STUFFED LAMB BURGER

Ingredients:

For the Patties:

2 lbs. ground lamb
4 oz. blue cheese ( I used Stilton)
3 T finely chopped fresh mint"
1 t salt
1 t ground black pepper

For the rolls:

4 rolls ( i used artisan soft bread and kaiser poppy seeds)
Slices of tomatoes (hamburger cut)
Slices of onions (hamburger cut)
Lettuce
Mayonnaise
Ketchup



1.  Form cheese into round depending on the size of your burger. At least the size of a cherry. Put them aside in the refrigerator.

2. Mix  all remaining ingredients.

3. Divide the lamb mixture into four portions, then divide each portions in half.

4. Flatten the portions into eight equal patties.

5. Put the round cheese in the center of four patties.

6. Then cover with the remaining patties, making sure the edges are sealed. This is to prevent the cheese to ooze out of the patties while cooking.

7. Grill or fry on medium heat for at least 6 minutes per side.

8. Assemble your burger on a bun with lettuce, onions and tomatoes.

Kaiser Poppy Seeds Rolls and Artisan Soft Rolls

Ground Lamb, Chopped mint leaves, salt and ground black pepper

Stilton Cheese -  Made in England, it's firmer and milder than Roquefort or Gorgonzola.

Yummy!!!!

MOUSSAKA

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium Aubergines (eggplants) (I PREFER SICILIAN OR 4-5 ASIAN EGGPLANTS DEPENDING ON THE SIZE.
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup olive oil

For the Meat Sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound (500g) ground lamb or beef
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 13 ½ ounce (425g) can tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

For the Cheese Sauce
• 3 ounces (90g) butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup grated Romano cheese

1. Cut unpeeled eggplant into ½ inch (1 cm) slices. Sprinkle both sides with salt; stand in a colander 1 hour. Rinse in cold water, drain well. Squeeze out excess moisture with paper towels.

2. To make Meat Sauce: Heat oil in pan. Add onion and ground meat. Stir over high heat 10 minutes or until well browned and all liquid has evaporated. Add wine, tomato puree, herbs, cinnamon and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced.

3. To make Cheese Sauce- (Mornay Sauce): Heat butter in small pan; add flour to make a roux. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Add milk gradually to pan, stirring until smooth. Stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens. Cook for 1 minute; remove pan from heat. Add eggs and cheese, beat until smooth.

4. Preheat oven to moderate (350 degrees F/180 degrees C). Heat oil in heavy-based pan. Cook eggplant a few slices at a time until golden; remove from pan, drain on paper towels. Divide eggplant into three. Arrange one portion over base of shallow ovenproof dish. Spread with half the meat sauce, second layer of eggplant, remaining meat sauce and eggplant. Spread Cheese Sauce over eggplant. Bake 45 minutes or until golden. Leave in dish for 5 minutes before serving.

LAMB ADOBO

Adobo is a popular dish in the Philippines. It is basically meat marinated and cooked in vinegar. There are a lot of variations or versions to this ubiquitous dish depending on where you come from. In the southern part of Luzon, adobo usually is a mixture of vinegar and coconut milk while in the Visayas region, adobo is sometimes called humba,  and usually cooked with soy sauce, vinegar and little sugar.  Although, for Cebuanos adobo means fried pork  PRITONG LIEMPO .

A typical adobo is either pork, chicken or a combination of both. Check my Chicken and Pork Adobo Recipe . As i mentioned Luzon, Laguna to be specific cooks adobo, which is called Adobo sa Gata. It is beef cooked in vinegar and coconut milk. Seafoods, like shrimp or squid are great for adobo as well.

My nephew, Vincent "got me" when he asked me if i've tried making adobo with lamb. Funny because I love to experiment on foods but lamb adobo never crossed my mind, maybe because lamb isn't a common meat of choice to us Filipinos. Growing up, i don't remember seeing lamb in the meat section of the market, it was always pork, beef, chicken sometimes goat but never lamb.

Well, my family especially my daughter love lamb and i've cooked lamb in many different ways so, i don't see any reason why lamb will not be good for adobo.

Anyways, i promised my nephew that i'll make it.  I used my Chicken Pork Adobo recipe. Bought 2 lbs. of  lamb shoulder had it chopped into stew size but i'd recommend the lamb breast just because of the marbling, the dish taste better with the fatty meat.  As expected it was a great dish. Infact, i think lamb adobo will be a good dish to try for those who are not "into" lamb. Not gamey at all, i think it's because of the vinegar.

