Spicychinesenewzealandlamb Recipes

SPICY LAMB BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter and oil and warm until the butter is melted. Add the carrots, celery, onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft but have no color, about 6 minutes. Add the beef and lamb and cook, breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir the tomato paste, chili paste, red pepper flakes and garlic into the meat mixture. Cook the tomato paste, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk is almost entirely evaporated, about 20 minutes.
• Add the wine, bay leaf, Parmesan rind, tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low to just maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Skim the oil from the surface.
• Spoon the sauce over the Creamy Polenta with Spinach, reserving any extra to serve on the side. Serve with the Parmesan sprinkled over the top and a drizzle of olive oil.
• In a Dutch oven, bring the chicken broth, oil, garlic and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and whisk in the polenta. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, mascarpone, pecorino and butter. Cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Fold in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes longer. Add 1/4 cup water if the mixture gets too thick.
• Pour the polenta onto a large board or platter. Serve with grated Parmesan over the top.

SPICY LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• The objective: A nice, pink, juicy leg of lamb has a final temperature of about 120 degrees F. Use a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet with a fitted rack. Elevating the lamb slightly off the bottom of the roasting pan allows the hot air to better circulate around the meat as it cooks.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Toast the spices: In a medium bowl, combine the cayenne, fennel seeds, dry mustard, paprika, red pepper flakes and cinnamon. Mix the spices and pour them out onto a baking sheet. Place the tray inside the oven for 1 minute to warm the spices and allow them to toast slightly. This will awaken their flavors. Remove the tray from the oven.
• Make the paste to coat the leg of lamb: In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, molasses and salt. Add the toasted spices and mix together to create a paste. Coat all sides of the leg in the seasoning paste. If you have time, allow the lamb to sit out for about an hour and come closer to room temperature. Alternatively, you can marinate the lamb like this for several hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator before cooking.
• Cook the lamb: Place the lamb leg in the center of the fitted rack on the roasting pan and place it in the center of the oven. Cook, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Use an instant-read meat thermometer and take the temperature of the thickest part of the leg meat. Your meat thermometer should read about 85 degrees F. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Ideally, the thickest part of the leg should come to about 118 degrees F. Remove the lamb from the roasting pan to a flat surface to rest.
• Make the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar and mustard. Place the fresh chiles on a flat surface and, with a small knife, cut them both into thin rounds, ribs, seeds and all.
• Pour off some of the drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan. Put the pan on top of a burner on your stove. Start a low heat under the pan and when the drippings begin to sizzle, add in the mustard, vinegar and fresh chiles. Taste for seasoning. Pour over the leg of lamb.
• Carve the meat: Begin carving at the loin end of the leg; you want to carve at a right-angle relative to the grain of the meat. Observe that this meat has lines almost like a piece of wood, aim the blade of your knife at a right-angle to the grain and slice thin pieces. Arrange the slices on a platter with the sauce.

SPICY LAMB AND LENTILS WITH HERBS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Season lamb with salt and pepper and arrange in pan in an even patty about 1/4" thick. Cook, pressing occasionally to help meat make contact with pan, until underside is browned and very crisp, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn, pouring off excess fat (reserve), and cook until other side is crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Break up lamb into small pieces. Mix in garlic, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spices are fragrant and lamb is cooked through but still juicy, about 2 minutes. Transfer lamb mixture to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Place lentils and 2 tablespoons of reserved fat in same skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing occasionally, until lentils start to brown and crisp, 5-8 minutes. Return lamb to skillet and toss to combine and warm through. Remove from heat and stir in cucumber, cilantro, and parsley.
• Spoon yogurt onto plates and top with lamb mixture, then some more cilantro and parsley. Serve with flatbread and lemon wedges.