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10/27/09 - Moroccan Lamb Chez Kaleberg

We recently ordered some Romney Lamb from Heritage Foods, so we steamed up the shoulder and the shanks Moroccan style. This is one of our favorite lamb recipes from Paula Wolfert's Moroccan cookbook . You can see the Moroccan style steamer to the right. The lamb was a bit bulky for the steaming container.

It's a pretty simple dish if you have some kind of steamer handy, and some good lamb. Put some water, and, if you have them, some dried chick peas, in the lower part of the steamer and set it to boil.

Make a bed of parsley in the upper part of the steamer and put in a peeled onion or two. Take a half stick of butter, 1/2 tsp of saffron, a few pinches of salt and pepper and smush them together. Rub the lamb with the butter mixture and add it to the upper part of the steamer on the bed of parsley.

Our steamer, in action

Steamed lamb shanks and lamb, Moroccan style
 Put the steamer together and let the lamb steam for at least an hour and a half. (It may need a bit longer, but that's the usual cooking time.) Now and then check to make sure there is enough water in the lower part of the steamer. This is especially important if you added dried chick peas as they absorb a lot of liquid.

You can see the steamed lamb to the left. The meat should be so tender it is falling off the bone. The dried chick peas should be nicely cooked and swimming in delicious lamb soup.

Serve the lamb with a mixture of ground cumin and good salt. Break out the sea salt if you have it. It's also great with spicy horseradish.

Keywords: kale