Greek Fricassee Of Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Trim most of the visible fat from the lamb then cut the meat into 1½" - 2" chunks. Pat down the lamb to remove any excess moisture then brown it on all sides over medium-high heat in the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
• Add the leeks, onions, and celery to the pot and sauté until the vegetables soften. Add the chicken stock to cover the mixture and season it generously with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 40 minutes.
• Mince the dill, reserving some for garnish. Chop the lettuce and add it to the pot, along with the dill. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or, until the lamb is fork-tender and a small amount of liquid (about a cup or so) remains in the pot. Turn off the heat.
• Prepare the egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce. In a small bowl whisk the egg whites with the teaspoon of cold water and a little corn flour until very frothy. Whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice (start with only one lemon if you do not like the acidity of the lemon too much). Temper the avgolemono sauce by slowly adding one ladleful of the hot liquid from the pot to the small bowl with the eggs, while whisking the whole time. Continue with a second ladleful of the hot liquid and whisk again. Now add the avgolemono to the pot and stir gently to incorporate. Shake the pot a few times to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed together.
• If you need to reheat the lamb fricassée before serving, do so very gently, making sure the stew does not come to a boil. Place on a serving platter, topped with the reserved minced dill, a drizzle of olive oil and a few wedges of lemon. Good, crusty bread is a must and a Greek salad on the side is always a good idea.

Steps:

• In a large Dutch Oven, heat the olive oil till smoking and in it brown the pieces of lamb (you may have to do this in 2-3 batches) until golden-brown all over.
• When all the pieces are browned add onion, garlic, water and wine (you could use just water if you wanted to), salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
• Add lettuce and dill. You may have to cram it into the pot but it will reduce to practically nothing. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove lid, stir carefully not to break up meat and cook another 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
• In a large, heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, cornstarch, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper to taste (remember, there is more in the pot).
• With a ladle, remove ladlefuls of the cooking liquid the meat and lettuce have cooked in and VERY slowly whisk it into the egg/lemon mixture. Keep doing this until, whisking all the while, until you have incorporated most of your cooking liquid - this tempers the egg-lemon sauce so it won't curdle when added to your lamb.
• Pour all the sauce into the pot, covering the lamb and lettuce. Turn heat up to medium-high and just bring to the boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Dinner is ready. Have lots of crusty bread around to sop up the delicious avgolemono sauce.

Steps:

• Pat dry the lamb using paper towels and place it in a roasting pan. Using a sharp knife, make several incisions in the lamb and insert the slivered garlic and half of the rosemary leaves.
• Whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, the other half of the garlic (minced), the other half of the rosemary (chopped), thyme, oregano and lemon zest. Pour the marinade over the lamb making sure to cover it on all sides. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• 30 minutes before you are ready to roast the lamb, remove it from the refrigerator and turn on the oven to 450°F.
• Wrap the lamb and its marinade well with parchment paper (not wax paper) and then with aluminum foil (this will ensure that all the juices stay with the meat and do not leek.) If you do not have parchment paper, use two layers of foil instead. Place the roasting pan with the lamb in the middle rack of the oven, cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 360°F. Roast for 2 hours.
• While the lamb roasts, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then in quarters. If the potatoes are large, cut each quarter in half again. Place them in a medium bowl and toss them with the salt, pepper, oregano, and lemon juice.
• After two hours, remove the roast from the oven, open the wrapping carefully and check it. At this point, the bone should be loose and starting to come away from the meat. If it is not, cover the lamb again, return it to the oven, and roast for another 15 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Uncover the lamb; there should be about a cup of its juices in the pan. If there is not enough liquid, add enough hot water to make about 1 cup. Scatter the potatoes around and under the lamb and return the pan to the oven for about 20-30 minutes until the skin of the lamb is brown and crisp (cover loosely with a piece of foil if the lamb becomes too dark before this time).
• At this point, remove only the lamb from the roasting pan and transfer it to a platter. Cover it loosely with some foil and let it rest for 20 minutes. Continue roasting the potatoes for another 15 minutes, or so, until they become soft and have a nice golden color. There should be still plenty of juice in the pan.
• To serve, spoon some pan juices over the lamb, divide it in four portions and serve it alongside the lemon potatoes. Garnish with some lemon slices and enjoy with a glass of Merlot.

Steps:

• Cut the lamb in portions.
• Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pot and brown the lamb in it.
• Strain excess fat. Take out the lamb.
• Add the rest of the butter, salt& pepper, the lettuce, the onions and the lamb.
• Cover and simmer for about 1 hours Stir.
• Don't fret about not having any water in the stew. The veggies will provide it as they cook.
• Prepare the avgolemono sauce, by beating together the eggs, lemon juice and flour (I use about 2 tsp).
• Just before serving, pour the avgolemono in the pot, simmer lightly and serve hot.
• Note: With 2 - 3 (2 - 3 lbs) heads of lettuce and 3 lbs of green onions, you will need a pretty big pot to hold all the chopped veggies. These will cook down to half the raw amount.