Cooking On The Go
By Janet Groene, F47166
March 2004
Celebrate springtime with tender, luscious lamb creations. Lamb is one of the most versatile meats for the grill, oven, skillet, or soup pot, but its high price keeps many of us from serving it more often. It’s the ideal choice for a celebration meal.
Curried Lamb Salad
Save leftover roasted or grilled lamb for this luncheon treat. The curry turns the original roast into an entirely different meal.
1 cup pasta, such as macaroni or shells
1-1/2-cups cooked lamb, diced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 medium tart apple, such as Fuji, diced
2 medium stalks celery, diced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2-cup plain, nonfat yogurt
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain; and place in a bowl with the lamb, peas, apple, and celery. Whisk the curry powder into the yogurt and fold into the salad, adding a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise for more creaminess, if desired. Serve immediately at room temperature or chill to serve later. Spoon the salad into lettuce cups or onto a bed of shredded lettuce accompanied by crackers and a dessert of plump oxheart cherries. This recipe makes three to four servings.
Scotch Broth
In this recipe, barley, a toothsome grain, combines with lamb to make a rib-sticking soup that tastes wonderful on chilly spring evenings. Let it simmer while you enjoy a pre-dinner refreshment with friends.
1-1/2 pounds lean, boneless lamb for stew
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 cups water
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
3 large stalks celery, chopped
1/2-cup pearl barley
1 teaspoon dried, crumbled thyme
Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
In a roomy soup pot, brown the lamb in hot vegetable oil. Add the water; cover; reduce heat; and simmer over a low flame for one hour or until the lamb is tender. Add the vegetables, barley, and thyme; cover; and simmer on low again for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty Irish soda bread and fresh fruit salad. This recipe serves six.
Meatballs And Quills
Lamb meatballs studded with rice give you meat and starch courses all in one. Be frugal with the salt, because the tomato soup (unless you choose the low-sodium type) contains plenty.
1 pound lean ground lamb
1 cup instant rice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 egg
Salt, pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
Approximately 1/2-cup water
1 can condensed cream of tomato soup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Combine the lamb, rice, garlic, and egg, and add a little salt and pepper as you go. Form the mixture into 20 to 24 meatballs and brown in hot oil in a large skillet. When the meatballs are evenly browned, add water; cover the skillet; and cook over low heat for approximately 15 minutes until the meat is done through and the rice is puffy. (After cooking for five minutes, check to see whether more water is needed to keep the skillet from drying out.) Meanwhile, whisk the soup and soy sauce together. Place four meatballs on each plate. Stir the soup mixture into the skillet to pick up brown bits and heat thoroughly, and spoon the mixture over the hot meatballs. The rice and meat make a complete main dish. Just add a colorful vegetable or a salad, and a dessert of canned fruit and sugar cookies.
Variation: Divide the meat-rice mixture into four to six portions and press each portion in half a seeded green bell pepper. Top with half the tomato sauce, bake as for stuffed peppers, and top with the remaining tomato sauce just before serving.
Nuked Lamb
You’ll need a covered, microwavable casserole (preferably a dish with a glass cover) that’s large enough to hold the lamb and vegetables. In no time you’ll have a one-dish feast of lamb, stuffing, and vegetables.
4-pound boneless lamb roast
Browning agent, such as Gravy Master
2 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2-teaspoon sage
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 to 3 ribs celery, chopped
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 medium zucchini, cut up
11/2 cups seasoned stuffing mix
1 can chicken broth
Brush the lamb with browning agent. Combine the flour, garlic salt, and sage; rub the dry mixture on the lamb; and set aside. In the casserole, melt the butter in the microwave oven on high. Stir in the vegetables; cover; and cook on high for three minutes. Stir in the stuffing mix and 1/2-cup of the chicken broth; spread evenly on the bottom of the casserole; and top with the lamb. Cover and cook on high for 25 minutes, turning the dish halfway through. Add the extra chicken broth if the dish becomes too dry on the bottom. Once the casserole is finished cooking, let it stand, covered, for 15 minutes; then slice and serve. Heat any leftover chicken broth to spoon over the dish, if you like. This recipe serves four, with enough lamb left over to slice cold for sandwiches the next day. Complete the plate with a dollop of mint jelly.
