Dominican Braised Lamb Recipes

MOROCCAN BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil, onion, chile, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add celery, carrot, cumin, coriander, oregano, cinnamon, star anise, and saffron. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft and fragrant; season with salt and pepper.
• Add chicken stock, tomatoes, apricots, and olives; bring to a boil. Add lamb, making sure it is submerged halfway; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven and cook, rotating lamb every 30 minutes, until meat is evenly browned and falling off the bone, and sauce is thickened.

DOMINICAN BRAISED LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make the lamb, in the bottom of a large Dutch oven or braising pan, heat the oil over high heat. Sprinkle lamb shanks with salt and pepper and cook until seared all over. Remove shanks, drain excess oil and return shanks to the pan. Add garlic, chicken stock, capers and enough cold water to just cover the shanks. In a square of cheesecloth, tie together the thyme, tarragon and Scotch bonnet and add to the pan.
• Return the pan to high heat and bring just to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and bake in the oven until the meat is very tender and begins to pull away from the bone, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and cool. Discard the cheesecloth bundle.
• To make the sauce, in a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Using your hands, squeeze as much excess liquid from the drained tomatoes as possible. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the tomato paste, sugar and 1 teaspoon of the capers. Add 2 1/2 cups of the liquid the lamb shanks were cooked in. Tie the sliver of Scotch bonnet in a piece of cheesecloth and add. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1/2hour.
• Remove and discard the cheesecloth bundle. Working in batches, carefully puree the mixture in a blender. Return the sauce to the pan. If it is very thick, whisk in more of the lamb cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
• When ready to serve, reheat the lamb shanks in their liquid on top of the stove. Stir the remaining teaspoon of capers into the sauce and reheat if necessary. Place a lamb shank on each of 4 deep plates. Cover with sauce and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately.

BRAISED LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275F.
• Rub both sides of lamb shoulder chops with 1 to 2 garlic cloves, as needed. Rub with chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper. Dust both sides of chops with flour. In a large (10-inch) cast iron skillet, heat oil over high heat. When nearly smoking, add 2 lamb chops and sear, 4 minutes each side, until well-browned. Remove and repeat with remaining chops. Discard fat that has accumulated in pan.
• In skillet layer onions, half of tomato slices and lamb chops. Top with remaining tomato slices and pour wine and 1/2 cup water over. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add remaining 4 garlic cloves, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and parsley stems. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and roast for 3 hours.
• Cover top with potato slices, pushing them into liquid so they are completely submerged. Cover pan, return to oven and cook 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Using a large spoon, remove excess liquid and any fat from stew to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil over high heat and boil rapidly until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Before serving, broil lamb under a preheated broiler, 5 minutes or until potatoes are well-browned. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with sauce.

BRAISED MUSTARD LAMB WITH CELERIAC AND BRAISED ONIONS

Steps:

• Add lamb to a heated pan and cook, until, browned all over, remove, set to one side. Heat olive oil in same pan add onion and garlic, cook, stirring, until onion is soft, return lamb.
• Add wine, herbs, seeds, stock and water, simmer covered, 1 hour.
• Add celeriac, simmer covered, for further 20-30 minutes until lamb and celeriac are tender, add carrots about 15 minutes before lamb is finished, carrots will just be cooked, add with celeriac if you prefer your carrots quite tender.
• Remove lamb, celeriac and carrot cover and keep warm. Strain liquid into a smaller pan, add cream, simmer uncovered, 5 minutes. Blend a little water with the cornflour, add to sauce, stir until mixture boils and thickens.
• Serve lamb sliced with celeriac, carrot, sauce, buttery mushrooms, braised onions and sprinkle with parsley.
• Braised Onions.
• Heat oil in a pan, add onions, cook, stirring, about 10 minutes or until onions are browned.
• Add wine, stock, vinegar and sugar, simmer covered, 30 minutes, remove lid simmer uncovered a further 10 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
• Buttery Mushrooms.
• Melt butter in a pan add mushrooms, cook, stirring occasionaly until mushrooms are tender and cooked as desired. (I say this as I like to brown mine a little.).
• To Serve: Slice lamb and arrange on a serving platter plate with vegetables, onions and mushrooms. Pour a little sauce over the lamb sprinkle with parsley and serve the extra sauce in a gravy boat on the side.

STOUT-BRAISED LAMB

Steps:

• Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large, wide pot over medium-high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Brown the lamb shanks in the hot oil on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes. Remove lamb shanks and set aside.
• Pour the excess grease from the Dutch oven, reduce heat to medium, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots, celery, and tomato paste; continue cooking 5 minutes more.
• Return the lamb shanks to the Dutch oven, and pour in the stout beer and beef broth. Bring to a simmer over high heat. While you're waiting for the beer to simmer, use kitchen twine to tie together the thyme sprigs, parsley sprigs, and bay leaf into a secure bundle; add to the lamb shanks.
• Once the lamb shanks begin to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lamb is very tender and nearly falling off of the bone, 2 to 3 hours. Stir the lamb occasionally as it cooks, and add water if needed to keep the cooking liquid from becoming too thick. You want the cooking liquid to have reduced into a nice sauce by the time the lamb shanks are done.
• Stir in the rosemary sprig, and salt and pepper to taste during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove rosemary sprig and herb bundle before serving.

LAMB BRAISED WITH QUINCE (KIDONATO)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil until smoking over medium-high heat. Add the lamb and sear until well browned on all sides, then set aside. Reduce heat to medium, then stir in butter and onions, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent.
• Pour in water, then season with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and sugar. Add seared lamb pieces, and quartered quince. Cover and bring to a simmer.
• Simmer the kidonato over medium-low heat for 1 hour, or until the lamb is tender, adding additional water if needed.

MOROCCAN BRAISED LAMB WITH COUSCOUS

Steps:

• The day before serving, season the meat heavily with salt and pepper, and sear it in a frying pan with one tablespoon of the oil. Then preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Put the meat in a pot, add a little water, and braise, covered, for about 2 hours, or until tender. Set aside to cool, and then refrigerate overnight.
• Also the day before serving, heat the remaining oil in another pot, and sauté the leek and the onions. When the onions are translucent, add the turnips, carrots, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, ras el hanout, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and garlic. Cover the vegetables and spices with water, and simmer, covered, until the carrots are tender.
• The next day, cut the lamb into 2-inch chunks, and put it in the pot with the vegetables. Add the zucchini. Simmer slowly until the zucchini is just cooked but still bright green. Adjust seasonings, and stir in the harissa sauce. (I also serve more at the table, so that people can adjust the heat to their taste.)
• Stir together the harissa, couscous broth, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, cinnamon, and Spanish pepper in a small bowl. Serve with the couscous.

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH PEPPERS

Steps:

• Pat dry lamb shanks. In a heavy casserole or Dutch oven that will hold all the shanks, heat oil on medium-high. Add lamb shanks and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove to a platter. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low.
• Add bell peppers and onions to the pan. Sauté, stirring, until the vegetables wilt and just begin to color, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, dill seed, paprika and cinnamon. Stir. Add stock and wine. Bring to a simmer. Stir in tomato paste and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon juice. Return lamb shanks to the pot along with any juices on the platter. Cover them with a piece of parchment or waxed paper, cover pot with lid, reduce heat to very low and cook about 2 hours, basting the shanks occasionally and turning them at least once until the meat is very tender when pierced with a knife.
• Remove shanks from the pot. Increase heat to medium and reduce sauce by about a third, about 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Return shanks to the pot, baste and reheat. Serve directly from the casserole or transfer to a serving dish. Strew with fresh dill before serving.