Topic: Tender lamb joint - what's best method

[JerryM]

Double onionist, livo,

Appreciate the help. Might just have to keep foil in mind. The problem with the BBQ was loosing heat from the top surface.

Have gelled with that livo link on the 9 hr Greek method. It even identifies the water problem. I think it might just be the answer. Going to try the method next - in short no water covered sealed 125c 8 hrs lid off 1 hr 200c.

[livo]

OK, so my friend has emailed me back and I have the goods on the lamb we ate a few years back.  It is not a curry, however anyone with knowledge and skill could very easily adapt this method to incorporate whatever spices they deem desirable.  It is not dissimilar to BIR method as it is done with a base sauce / gravy, but it has a more Mediterranean influence being a mixture of Italian sauce and Greek influence.

The original recipe comes from a book released by a Restaurant / Music venue located fairly close to my home.  It is a small place with limited seating that provides musical entertainment by the countries top artists as well as internationals and up and comers along with really good food.  It is run by a guy who in his own right was a successful musician here in the land of Oz.  The recipe is based on Lamb Shanks but my friends did it with large chunks of boned out shoulder which they cooked for only 4 hours.  A leg or full shoulder would benefit from the longer cooking but it is done when it's done.

First the sauce / gravy.  Remember that this can be currified. It is the method we look at here.

Instead of Celery, Parsley and Basil, use Green Chilli, Indian Bay leaf and Fenugreek leaf, plus some Coriander Cumin and Cardamom pods and / or whatever else you think.

[livo]

Now the actual lamb.

Remember this is about method.  The recipe uses Lamb Shanks and says they are cooked slowly, but the numbers they use isn't slow.  My Greek friends tweaked the numbers and cooked boned chunks of meat (quite large, as in tennis ball size) for 4 hours at 140'C in a tightly lidded pan, turning only once halfway through.  They suggest that if it were a joint of lamb on the bone 7 - 8 hours at lower temp would be better.

Again substitute Indian ingredients for the Mediterranean ones and instead of stock and red wine use a Base Gravy for the liquid.

[livo]

To show my faith in this recipe and with my Greek friend's mods re temp and time, and the fact that I wanted to eat it again, I have prepared the dish exactly as it appears in the 2 recipe scans.  I have some pics to put up ( later) and it is in the oven now at 130'C.  Just meat, no bone. Minimum 4 hours.  Cost me about $50 but it will feed 12 people, or me twice.

Next time I do this it will be BIR style, but you all need to understand that it is still cooking.

[JerryM]

Livo,

Too kind by far.

I may of not been clear enough - im trying to replicate what I only describe as blackened lamb.

The 9 hr recipe looks an exact match.

Not all is lost so to speak as once this is mastered then your friends - what I would call sauce sounds what I will need. I've never tried taking lamb into 1 pot cooking as I would call it and need to do it in steps

Looking forward to how you get on.

[JerryM]

had stoke of luck. was cooking a beef joint slow and needed to go out before oven had got to temp. needless to say 1st hr or so was 180C not the planned 130C.

thing turned out well blackened.

i'm now am pretty sure what i'm after can be produced in the oven - that 9 hr recipe is essentially it.

the key thing is to add very little water to the covered pot and just top up when needed (start to smell burn or "roasting"). for lamb i will need to use steel tray (covered pot size) and think the bed of onion might just give the liquid (steam) needed to stop roasting. possibly the lower temp ie 125C is also needed.

the beef was cooked for 5 hrs and shredded but still not soft enough. the outer surface had that "burnt" would be the wrong word but certainly not "braised" taste.

next go will be the 9 hr pukka.

[fried]

As it's the festival of l'Aid today, I've got a 3.5kg lamb joint in the oven which'll be cooked for 5h at 140? in foil with water at the bottom of the tray. After that I'll put it under the grill to brown it up, the only spicing is garlic cloves, a bit of thyme and a few bay leaves.

Hopefully I'll have plenty of leftovers for my planned Lamb dansak tomorrow, already got the tarka dhal on the go.

[Onions]

fried, if the lamb's too good, you'll be having a tarka dinner tomorrow!!!

[livo]

Pics of the recipe in prep from the other day. I became too busy to photograph the finished dish when it came out of the oven but it was every bit as good as I remember it. My daughter's boyfriend ate it for dinner that night then breakfast and lunch the next day.  He said he'd never eaten lamb anything like it before.


I boned out another leg last night and this time I'll be doing the Currified version.  I'd better duck out to the shops first though. I've run out of foil trays.

[Sverige]

The original recipe comes from a book released by a Restaurant / Music venue located fairly close to my home.  It is a small place with limited seating that provides musical entertainment by the countries top artists as well as internationals and up and comers along with really good food.  It is run by a guy who in his own right was a successful musician here in the land of Oz. 

Is it this one?

http://lizottesshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=2561