Szechuan Lamb With Peppers And Spinach Recipes

LAMB WITH HERB PASTE AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 425º. Remove as much of the surface fat as is practical from the lamb. Combine the parsley, dill, oil, anchovies and garlic in a food processor (if you're not using the anchovies, add some salt). Purée, adding a little water if necessary. Rub the lamb with this mixture.
• Put the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan with about 1/2 cup of water. Roast for 30 minutes, then check; if the lamb threatens to burn, turn the heat down to 350º; otherwise leave it at 425º. If the bottom dries out (the rendering lamb fat should keep it moist), add a little more water. After about 1 hour (total), check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. When it reaches 130 for medium rare (125 for very rare) in its thickest part (check it in several places), it's done. Total cooking time will be less than 1 1/2 hours. Remove and let it rest.
• Pour off and reserve all but 2 tablespoons of the fat and put the pan over a burner (or two, if it fits better). Toast the bread crumbs over low heat, stirring and seasoning with salt and pepper until they're lightly browned. Remove; add another couple of tablespoons of the fat to the pan. Add the pine nuts, raisins and spinach and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until the spinach is very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Carve the lamb and serve it on a bed of spinach, sprinkled with the bread crumbs.

SAUTEED SPINACH AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add red pepper; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add onion and garlic; cook 1-1/2 minutes longer or until onion is tender. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is just wilted.

SZECHUAN LAMB WITH PEPPERS AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Slice the lamb across the grain into strips 1/2 inch thick.
• In a medium bowl or resealable plastic bag, mix 2 tsp soy sauce, all of the hoisin sauce, 2 of the minced garlic cloves, and 1/4 tsp of the red pepper flakes; add lamb and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
• During this time, thaw the spinach and allow to come to room temperature; press out as much moisture as possible.
• Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tsp of the oil; when the oil is hot, add the lamb and stir-fry until the pink color is gone, about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove the lamb to a plate and set aside.
• Add the remaining 2 tsp oil to the wok and when warm stir in ginger, remaining garlic and pepper flakes.
• Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the pepper and scallion strips and remaining 2 tsp soy sauce; reduce heat slightly and stir-fry for one minute.
• Add 1 TBS water and stir-fry for 1 minute more.
• Stir in the spinach and mix well with other ingredients.
• Add the cornstarch to the chicken broth, mixing well, then add this to the wok, along with the lamb and any juices that have collected on the plate.
• Cook, stirring frequently (or it will stick!) until the lamb and spinach is heated through and the juices are thickened, about 1 minute.
• Serve immediately.

SPANISH LAMB WITH SHERRY, HONEY & PEPPERS

Steps:

• Make sure your lamb isn't too damp - pat it dry with kitchen paper if you need to, otherwise it won't colour well. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large casserole dish and brown the lamb over a high heat in batches (if you crowd the pan the meat will sweat and not brown). Remove with a slotted spoon as you go. When all the lamb is browned, add the remaining oil and cook the onion and peppers over a medium heat until the onion is golden and the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and paprika, and cook for a further 1 min, then add the sherry and bring to a simmer.
• Put all the lamb back in the pan, along with the stock, saffron, sherry vinegar and honey. Season and bring to just under the boil. Turn the heat down, cover the pan and leave to cook very gently for 2 hrs, turning the meat every so often.
• In the last half hour of cooking time, remove the lid so that the sherry and stock can reduce. You want to end up with completely tender meat in a flavoursome gravy - how long this takes will depend on how wide your pan is so you may need to give it longer than 30 mins. Check the seasoning. You're unlikely to need to adjust the vinegar or honey but you might want to sweeten the dish slightly. Scatter the parsley or almonds on top (or use both). Serve with the couscous.

LAMB WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Sprinkle salt and pepper over the cubed lamb, heat the oil in a dutch oven and brown the meat on all sides.
• Add the onion and garlic and fry until the onion gets translucent.
• Add the stock, bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer slowly for 40- 50 minutes or until the meat is tender.
• Was the spinach and cook for about 5-7 minutes, without adding any water, drain very well and chop roughly.
• When the lamb had its cooking time, add the spinach together with the oregano and the lemon juice.
• On a medium heat and stirring regularly, cook until most cooking juices have evaporated, but it should still be moist.
• Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the feta cheese.

SPICED BRAISED LAMB WITH CARROTS AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pat lamb dry and sprinkle with pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably cast-iron) over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown lamb in 5 batches, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes per batch, adding more oil as needed. Transfer as browned to an ovenproof 6- to 7-quart wide heavy pot.
• Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet, then cook onion and celery in remaining fat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and coriander and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add 1 cup water and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute, then pour mixture over lamb in pot.
• Pour juice from can of tomatoes into stew, then coarsely chop tomatoes and add to stew along with remaining cup water and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil (liquid should almost cover meat).
• Cover pot and braise lamb in middle of oven 1 1/2 hours. Stir in carrots and continue to braise until carrots and lamb are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer pot to top of stove and, working over moderately high heat, stir in spinach by handfuls to soften it. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until spinach is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

SZECHUAN SHRIMP WITH PEPPERS

Steps:

• Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl; toss to coat. Cover; let stand 30 minutes.
• Combine broth and cornstarch in small bowl; stir to dissolve cornstarch. Combine soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce and sugar in another small bowl.
• Heat oil in wok or heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and stir-fry until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add shrimp mixture; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add onions; stir-fry until shrimp are pink, 30 seconds. Mix in soy sauce mixture. Add cornstarch mixture. Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl; serve with rice.

LAMB WITH SICHUAN PEPPER AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a wok and fry the orange peel in it until lightly browned. Remove both oil and peel and set aside. When the peel is cool enough to handle, cut it into fine julienne strips. Reserve the oil.
• Seed the chili peppers and cut them into julienne strips. Add to the orange shreds and set aside.
• Put the peppercorns in a dry skillet, toast them over moderate heat until they begin to smoke, then remove and crush fine in a mortar.
• Cut the lamb across the grain into fairly uniform slices ( 3/8 inches thick and 1 to 1 1/2 inches long). Put them in a bowl and mix thoroughly with the crushed pepper.
• Heat the wok in which the peel was fried until very hot, spread out the lamb slices in a single layer and fry them for 1 minute without moving them. Then stir-fry vigorously for 10 to 20 seconds and remove quickly to a serving dish. (They will still be raw in the center at this point.)
• In the wok, heat the reserved orange oil until hot again, add salt to taste and stir-fry the onion rings until nicely browned. Add the orange peel, the red-pepper shreds and the lamb, stir-fry for 5 to 10 seconds and dish up. Serve over noodles dressed with a little sesame oil and soy sauce.