lamb with scallions and spinach with garlic. That was on my mind yesterday morning when I decided what to do with a pound of lamb stew meat: make meatloaf with plenty of chunks of scallions in it. I just ground the lamb in my food processor.

Now, I doubt many of you have 1 1/2 cups of cooked barley in your fridge, but maybe you have some cooked rice? Barring that, just use some soft breadcrumbs.

If there is a way to make this recipe simpler I don't know what it is.

Lamb meatloaf

1 pound ground lamb

3 scallions, cut into 1/2” pieces

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 ½ cups cooked barley or rice or soft breadcrumbs

as much garlic as you can stand, finely chopped

cumin, salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together and place in a loaf pan which has been sprayed with generic Pam.

Bake for 40 minutes. Let rest briefly, then eat the whole darn thing in one sitting. LOL.

Stir-fried lamb with scallions

Peter and I had a sit-down menu planning session and plotted out what to do with food we have in the fridge: skirt steak, two loin lamb chops, chorizo, leftover Mexican rice, leftover creamed corn. We’ve gotten very good about using up leftovers. Used to be, after 3 days, I wouldn’t eat any of it. I’ve grown up a lot since then (discounting the fact that I used to be 5’ 9 ¼” and now I’m just under 5’ 9”, help me, I’m shrinking).

Back when we lived in DC (1980 – 2000), we used to go to a Chinese place often. It was called City Lights of China. It’s still there and very popular. Two of our favorite dishes, which we used to order virtually every time we went there, were stir-fried lamb with scallions and stir-fried spinach with copious amounts of garlic. I going to try to recreate their lamb when I use the chops. Loin chops need quite a bit of trimming, so it makes sense to me to cut it up into thin slices and cook it in the wok.

This was an odd recipe. It called for a second dose of soy sauce with sesame oil. Even though I pre-mixed it, I decided not to use it. We liked it just fine the way it came out.

I harvested what is probably the end of the yellow and green beans from the garden, blanched them in boiling water for 8 minutes, shocked them, and stir-fried them with some soy sauce and Chinese rice wine and preserved black beans. They were swell.

Speaking of “wok” reminds me of something totally irrelevant to this blog: my ex-wife. She’s of Chinese/Japanese extraction, and once appeared as an extra in the Cary Grant movie “Walk, Don’t Run”. Her role was that of a drummer in an all-girl Japanese band. So there.

Stir-fried lamb with scallions (2 servings)
1 tbsps soy sauce
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp dry sherry
vegetable oil
8 oz. lean lamb, very thinly sliced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 or 4 scallions, green and white parts, cut into 2” pieces

Mix together 1 tbsp of the soy sauce, the salt, sherry and 2 tbsps of the oil. Add the lamb slices and leave to marinate for 5 minutes

Heat 1 tbsp oil over high heat in a wok or sauté pan. Add the garlic and scallions and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the meat and stir fry until browned. Serve over rice.

Potato risotto

“Chuck’s Day Off,” hosted by Chuck Hughes, is an excellent show on the new (also excellent) Cooking Channel. He’s a restaurant chef, a no-nonsense cook, and doesn’t bore me with stories of his childhood. (And he doesn’t say YUMMO.) This recipe is inspired by him, modified by me, and a nice new thing to try.One curious thing: he said the stock didn’t need to be simmering the way you would want it with a traditional risotto. Ok, I’ll buy that, although I think I’ll still heat the stock so as not to interrupt the cooking with temperature drops.

A word about the sausages. The recipe below is the way I found it on the web. Needless to say I didn't make 10 lbs. of sausage. I had exactly 1.6 lbs. of lamb shoulder. I took my calculator and multiplied each ingredient by .16 to arrive at the proportions I needed. I didn't stuff it into casings; I wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap, put it in vacuum-sealed bags.

Potato and leek risotto

1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, ½” cubes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek (white and light green parts), rinsed well and chopped

4-5 oz. mushrooms (whatever kind you prefer)

4 cups chicken stock

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup mustard greens, julienned

additional baby greens as available (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt it well and blanch the potatoes for 5 minutes.In the meantime, cut up the mushrooms.Heat the oil in a sauté pan until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and leeks, a bit of salt and pepper, and sauté until softened but not colored.Drain the potatoes and add them to the pan. Toss to coat with the oil. Add stock in ½ - ¾ cup increments. Simmer, stirring often, in the same fashion as you would with a regular risotto. When the potatoes are nearly done (softened but still al dente), add a bit more salt and pepper and taste, then add the greens. Let them wilt for just a couple of minutes.Add cheese, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve in heated wide bowls, garnished with the scallion.


Moroccan Lamb Sausage
10-lbs ground lamb
3-cups minced onion
3-cups finely chopped fresh parsley
2-cups ice water
3-tbsp salt
2-tbsp cayenne
1-tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1-tbsp dried oregano
1-tbsp dried coriander
1-tbsp dried marjoram
1-tsp cumin

Combine all ingredients, mix well. Form into 8 5” logs. Wrap in plastic and vacuum-seal them in bags. Boil 10 minutes and then brown in butter in a skillet.

