Pulled Lamb

Why choose lamb over pork for a pulled meat dish? Lamb is slightly leaner than pork, though only by 2 grams per 3 ounce serving for a bone-in shoulder cut. Like red meat, it contains more iron than pork, as well as high levels of zinc, potassium, iron and B vitamins. Slightly lower fat and better nutritional value are both good reasons, but the best reason to choose lamb over pork is for flavor. Lamb has a grassy, more exotic and slightly sweeter flavor than pork.

Another reason I go for the lamb is for sustainability. Grass-fed, pasture-raised lamb is becoming more and more convenient to find in areas where local farming is popular, and obviously, local lamb beats imported lamb when it comes to sustainability. We buy ours from Riverslea Farm at the Newburyport Farmers Market. After the Newburyport market closes for the season in December, Riverslea will also have a stall at the Seacoast Winter Farmers Market in New Hampshire, which runs every other Saturday from November to April, alternating locations between Exeter High School and Wentworth Greenhouses.

Sweet and slightly spicy, this recipe for pulled lamb is great on a sandwich or served over rice or couscous.

Pulled Lamb - serves 4 – 6

2.5 – 3 lbs lamb shoulder
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 white onion, loosely chopped
1 T garam masala
1 t cumin
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/2 C vermouth
1/4 C water

Combine the spices and salt. Rub the spice mixture into the lamb shoulder until thoroughly coated. Set aside

In a large skillet, caramelize the onion in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and butter. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the second tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Place the lamb into the hot skillet and sear all sides. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Deglaze the skillet with vermouth, scraping up any solids in the pan. Add the water to combine and pour over the lamb in the slow cooker.

Set the cooker to 6 hours.

After 6 hours the meat should be tender and falling off the bone and there should be liquid and rendered fat at the bottom of the slow cooker. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and remove the bones. Using two forks, pull the meat apart into pieces.

During this time, the fat should have settled to the top of the liquid in the slow cooker. Using a ladle, carefully skim the fat from the surface of the liquid.

Return the meat to the slow cooker and toss with the liquid.

Serve hot over couscous or on a sandwich.

Marinated Goat Tenderloin

Goat meat is a great option for New Englanders who are interested in locally raised hormone-free, grass-fed sources of animal protein. Many small-scale local farms are now raising goat, which makes it not too difficult to find at farmers markets and natural food stores. I buy my goat meat from Riverslea Farm in Epping, New Hampshire. Their goats and lambs are pasture-raised without antibiotics or hormones.

As you can imagine, goat tenderloin is quite small, compared to that of pork. The meat is also much leaner, making a quick high-temperature sear a good option for cooking. Marinating tenderizes the meat nicely, and since the tenderloins are thin, an hour is enough time for the meat to absorb the flavor and soften.

In this case I used a dry tempranillo to break down the meat and a little bit of dried thyme to impart an herbal flavor. The result is tender and juicy with a flavor richer and more earthy than beef.

Marinated Goat Tenderloin – serves 2

4 goat tenderloins
1/3 C dry red wine
1/3 C olive oil
1 t dried thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed and diced
1/2 t salt
olive oil

Whisk together the wine, oil, thyme, garlic and salt.

Arrange the goat tenderloins in a marinating dish, pour the wine mixture over the meat and toss to be sure the meat is coated. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Flip the meat and continue to return to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Remove from marinade and drain well.

Heat a slick of olive oil on a griddle over medium high heat. Place the tenderloins on the griddle and cook 2 -3 minutes on either side until crisp and brown. Using tongs, be sure to sear the entire surface.

Serve hot over a nice starchy, buttery side. It is almost winter after all.

Chicken Barley Soup

The key to a good soup is to make your own stock. This is especially true for a chicken soup intended to help ease a cold or flu. Stock from a carton or can just doesn’t have the same anti-inflammatory benefits of homemade. There’s just something about the chicken fat that gets extracted from the bones and skin that makes homemade chicken stock into something of a high end moisturizer for a sore throat.

I’m one of those people who saves vegetable trimmings and herb stems for stock. This really only works for certain vegetables, however. Potato skins, onion skins, carrot and parsnip peels are great for stock, but leafy greens will turn the pot bitter, and beets will turn it oddly sweet and blood red. Keep in mind the flavor you’re trying to achieve when collecting your trimmings.

If you’re not into saving vegetable trimmings, that’s perfectly fine. Prepare the vegetables for this soup in advance and save the trimmings to add to the chicken as it simmers. Since the trimmings will be discarded anyway, I like to separate them from the chicken pieces by using a vegetable steamer basket. This way the chicken simmers on the bottom of the pot while the trimmings steep on the top. When the stock is finished, the basket can simply be pulled out and the trimmings tossed. Another benefit of steeping the veggies on the top bunk is that they carry away some of the fat that rises to the top of the liquid as the chicken stews.

