One meat that I never had a taste for was lamb. My dad always raved about his childhood favorite dish, stewed lamb in tomato sauce. Both times he made it, I was not a fan of the smell that overtook our house or the aftertastes I got from the lamb itself. But still, as I pondered what to make for this week's technique, something told me that I needed to step outside my comfort zone. After all, this blog should not be just about picking simple, unchallenging recipes. It should be a journal of culinary learning and development. Each week I aim to research a technique that I may or may not have used before and learn the technical side of it. Then I take that new found knowledge and use it to develop my skills in the kitchen and hopefully a byproduct of the whole process is creating an edible masterpiece. As I have explained so eloquently above, from a very young age lamb was never a favorite of mine. So why not attempt to make a dish so delicious that it will renew my faith - that lamb too can be good eats! That was the challenge I gave myself this week. Now, let's get technical.
Roasting should not be confused with a previous "technique of the week" -- braising. Traditionally, large cuts of meats and poultry are cooked with this dry application of heat. Different types of roasting exist including spit roasting (rotisserie), smoke roasting, pan roasting, or poêléing. Spit Roasting is the most primal method of cooking. The carcass of an animal is suspended on a spit or rod and rotated over an open fire or other heat source. The meat is basted with its own juices as it turns. Smoke and pan roasting are self-explanatory. Poêléing is a French technique where the food roasts in its own juices usually accompanied by butter and a matignon. A matignon is an aromatic mixture comprised of carrots, celery, leeks, onions, and ham or bacon.
Today's version of roasting is more closely related to baking. Roasting racks are utilized in ovens to allow the dry hot air to evenly cook all sides of the roast. Denser vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, and butternut squash can also be roasted as well as garlic and shallots. Roasting methodology varies from recipe to recipe but the primary objective is to develop flavors from a deeply browned exterior and tender moist meat on the inside. This can be supplemented by periodic basting with the exuded juices in the roasting pan. After the cooking of the roast is finished, the drippings in the pan can be made into a gravy or sauce. Two traditional preparations for roasts are barding and larding. These techniques are used for leaner cuts of meat. Barding involves wrapping the roast with layers of fatback or bacon around the outside. Larding inserts pieces of fatback or bacon into slits made in the meat.
Originally, the recipe I chose for this week called for a shoulder of lamb. However, the grocery store only had legs of lamb, and since they looked relatively fresh I decided to alter the recipe. By now, I hope your asking yourself what a "Mechoui style" leg of lamb really means. Well, Mechoui refers to the preparation style of roasted lamb in the northern African region particularly countries like Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The lamb is very flavorful using a spice mixture including paprika, cilantro, cumin, thyme, and plenty of garlic. It is then spit roasted over an open fire until tender and delicious. To accompany the lamb, the recipe called for a Moroccan carrot salad and a couscous with a kick of turmeric.
I made sure to prepare the leg of lamb a day early to let the flavors infuse deep into the meat. I mixed butter with the spice mixture I mentioned above and rubbed it all over the salted and peppered lamb. After I researched what Mechoui really meant, I felt disappointed to see that the recipe did not call for the spit and open fire. Boy was I ready for a good ol' spit roasting. Instead, it called for a roasting rack with a water level in the pan below. Disappointing, I know. Your probably asking why I didn't just go ahead and try to engineer up some spit roast with my grill or in the yard. Well, to be quite honest, I feel like spit roasting is a better fit for a festive event where you have numerous people to feed. At a family reunion in the Philippines, my titos roasted a whole cow. I even watched them kill it. The point is, there's the whole "wow effect" from seeing a lamb, pig, or cow's entire carcass cooking over a fire that would simply not be appreciated if it were just me staring at it for hours upon hours.
Even though the oven roasting method was sort of cheating with the Mechoui style theme, the flavor profile made up for it. The frangrances that filled the air while it cooked screamed north Africa at the top of their lungs. After about 45 minutes of high temperature browning and basting, I covered the roast with a layer of foil and continued at 400 degrees for another 3 hours. My handy dandy digital cooking thermometer got me safely to the medium well internal temperature of 160 degrees. I deglazed and thickened up the pan drippings with a corn starch and water mixture to create a tasty gravy for the finished plate. My healthy side urged me to skim some of the accumulated excess oils from the top. Then, to create a velvety sauce with uniform consistency I pulsed the mixture in a blender.
The great thing about long cook times is the time it allows to work on side dishes. The Moroccan carrot salad was the perfect side dish to compliment the lamb and, as an added plus, it was extremely easy to prepare. I took 3 medium-sized carrots and shredded them. The vinaigrette was a simple combination of freshly squeezed lemon juice, cilantro, olive oil, and a sugar. To bring it all together, I added one to the other with a hand full of hydrated raisins. Voila!
The carbohydrate of the meal was a fluffy couscous with a wonderful essence of turmeric. I soaked the couscous in salted water for 1 hour prior to cooking. After the couscous is nearly tender, I added butter and plenty of grated turmeric with some salt and pepper. Using a fork, I fluffed the couscous to perfection.
I was happy that this week's recipe forced me out of my comfort zone in several different ways. Lamb was never a favorite of mine, but I can safely say that I have a new appreciation for it. The spices and herbs traditionally used in Mechoui lamb dishes mingle well with the innate flavors of the meat. This dish also made me realize that I like my lamb cooked medium well or well done. That's my preference. The recipe also introduced me to both couscous and turmeric. Before this week, I hadn't cooked with either. Couscous has its own unique texture as compared to your typical carbohydrate --rice, mashed potatoes, pasta. Turmeric is a root spice related to ginger and has magnificent flavor and fragrance. But beware, the orange color rubs off on everything including your fingers. So this week, I end with my lesson of the week: Don't be afraid of unknown ingredients. Be open to expanding your "pantry" of culinary knowledge.
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