Lamb skewers with yogurt sauce

I got caught short the other day. I was planning to make dolmades, stuffed grape leaves, using leaves from our huge grape arbor behind the house. I picked the leaves a few weeks ago and stored them according to directions I found on the web. When I got them out they were covered with mold; and we had a freeze last night which rendered the remaining grape leaves outside unusable.

So I got the idea to make teeny lamb skewers as an appetizer for a dinner party we were giving last Friday night. I made something like this once before. They were considerable larger and were quite good. I have no recipe, but know how to make one up.

Mini lamb skewers
1 lb lamb, ground
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
7 oz. Greek-style yogurt*
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh mint
juice of 1/2 large lemon
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
salt and pepper

Cook the onion in 1 tsp olive oil until translucent. Set aside to cool.

Preheat broiler.

When the onion is cool, combine with lamb, egg, bread crumbs, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper, and the lemon juice in a bowl. Stir until thoroughly incorporated. Make one small rectangle, about 1” x ½”. Microwave it for 30 seconds and taste for seasonings.

Shape into similar small rectangles. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam and broil close to the heat for 2 minutes. Rotate the pan 90° and continue broiling for 2 more minutes. Turn the lamb pieces over and broil another 3 minutes, rotating the pan again halfway through.

Remove from the oven. Reduce oven to 170°. Place a toothpick in each patty through the narrow end. Recover with foil and keep warm in the oven.

Mix yogurt, lemon juice, mint, garlic, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil. Serve as a dip for the skewered lamb.

*At our supermarket we can get 7 oz. containers of real Greek yogurt. It is thicker and tastier by far than more generic yogurts. The plastic container it comes in is just large enough to mix the sauce in it without dirtying an extra bowl. If you can’t get real Greek yogurt, take 6-7 oz. of plain yogurt (lo-fat if you wish, but not no-fat if your diet can accommodate it) and place it in a fine-mesh strainer. Let it drip into the sink for 30 min. to an hour. Then proceed with the recipe as above.


For a free excerpt of my book, “A Year of Food,” in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at: scrout1944@msn.com.

Roast Leg of Lamb

There are a million recipes for leg of lamb out there. I consulted quite a few and just came away confused. Different oven temperatures, different seasonings, different final internal temperatures, etc. Since I had two days to ponder this, I gradually came up with my own plan. Granted, it is a synthesis of several recipes, but, as is my wont, this is my way. It is extremely simple and extremely easy to prep.

I had a butterflied lamb leg (that just means boned out) from the sale bin at Safeway. It was 3 pounds, fairly small. If you prepare this dish with a larger piece of lamb, increase the quantity of ingredients proportionately. Too hard? For 3 lbs. use the amounts below. In parens, after each ingredient, I include a modified amount for, respectively, 4, 5, and 6 lbs. There, I've just made your life easier.

Roast Leg of Lamb
1 leg of lamb, butterflied (3-6 lbs.)
2 tbsp garlic, minced (2.5, 3, 3.5)
2 tbsp olive oil (2.5, 3, 3.5)
1 tsp dried rosemary, finely chopped (1.5, 2, 2.5)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Lay the lamb out on your cutting board, fat side down. Mix garlic, olive oil, black pepper and rosemary in a small bowl. Smear half of the mixture over the lamb, poking it into all crevasses and crannies. Season liberally with salt. Fold the lamb in half, fat side out. Tie with kitchen string approximately every inch so that you have a roll shape.

Make slits in the fat without cutting into the meat. Smear the remaining mix all over the outside and then add a liberal amount of salt.

Place on a rack over a roasting pan. (Line it with foil for easier cleanup). If you have one, insert an electronic temperature probe into the middle of the roast. Set the target temperature to 125 degrees. Place the roast, uncovered, into the oven with the rack at a level where the meat will be as close as possible to the very center of the oven.

Go watch television and drink your martini until the probe signals you. If you are using an instant-read thermometer, start checking the internal temp after 50 minutes. My 3 pound roast took about 65 minutes to get to 125 degrees. When you're at 125, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees and reset your probe to 135 degrees. When that temp is achieved, remove the roast and cover tightly with foil. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. If using a manual thermometer, just roast at 400 for 10 minutes and get it out.

Make a second martini. When you're ready to eat, snip the strings and remove. Slice the lamb crosswise into 1/2" slices. Prepare to enter culinary heaven.

My guess would be that, for each pound of meat over 3 lbs, the cooking time will increase by 5-10 minutes. Remember: you can always cook the meat longer, but if you overdo it, you'll never be able to go back.

One addition to this recipe that I made was to toss about a pound of small red potatoes into the roasting pan with the lamb. After I removed the lamb from the oven, I tossed the potatoes in the pan drippings and left them in the oven with the temperature reduced to 170 degrees (the lowest setting we can get) and left them in the oven with the door ajar until dinner time.

For a free excerpt of my book, "A Year of Food," in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at:
scrout1944@msn.com.