So, Kuya...Lamb Adobo is a keeper! The next time i will cook lamb adobo, i'm adding coconut milk, i know it's going to be delish as well. Thanks for the idea!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. lamb (used shoulders)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce for marinade
Pinch of salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns or freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup dried lily blossoms if available..soaked in water (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil for searing
water if needed (just incase liquid has reduced and meat isn't that tender yet)

Cover and marinate the meat with 1/4 cup soy sauce, pinch of S&P for 1 hr.
On a large pot, sear the meat until brown on all sides, set aside.
Remove excess oil, and combine all ingredients in the pot.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat.
Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened, and meat is tender, about 20 more minutes. Serve with steamed rice.

SLOW COOKED SPICED LAMB SHANKS

This is another Jamie Oliver recipe that we love. This dish is from his Naked Chef Cookbook. I've cooked lamb shanks in different ways but this is my favorite so far.

The recipe calls for baking but i opted to cook it in my slow cooker so i don't have to babysit the dish while cooking and the aroma around the house..hhmmmm...yum!! Should you decide to cook this in yor slow cooker follow the step up to 9, then set your slow cooker according to how long you want it cooked.

Y: 4 servings

4 lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 small dried red chilli or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chilli
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried marjoram or oregano
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 large carrot, quartered and finely sliced
6 sticks of celery, quartered and finely sliced
2 medium/large onions, quartered and finely chopped
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
170ml / 6fl oz dry white wine
6 anchovy fillets (I used the anchovy tube paste)
2 x 400gr/14oz cans of plum tomatoes
1 handful of fresh basil, marjoram or flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
***Mushrooms -this is my addition to the the recipe


1. Season the lamb with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Smash up the coriander seeds and dried chilli and mix with the chopped rosemary and dried marjoram.

3. Roll the lamb in this mixture, pressing it in well.

4. Dust the lamb with the flour.

5. Heat a thick-bottomed casserole pan, add the oil, brown the meat on all sides and then remove from the pan.

6. Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onions and a pinch of salt and sweat them until softened.

7. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to reduce to a syrup.

8. Pour in the white wine and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.

9. Add the anchovies (these really seem to intensify the lamb flavour) and then add the tinned tomatoes, kept whole. Shake the pan and return the lamb to it.

10. Bring to the boil, put on the lid and simmer in the oven at 180C/350F/gas5 for 1 1/2 hours, then remove the lid and cook for a further 1/2 hour.

11. Skim off any fat and taste for seasoning.

12. Finally, stir in a handful of roughly chopped fresh basil, marjoram or flat-leaf parsley.

You can serve this with mash potatoes, rice, couscous or polenta.

Browning the shanks!

YUMMM!!!!! Spiced Lamb Shanks w/ Polenta

ENJOY!!!!

MUTTON ROGAN JOSH (MUTTON CURRY)

This is the side dish to my Daring Cooks Challenge-Indian Dosas Part 1. We finished the Indian dinner w/ Kheer.

Ingredients:

3 lbs mutton
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp each paprika, turmeric and chili powder
4 cardamom pods, crushed
salt To taste
1 cup plain yogurt ( I used Greek)
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
fresh cilantro to garnish. (I forgot to garnish when i took the pics=:)

*Heat the oil in a large heavy based frying pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, spices and a good pinch of salt. Fry over a low heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened.

*Add the meat and 2 tablespoons of the yogurt. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes or until the yogurt is absorbed. Repeat with the rest of the yogurt.

* Increase the heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the sauce becomes too dry.

*Uncover the pan, increase the heat to high and cook stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Garnish with cilantro. And a dollop of sour cream.

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.

LAMB ROGAN JOSH (LAMB CURRY)

INDIA
Recipe Source: Fresh and Tasty Casseroles

(Richard Caroll)

Had this for Thanksgiving=:) I had non traditional Tday menu .

Ingredients:
3 lbs lamb (I used lamb ribs)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp each paprika, turmeric and chili powder
4 cardamom pods, crushed
salt To taste
1 cup plain yogurt ( I used Greek)
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
fresh cilantro to garnish. (I forgot to garnish when i took the pics=:)

*Heat the oil in a large heavy based frying pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, spices and a good pinch of salt.
*Fry over a low heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened.
*Add the lamb and 2 tablespoons of the yogurt.
*Increase the heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes or until the yogurt is absorbed.
*Repeat with the rest of the yogurt.
* Increase the heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
* Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lamb is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the sauce becomes too dry.
*Uncover the pan, increase the heat to high and cook stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
*Garnish with cilantro. And a dollop of sour cream.

LAMI KAAYO- VERY DELISH