arayes - aka lamb-a-dillas

We saw a recipe for arayes in Cooks Illustrated this week. The idea looked so good that we just had to try it. When I described it to a dinner companion (a Texas Boy) on Friday evening, he said that just like quesadillas only with lamb. Hence the name.
The result is a really crispy, slightly smoky sandwich which can be eaten out of hand.  But it also makes a substantial meal. Because the recipe makes quite a few of these, we needed some victims (aka volunteers) to try them out. They came, they ate (and, I think, they liked). If not there was always the MacDonald's on the way home. Even though they are Kiwis, they are far too polite to tell me if they had to stop on the way.
We served them with a couple of salads and some tzatziki. They turned out ( the arayes, not the guests) as well as expected. And there are left overs!
The salads will be described in another post. Suffice it to say that the Coppell Farmers' Market was a source. And especially the la-ti-da farms feta.

Ingredients

1 large white onion cut into pieces

1 cup oregano (leaves and stalks)

1/2 cup lemon thyme (leaves and stalks)

zest and juice of one lemon

1T whole cumin seeds

1T whole coriander seeds

2t black pepper corns,

2t coarse sea salt

1t red pepper flakes

1/2" cinnamon stick

1/4 cup good (but not best) olive oil

1 T smokey paprika

2 lbs lamb leg, cut into 3/4" cubes. Chilled in the freezer for 30+ minutes.

6 x 6" pitas

Method

Pulse the onion, oregano and lemon time in the food processor until the onion is quite small. 8 or so pulses. You may need to scrape it down. Turn out into a bowl.

Grind the spices finely in the spice grinder, adding the coarse salt as that helps to grind them. Add the ground mixture, paprika, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil to the onion/herb mixture.

Mince (grind for my American friends) the lamb twice using the coarse die. You need to do it twice because the lamb fat is unevenly distributed. The second grinding distributes it better.  I added a couple of table spoonfuls of the onion mixture to the grinder at the end to encourage all of the meat to come through.

Mix the lamb with the onion mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Use hands (mine are now really soft) or a silicone spatula.

Chill the lamb mixture for a while (at least an hour)

2 hours before cooking, slice the pitas in half (I use a serrated knife for this) horizontally. So for each pita you have two 6" disks of pita.

Mound the lamb mixture in the center of a pizza half, spread almost to the edge and top with the other half of the same pita.

Squeeze flat and wrap in cling wrap, refrigerate for a couple of hours. 

When ready to cook, fire up the grill (I used the Primo) with so that the coals have a nice ash coating. Grill the sandwiches directly over the coals until the pitas a crispy. Turn the pitas over and grill on the second side.  Time on the grill is about 7 minutes per side 

Remove from, slice into quarters and serve immediately.

Lamb Shoulder Chops - Sous Vide and Grilled

It was dinner event time. We had a menu comprising an avocado/mango/pomegranate salad, lamb shoulder chops with salt baked potatoes, roasted tomatoes and roasted cauliflower. This was followed with lemon pots de creme.

This post is about the lamb chops. Shoulder chops are a bit awkward. The bones run in odd directions, but the flavor is fantastic. They can be a bit tough, so our old friends yogurt and sous-vide cooking come to the rescue.

Ingredients

2 cups plain yogurt

20 black peppercorns, lightly crushed

2t coriander seeds, lightly crushed

20 cardamom pods - seeds only, lightly crushed

5 inch piece of lemon grass - bruised

1t Szechuan pepper - bruised

3 cloves garlic, crushed

12 lamb shoulder chops (about 8lb)

Method

Combine the yogurt and spices in a small jug. Put the lam chops in vacuum bags (I used 3 bags, each with 4 chops). Divide the yogurt mixture evenly among the bags, Extract the air from the bags, and leave until ready

Set up the water circulator and water bath to a temperature of 134F (57C) and immerse the bagged chops for 4+ hours. This temperature get the chops to medium rare+. Shoulder meat needs to be a little more cooked than the tender lollipop chops.

The chops are finished on the grill. 

Heat the grill (we used the Big Green Egg) to a high temperature. Open the vacuum bags, and while still warm, pat the meat dry. Place the meat on the grill to brown - and get some slightly smoky flavor. 

The sous vide lamb chops

For those who have been following the bouncing ball, you will know that I am in the sous-vide stage of life. I was lent a very high quality circulator and am going through the learning cuve that everyone else has been going through for a while.
Yesterday I made some lamb chops - coated with a mint/garlic/salt/oil paste and cooked sous vide for about 6 hours at 50C. Tonight I cracked open on eof the bags, and Madame and I had them for dinner. Success!!!

Ingredients
6 lamb loin chops - weighing 4-6 oz each
1/4/ cup packed mint leaves
1 small (3 inch) rosemary sprig - leaves only
3 cloves garlic
1/2 t salt
1T vegetable oil

Method

Pound the salt, rosemary, mint leaves in a pestle and mortar, adding oil to make a thick paste. Coat the chops with the paste. Seal the chops into 2 vacuum bags (3 chops/bag). Set the circulator to 50C (122 F) and submerge the bags. Cook for 6 hours in the bags.
Remove the bags from the circulator and refrigerate still in the bags.
When you wish to eat the chops, open the bag and sear the chops until the internal temp is 55C 130F (or more according to taste). This should take around 10 minutes on a medium hot skillet.
leave the chops to rest while assembling the salad.

Tasting notes
We served these chops with a Hahn GSM and a salad made with spring mix, olives, tomatoes, peppers, apple and avocado. Dressing was a simple tarragon vinaigrette made with sherry vinegar.

Yes this did get the highest Madame accolade, "We should serve this to people".

Sous Vide Part 1 Chicken Beef Lamb and Pork

In this posting, I am laying out those items I plan to do in the first week or so of the grand sous vide experiment. Madame and I went shopping for:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Pork ribs
• Lamb chops
• Beef sirloin
• Leeks, peppers, celery

These are going to be turned into:

Chicken:

1. mushrooms, onion, cream, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper
2. onion, fennel, indian spices, salt, pepper
3. ginger, kaffir lime, coconut milk, lemon grass, salt, pepper
4. cumin, coriander, star anise, cinnamon, clove, hot pepper sauce, salt, pepper
5. tarragon, salt and pepper

Pork Ribs

1. home made bbq sauce (ketchup, fish sauce, brown sugar, paprika, molasses, cumin ++)
2. fish sauce, lime (juice and zest) shrimp paste, mirin, palm oil, szechuan peppers
3. apple, calvados, cider vinegar

Lamb chops

1. mint, garlic, salt pepper, trace of grapeseed oil

Sirloin (prime)

1. salt, pink pepper corns, trace of oil

Vegetable Medley

1. leeks, peppers, fennel, carrots, basil,

here's hoping that at least some of these will come out well. The chicken will be set to cook at 65 C. The lamb and the beef at 50C. The pork at 60C. The vegetables at 80C. Since the dishes will be finished later (sauced dishes by reheating, non sauced dishes by searing), the final temperatures should come out properly, and in line with the FDA guidelines in the USA. The vegetables should concentrate their sweetness too, by finishing in the oven.
These dishes will all be frozen, and then brought out as dinners at various times this winter/spring. If I have to travel, then I want to make sure that Madame has tasty/nutritious items.
Subsequent postings will detail the experiments.