Moroccan Steamed Lamb Shoulder Recipes

MOROCCAN STEAMED LAMB SHOULDER

Steps:

• Season the lamb: Mix the salt with cumin and coriander, then rub mixture over surface of meat. Cover and leave at room temperature for 1 hour (or cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, then bring to room temperature).
• Set up a steamer with abundant boiling water and steamer basket above water level. Put lamb in steamer, cover tightly and steam over medium-high heat until lamb is quite tender and nearly falling apart, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. (Alternatively, steam lamb in a pressure cooker for about 11/2 hours.)
• Make the saffron butter: Put a teaspoon of water in a small bowl and add crumbled saffron threads. When saffron has released its color, add butter, cumin and salt, then mash together with a small spoon. Leave at room temperature.
• Make the red pepper oil: Whirl chopped pepper, garlic, cayenne, cumin and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Transfer to a serving bowl and season with salt.
• When lamb is almost done, add carrots, turnips and zucchini to steamer and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, cook vegetables in separate steamer or simmer in lightly salted water.)
• Put lamb on a large serving platter, cut into rough chunks and surround with vegetables. Smear surface of lamb with saffron butter. Ladle a bit of lamb broth from bottom of steamer over vegetables (save remaining broth for another purpose). Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve red pepper sauce alongside.

STEAMED LAMB

Steps:

• 1. Trim the lamb of excess fat: the thin fell can be left on. Blend the saffron with 1/4 cup butter, salt, and pepper. Rub into the lamb flesh.
• 2. Bring plenty of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer, kettle, or couscousière (to borrow a trick from Diana Kennedy, author of The Cuisines of Mexico,* toss in a penny - when the penny stops clicking you need more water). Dampen a piece of cheesecloth and twist into a strip the length of the circumference of the kettle's rim. Use this strip to fasten the perforated top so that it fits snugly on top. Check all sides for effective sealing: steam should rise only through the holes. Make a bed of parsley over the holes and rest the shoulder of lamb on it. Surround with the onions, if used, and cover with a double layer of cheesecloth and then, tightly, with a lid. Do not lift the lid during the first 1 3/4 hours of steaming. Be very careful, and stand back when lifting the lid. If the lamb is tender and falling off the bone it is ready; if not, continue steaming 15 to 30 minutes longer.
• 3. If desired, brown in oil and butter or rub again with butter and brown in a very hot oven (highest setting). Serve with bowls of ground cumin and salt, to be used as a dip.
• New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
• •Traditionally, this dish would be prepared with zebda, a pungent, naturally curdled product that originated with the Moroccan Berbers. American unsalted butter, while not an exact match, can be successfully substituted. •This dish is typically served with couscous, the tiny Moroccan semolina pasta. To produce authentically fluffy Moroccan couscous, steam it for 30 minutes in a couscousière or tight-fitting, lidless steamer. Then dump it into a flat pan, slowly add 1 cup of salted water, and rake out any lumps with a wire whisk. Finally, return the couscous to the couscousière and steam it for an additional 30 minutes.