Braised Leg of American Lamb
Enjoy this delicious Braised American Lamb with Charred Scallion Polenta from Chef Caroline Glover.
Ingredients
4 tablespoons neutral oil
1 leg of American lamb, bone in is preferable
Salt, to season lamb
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 head garlic, peeled and kept whole
3 cups crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon toasted and ground cumin
1 teaspoon toasted and ground coriander
1 lemon
2 sprigs fresh oregano
Wilted spinach, for serving
Charred Scallion Polenta, for serving, recipe follows
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Heat a dutch oven pan (or any heavy bottomed pan with a lid) with the oil over medium heat. While the oil is heating generously salt all sides of the lamb leg. Once the oil is hot sear both sides of the leg, making sure to get a nice brown sear on both sides, about 6 minutes per side. Deglaze with chicken stock, scraping up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan (if the stock doesn’t go half up the leg add some water until it does). Add in olives, garlic, tomatoes, cumin and coriander. Bring everything up to a simmer, cover and place in the oven.
Cooking times will vary depending on the size of your leg, 3 to 4 hours should be good but check with a fork to make sure meat falls apart. If it doesn’t at 3 hours keep going until it does… should not need to cook for more than 7 hours. Once your meat is fork tender and pulling away from the bone turn your oven up to 375 degrees F, remove the lid and cook for 10 more minutes.
Carefully take the pan out of the oven and let your meat rest in the juices for 15 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice into the sauce and taste for salt. Garnish with oregano and serve over wilted spinach and polenta
USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees with a 3 minute rest
Charred Scallion Polenta
1 bunch scallions, cleaned and trimmed
2 teaspoons neutral oil
1 cup polenta
1 cup cream
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup feta
Salt, to taste
Method:
Toss the scallions with the oil to coat. Heat a saute pan or grill pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the scallions and cook until wilted and charred evenly, about 6 minutes, turning often. Remove from the heat and chop.
Add 2 cups of water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk in the polenta and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add in the cream and cook for a couple of more minutes, until the polenta is creamy and thick and cooked, about 5 minutes. Pull polenta off the heat and add in the scallions, sour cream, and feta. Season with salt.
Yield: 8 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
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