I like to chop my veggies into narrow strips the length of a spoon. I just like the uniformity of the way they look more than having little carrot wheels and celery half-moons like cafeteria soups.

Chicken Barley Soup - serves 8

4 carrots
2 parsnips
12 large sprigs parsley (about a half bunch)
4 stalks of celery, plus leaves
5 green onions
1 whole 3 – 3.5 lb. chicken
6 quarts of water
2 C trimmings from potatoes, parsnips, carrots and herbs (optional)
3/4 C barley

Start off by prepping the vegetables.

Place the celery and leaves, green onion trimmings, parsley stems and carrot and parsnip peels and optional added trimmings, if you have them on hand, into a steamer basket.

If the chicken came with the little baggy of innards and the neck, set the liver aside and add the gizzard, heart and neck to the veggie basket. (Bonus Recipe: It’ll be a long time before this soup is done and you’re most likely going to want a little nosh. While this thing simmers, take a tablespoon of butter, melt it in a small frying pan and saute the liver in the butter until it’s no longer pink in the center. Enjoy on toast with a little blue cheese and bask in the horrified stares of onlookers.)

Chop the veggies as desired. Cover and refrigerate.

Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, cut the chicken into pieces. Drop the pieces  into the simmering water. Place the veggie basket into the water over the chicken. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2.5 hours.

By this point the meat will be falling off of the bones. Remove the vegetable basket and discard contents. Carefully remove the chicken pieces with a tongs or a slotted spoon. Strain the stock if necessary to remove any runaway bones.

Allow the chicken pieces to cool enough to handle. The bones should slide right out of the meat. Go through each piece to remove any cartilage or other gristley bits.

Chop any larger pieces into 1 – 2 inch cubes. Cover and refrigerate.

You should now have a big pot of dense, fragrant stock. Add the barley to the stock and simmer 15 minutes. Add the prepared vegetables to the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the chicken to the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Grilled Maple Teriyaki Chicken

We had friends over this weekend to barbecue and one friend requested that we incorporate my Maple Teriyaki Sauce into the meal somehow. I decided to marinate chicken breast in the sauce and grill it on skewers.

The meat tenderizes and brines as it marinates in the teriyaki sauce. Maple flavor absorbs hints of smoke from the barbecue and fresh ginger adds just a enough spice to make things interesting. A final application of teriyaki sauce caramelizes and thickens, resulting in savory-sweet goodness – a nice change of pace from the usual barbecue players.

Maple Teriyaki Barbecued Chicken – serves  4

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
Yankee Cook’s Maple Teriyaki Sauce (below)

Prepare the sauce as directed and reserve 1/4 cup. Cut the chicken into 2″ pieces and place in a shallow, non-reactive dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the meat so that all of the pieces are well coated. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours.

Skewer the chicken, 3 to 4 pieces per stick. Place on a 400 degree grill and allow to cook 3 to 5 minutes. Flip the skewers and allow them to cook for another 3 minutes. Brush with the reserved sauce. Flip again and brush the other side.

Serve with a salad or grilled vegetables.

Yankee Cook’s Maple Teriyaki Sauce – makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 C tamari soy sauce
1/2 C mirin
4 T maple syrup
2 T toasted sesame oil
2 T grated ginger

For marinade: Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Pour over meat or fish in a shallow non-reactive dish. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours.

For thick teriyaki sauce: If making just the sauce, continue by simmering over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, thickening to desired consistency.

Veal Scallopine

Sure, this recipe is a tiny bit similar to last week’s stuffed chicken. To be honest, I’m feeling a little uninspired these days. It’s been a long winter and I’m just biding my time until our farmers market opens. I’m really looking forward to the availability of fresh local produce again.

Veal Scallopine is a quick dish. Cutlets are thin and take only a few minutes to cook, so while this is not necessarily a summer recipe, it’s not one to heat up the whole kitchen.

The key to this dish is the sauce. White wine and lemon juice are used to deglaze the pan and add punch. Capers lend their caperyness for salty little bursts.

Veal Scallopine – serves 2

1/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 – 1 lb thinly sliced veal (4 -  6 cutlets)
2 T lemon juice
1/3 C white wine
3 T capers
2 – 4 T olive oil

Combine the flour and salt in a shallow bowl. Dredge each veal cutlet, shake off the excess and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the veal for 2 minutes on each side. Place cooked cutlets on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet and place in the oven to keep warm.

Pour wine and lemon juice into the frying pan, using a spatula, scrape up any bits and mix it into the wine mixture as the alcohol cooks off. Add the capers and simmer for another minute.

Plate the veal, partially cover with the sauce and serve.

Ingredient origins: Flour – Vermont; Sea salt – Italy; Veal – unknown; Lemon – Mexico; Wine – California; Capers – Italy; Olive oil – Italy (See? This is why it’s frustrating to be a locavore in a temperate zone!)