Lamb With Garlic
This is a version of the popular chicken dish that calls for 40 cloves of garlic. The garlic cooks to a mush, which can be squeezed out of the skins to “butter” crusty slices of French bread. You’ll need a covered microwavable casserole (preferably glass with glass lid) that’s large enough to hold the lamb in a single layer. This recipe serves four people with four large pieces of lamb and four to five large cloves of garlic per person.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 3 ribs celery, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1/4-cup dry white wine
Dash each paprika, thyme, salt, pepper
1-1/2 pounds lean, boneless lamb cut into 16 pieces
16 to 20 large cloves garlic in skin
2 tablespoons instant-blend flour
Pour the oil in the casserole and heat in the microwave on high for 20 seconds. Add the vegetables; cover; and cook for two minutes. Stir in the wine, seasonings, and lamb to coat. Arrange the lamb in a single layer and place the garlic all around the lamb pieces. Cover and cook on high for 10 minutes, stirring after five minutes. Remove the lamb to four plates and give each person four or five cloves of garlic. The garlic can be picked up using one’s fingers and “pinched” onto bread.
Stir the flour into the pan juices and cook on high for two minutes, stirring several times to thicken. If the gravy is too thick, add a little water. Spoon the gravy over the lamb and serve with crusty bread, tangy orange-cranberry relish, and buttered broccoli.
Shepherd’s Pie
1 pound lean ground lamb
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 large carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can condensed cream of celery soup
1/4-teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)
3 cups prepared mashed potatoes (instant, frozen, or leftover)
Melted butter or liquid margarine
Brown the ground lamb in hot oil until the meat is broken up and crumbly. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic; stir; cover; and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the soup, peas, and nutmeg and spread the mixture in a casserole dish. Top with an even layer of mashed potatoes. Drizzle with butter or margarine and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes or until the pie is heated through and the top is golden. Spoon onto plates. This recipe makes four to six servings. Complete the menu with a side dish of whole-berry cranberry sauce or chunky applesauce and a light lemon mousse for dessert.
Microwave-convection recipe of the month
Whip up this casserole dish, pop it in the oven, and relax until dinner.
Moussaka
This recipe takes time to assemble and an hour to bake. However, it’s a complete meal that calls for only a few simple accompaniments.
3 medium baking potatoes, approximately 1 pound total
1 pound firm, young eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Salt
1 pound lean ground lamb
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 teaspoon apple pie or pumpkin pie spice mix
Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4-cup flour
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Pinch nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
Scrub the potatoes and cook them on high in the microwave mode until they pierce easily with a fork. Set them aside to cool. Arrange the sliced eggplant on several layers of paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, coat a 9-inch-by-13-inch ovenproof casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a nonstick skillet, brown the lamb in the hot oil until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes and spice mix. Peel the potatoes; slice; and arrange in the bottom of the casserole. Pat the eggplant dry and arrange the slices atop the potatoes. Top with an even layer of the lamb mixture.
Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and melt the butter; stir in the flour. While stirring this mixture, heat the milk in the microwave on high until it’s warm. Once the milk is warm, set the oven to 350 degrees in convection mode. Stir the warm milk into the butter mixture and then stir in half the grated cheese as well as the nutmeg. Turn off the burner. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and whisk them into the milk mixture, stirring constantly, until it is evenly heated, and pour it over the casserole. Bake for one hour. Spoon onto plates and complete the meal with pita triangles, a side salad, and cherry pie for dessert.
More ways with lamb
- Marinate boneless lamb sections, slide onto skewers, and grill; serve with garlic bread pudding, steamed snow peas, and grilled corn on the cob.
- Have the butcher butterfly a boned lamb roast; spread with chopped parsley, rosemary, salt, and pepper; roll up and tie; and roast with baking potatoes and acorn squash.
- When cooking lamb in a microwave oven, it’s best to use a heavy-duty microwavable casserole with a heavy lid to retain moisture. As a second choice, use a roasting bag according to package directions. Don’t use waxed paper.
- Try ground lamb in hamburger recipes and lamb chunks in stew recipes. Try glazes and rubs on lamb roasts that you’ve previously tried on roast chicken or pork.
- Form patties using ground lamb; grill or fry as you would hamburgers; and glaze with raspberry jam.
- Order frenched lamb chops “” the kind with the long bone “” and grill them for a food you can eat with the fingers. Figure on three to four chops per person.
- Xamb shanks (you’ll need one per person), cooked to fall-apart tenderness, are the ultimate comfort food. Add a can of pitted apricots, juice and all, during the last 20 minutes of long, slow cooking, and serve the resulting sauce over rice.
- Use lamb in your favorite beef stroganoff recipe and serve with buttered egg noodles.
Product news
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If you have a recipe that you enjoy making in your coach, share it with Janet at janetgroene@yahoo.com or write to Janet Groene, Family Motor Coaching, 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati , OH 45244.