Turkish Walnut Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Saute the onions in the butter for a couple minutes.
• Add the lamb and continue lightly frying until the pieces start to brown.
• Add the stock, cover and simmer gently for 1/2 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by stirring the water into the ground walnuts.
• Add the pomegranate syrup and sugar and simmer gently over a low heat for 10 minutes.
• Add the walnut sauce to the lamb, along with the seasonings and lemon juice.
• Continue to simmer, covered, over a low heat for another 30 minutes.
• Adjust the seasonings by adding a little sugar if the dish is too sour or more pomegranate syrup if it is too sweet.
• Serve with basmati rice.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut lamb shoulder into 2 or 3 pieces, and place in a shallow 12-by-14-inch roasting pan or similar. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with red pepper, if desired.
• Rub meat with olive oil, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. Tuck thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic cloves and onion halves here and there. Place in oven, uncovered, and roast for 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.
• Turn meat browned-side down and add 2 cups of water to the pan. Cover tightly with foil or lid. Reduce heat to 325 degrees. Cook, covered, until meat is absolutely fork tender and beginning to fall apart, about 3 1/2 hours total. Uncover during last 30 minutes of cooking if you want to brown the meat a bit more.
• Remove meat to a cutting board. Pour pan juices into a skillet (discard herbs and garlic). Skim and discard excess fat from surface. Bring to a boil and simmer until about a cup remains.
• Chop or shred meat into 1-inch chunks or rough slices. Transfer to a warm platter and pour juices over. (Alternatively, leave meat in pan with reduced juices until ready to serve.) Garnish with persimmon and pomegranate (if using), parsley, mint and lemon wedges. Serve yogurt on the side.

Steps:

• To prepare the racks of lamb: Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over high heat. Season the racks of lamb with salt and pepper (I use fresh ground sea salt and ground white pepper). Sear the racks on all sides until nicely browned. Remove racks to a platter and allow to cool enough to handle. At this point preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• To make the walnut crust: Put dried rosemary into a food processor and pulse several times to grind, If you don't do this the rosemary pieces will be too large. Add walnuts, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, and garlic powder. Pulse several times until mixture is the consistency of bread crumbs. Pour mixture onto a large dinner plate or a platter.
• To make the mustard mixture: In a dish combine the egg, mustard and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Mix well with a fork until egg and mustard are completely incorporated.
• To coat the racks of lamb: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Once the racks are cool enough to handle, place 1 rack in the mustard mixture and coat all sides. Next place the coated rack into the walnut mixture and coat well. Using your hand press the walnut mixture firmly onto the coated rack. Transfer rack to the baking sheet. Repeat steps for each rack. You can make the recipe to this point and place in refrigerator until ready to cook.
• To cook: Place the racks of lamb into the oven and roast for 20 minutes for medium rare. I use a temperature probe in one of the racks, and remove meat from oven when it registers between 125 to 130 degrees F. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting.

Steps:

• Heat grill to high. Season the lamb, then grill for 2 mins on each side until browned, but still very rare. Meanwhile, mix the seasoning, oregano and half of the mint into one of the tubs of yogurt, smother this over the lamb, then return to the grill for another 2-3 mins or until the yogurt is blistered and the meat is cooked to your liking.
• Leave the meat to rest on a board for a few mins while you toast the pittas, shred the lettuce and thinly slice the red onion. Stir the rest of the mint into the second tub of yogurt. Thickly slice the meat and stuff into the pitta bread with the salad and minted yogurt. Squeeze over lemon juice before tucking in, if you like.

Steps:

• Mix the yeast and 250ml warm water in a small bowl, and leave to stand for 5-10 mins until foamy - this means the yeast is working. Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl (or use a tabletop mixer fitted with a dough hook and set at a low speed). Add the yeast mixture and mix by hand or machine until the dough comes together into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky to form a ball, add 2 tbsp flour and mix again. Knead for 12 mins by hand, or 8-10 mins on a high speed in the mixer, until smooth, then put in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn to coat the dough in the oil, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2-4 hrs until doubled in size. (You can also put it in the fridge overnight, punch down and let it rise again at room temperature.)
• Heat the oven to 240C/220C/gas 9. Put a baking sheet or pizza stone on the middle shelf. If you're using lamb leg meat, blitz it in a food processor until it's finely minced. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 10 mins until golden. Add the lamb and cook for 5 mins or until brown, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, then pour off any excess oil. Add the spices, some seasoning, tomato purée, tomatoes and the pomegranate molasses, and cook for 5 mins more, mixing everything together well and breaking down the tomatoes with a spoon. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Can be done one or two days ahead.
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 30 x 40cm. Sprinkle 1 tsp or so of the semolina on a baking sheet. Put the dough on top and make sure it can move around. Add the spicy lamb first, then top with the red onions, pine nuts and feta. Slide onto the heated baking sheet or pizza stone and cook for 10-15 mins until crisp on the bottom.
• Remove and drizzle with a little extra pomegranate molasses, then scatter over the parsley and pomegranate seeds. Transfer to a large board and cut into diamonds to serve.

Steps:

• Put the lamb in a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. If the lamb is not properly mixed, the kofta will fall apart on the skewer.
• Form the lamb into small patties about the size of a walnut. Mold the patties tightly around a long skewer so they form small oval shapes. Four or five will fit on a skewer.
• Heat a broiler or charcoal coals and when hot, grill the kofta, turning once, until they are golden brown, for about 6 minutes.