Lamb Shank with Cayenne and Mushrooms

I researched for any Uzbek lamb shanks recipe but couldn't find one but noticed that majority of their meat recipe calls for cayenne. So this dish is sort of a combination of all the recipes that i've seen and put my own twist.

2 Lamb shanks
Oil to saute and for browning the meat
2 medium onions, chopped
Mushrooms sliced ( your discretion as to how much you want to use)
2 t cayenne, or more to taste
3 c beef broth or more if needed
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 potatoes diced ( i used yukon gold)
1 c wine (i used white wine)
salt and pepper to taste
parsley leaves for garnish

Heat oil and brown the lamb shanks.
Add the onions, cook until caramelized
Add cayenne and broth, cover pot and cook on med. heat for an hour.
Add tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms and wine and let simmer, covered for another hour or until meat is tender, stirring occasionally.
Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust cayenne if you want it more spicy.
Garnish with parsley.

Plov (Uzbek Rice Pilaf)

This is the second Uzbek dish i made for our New Year. As i mentioned, my sister made this. I did some research and found a lot of variations, some calls for dried fruit, turmeric and a lot more. I was tempted to try the others but opted to use my sisters recipe instead, with a little adjustments.

I made some tweaking to this recipe, i adjusted the cumin and pepper flakes coz i wanted more heat and added 1 more cup of the beef stock. I used jasmine rice since it's impossible for me to find Uzbek rice. It calls for julienned carrots, but i shredded mine instead, carrot isn't so popular in my family. But i think shredding it just added more color to the pilaf and ofcourse to the flavor too!


2 C rice
1 t cumin ( i added 1 more teaspoon)
5 c beef stock/broth ( i added 1 more cup)
1 t red pepper flakes ( add more if you want more heat)
Lamb or beef meat cubed (i used 1/2 pound)
2 onions finely chopped
3 carrots julienned ( i shredded mine)
1 garlic head

Saute onions and carrots over medium heat.
Add meat and stir until brown.
Add 2 c broth and cook over med. high heat about 6-7 minutes, until meat is tender.
Add rice and heads of garlic into stew.
Add the rest of the stock, do not disturb layering of rice and stew.
Let boil uncovered until rice absorbs stocks, about 45 minutes.
When rice is soft reduce heat to low.
Cover and let rice steam for 25 minutes or more or until rice is cooked.

Saute onions, carrots and meat.

Let this cook w/o disturbing (mixing is a no! no!)

The Plov! Garnish with some of those garlic.

POMEGRANATE AND ONIONS SALAD (ANOR VA PIYOZLI GAZAK)

It has been our tradition to add a new dish or two to our "usual" New Years' spread w/c are Ham, Chicken Macaroni Salad and Queso de Bola (Filipino Staple to every Christmas and New Year Celebration), it's actually an edam cheese shaped and package like a ball.

This year I decided to make Uzbekistan Dishes. My sister made Uzbek Rice Pilaf during our Thanksgiving vacation and we loved it, that's one of the reasons why we decided on the Uzbek dishes. Actually another reason is all because of my nephew who's in Urumqi, China, he is the who introduced Uzbek food.

I will be posting three Uzbekistan dishes: Plov( Uzbekistan Rice Pilaf), Anor Va Piyozli Gazak (Pomegranate and Onion Salad), Lamb Shank with Cayenne (My take on their Lamb Shank Stew)

My first posting- Uzbek Salad

Anor Va Piyozli Gazak

The Ingredients:

Pomegranate

Sweet Onions



1 pomegranate
1 large sweet onion

salt to taste

Directions:

Place thinly sliced onions in a bowl and wash it 2-3 times in hot water and add salt. Mix in the half of the seeds from the pomegranate with sliced onons. Crush and strain the other half of the seeds to make juice and add to onion mixture. Serve the salad in an onion cup filled with pomegranate seeds.

This salad was new to us and certainly will not be the last. I'd for surely make this again esp. during summer time. This is easy and quick to prepare and so refreshing. I can see this as a great side dish to any grilled meats or fish.