Braised Lamb

With Jane Ward

Next to baked ham, a roasted leg of lamb makes for a most traditional Easter dinner.  Author and Food Blogger Jane Ward loves lamb at Easter and many other days as well. Young lamb says “spring” loud and clear.  But because of the leg’s complex muscle structure, leg of lamb can also be one of the most problematic cuts of meat to roast, carve and serve.  No two slices of meat from the same roast will have similar textures or level of doneness.

Treating a boneless lamb leg to the same braising techniques as you would a lamb shank yields a finished cut of meat that is evenly cooked and melt-in-your-mouth tender.  Plus it absorbs all the wonderful flavors of the braising liquid during the long, slow cooking – in this case the fruity tastes of orange marmalade and raspberry beer, true complements to a spring lamb’s sweetness.  This video was filmed in the Kitchen Showroom at the Building Center in Gloucester, MA. You can obtain more information at their web site; www.bcgloucester.com

Ingredients

1 4-5 lb. boneless lamb leg (also called butterflied) or shoulder, rolled and tied
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 onions, sliced
1 large or 2 medium leeks, white and pale green parts, trimmed, cleaned and sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 sprigs thyme, tied together with kitchen twine
2 sprigs rosemary, tied together with kitchen twine
¼ teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 cup marmalade
1 tablespoon tomato paste
14 ounces plum tomatoes, chopped
1 bottle (750 ml) raspberry Belgian Lambic beer
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
1. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in the bottom of a large, heavy dutch oven that has a lid.  Salt and pepper one side of the roast and place this, seasoning side down, in the pan.
2. Season the second side.  Sear the meat for a few minutes on both sides to develop a nice brown crust.
3. Remove the meat to a platter and add onions, leeks, and garlic to the dutch oven.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften. 
4. Add to the onions the brown sugar and sherry.  Stir.  Add the herb bouquets, red pepper flake, marmalade, and tomato paste, and stir to combine.
5. Return the meat to the pot and add the tomatoes, beer, stock, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Bring the liquids to a boil, cover, place into a 350-degree oven for 2-2 1/2 hours.
6. Remove the meat from the braising liquid to a platter or carving board.  Let rest and carve into generous slices.  Remove the herb bundles from the sauce.  You may serve the sauce as is over slices of meat.

Or, as the meat rests under foil, you may strain the sauce through a sieve and reduce the liquid by half over medium high heat to thicken.  When reduced, return the strained vegetables to the sauce and serve over generous slices of meat.

Recipe courtesy of Jane Ward, author and blogger at Food & Fiction, 2011.

Jane is the author of HUNGER (Forge, 2001) and THE MOSAIC ARTIST, and is currently at work on her third novel, THE WELCOME HOME.  A former baker and caterer, Jane hosts a new video blog for an internet recipe resource, and regularly contributes articles to the online regional food magazine, Local In Season. Jane also blogs weekly about food, and is writing a cookbook/memoir entitled TATTOOED WITH FOOD based on the blog entries.  From Food For Thought column: "Jane shows how ridiculously easy it is to make a loaf of ciabatta bread with a gutsy crackling crust that tastes like it was baked in a Tuscan panetteria. She teaches that the holes in ciabatta are specifically engineered to hold roasted peppers, pesto, gooey melted cheese, as it is the bread of bruschettas and picnic sandwiches. That purposely definitive crust holds everything inside, like a perfectly designed suitcase for foods, more than a sandwich."