Veal/Lamb Recipes

[sassy]

I've never made or even eaten veal or lamb before but would love to try. Are there any good recipes out there for a beginner?

[Gretchen]

Veal is a VERY mild meat--it needs the flavor of its sauces or a lot of garlic as in veal marsala, etc. It is also very expensive.
Lamb, on the other hand, expensive also, is a sort of meat that most people either love it or hate it--very little wiggle room in the middle. It does have a very distinctive flavor.
If I were you I would get a nice pair of lamb loin chops, marinate them in some olive oil, garlic and rosemary and grill them over charcoal, preferably.
Serve withsome nice roasted new potatoes, a green salad and some peas or asparagus--a restaurant meal you would pay big bucks for.
See how you like that.
For veal, veal marsala is VERY good. Veal cutlets need to be pounded for tenderness, cooked VERY quickly and not over cooked or they will be dry and tough.

[pdswife]

Great Greek Meatballs!!

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger or ground lamb
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 parsely
1 small onion, greated or chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Directions:
mix all ingredients together

shape in to balls

roll in flour

fry in good olive oil!!

eat

enjoy

ask for more

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by sassy

I've never made or even eaten veal or lamb before but would love to try. Are there any good recipes out there for a beginner?

As Gretchen mentioned, veal and lamb are usually pretty expensive. However, with regards to lamb, the fore shank is usually the least expensive and yield a lot of meat. When they are braised the meat is very, very tender. I sort of came up with this on my own. Since eating lamb shanks can be rather awkward (they're about the size of a turkey drumstick) I decided to remove most of the meat from the bone at the end of braising and serve it sort of like a stew. You don't have to do that, of course. If you thicken the sauce enough you can just serve it over the whole shanks.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Leeks & Mushrooms

2 lamb fore shanks (about 3 pounds total)
olive oil for browning the shanks
2 leeks, well washed and chopped (white part only)
1/2 lb. white mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 c. vegetable or chicken broth as needed
1/2 c. wine (light red or white, either one is fine)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 - 1 tsp. dried marjoram

Brown the lamb shanks in oil until browned on all sides, with a little onion and garlic thrown in towards the end of browning. Add the wine (your choice, white or light red, nothing heavy like port) and 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth. Toss in the leeks and sliced mushrooms. Season with salt, pepper and marjoram. Cover and simmer on low heat until shanks are tender, about 1-1/2 hours, adding more broth if needed (you don't want the liquid to cook away).

Remove the shanks and veggies (slotted spoon) and thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry (1 Tbs. cornstarch + 2-3 Tbs. cold water). Remove meat from shanks and return to the pan along with the veggies. (Reserve the meaty bones for soup later - like Scotch Broth which is a lamb & barley soup.) Heat lamb mixture briefly in the sauce; adjust seasonings to taste.

Fraidy

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by Gretchen

Veal is a VERY mild meat--it needs the flavor of its sauces or a lot of garlic as in veal marsala, etc. It is also very expensive.
Lamb, on the other hand, expensive also, is a sort of meat that most people either love it or hate it--very little wiggle room in the middle. It does have a very distinctive flavor.
If I were you I would get a nice pair of lamb loin chops, marinate them in some olive oil, garlic and rosemary and grill them over charcoal, preferably.
Serve withsome nice roasted new potatoes, a green salad and some peas or asparagus--a restaurant meal you would pay big bucks for.
See how you like that.
For veal, veal marsala is VERY good. Veal cutlets need to be pounded for tenderness, cooked VERY quickly and not over cooked or they will be dry and tough.

If you're going to do lamb chops my vote is also for the lamb loin chops. If you can't grill them you can broil them.

As for veal, Veal Picatta is excellent. Off the top of my head: After pounding the cutlets (don't beat the c*** out of them!) lightly dredge them in plain dried breadcrumbs seasoned with salt & pepper. Brown them quickly in olive oil along with a little chopped garlic. Remove cutlets and keep warm. Deglaze the pan with a little white wine and stir in the juice of one small lemon and stir to blend. Cook this mixture for a minute; thicken with a cornstarch slurry if sauce needs thickening. Spoon the sauce over the cutlets to serve.

The "picatta" method also works just fine for chicken breast halves which have been pounded flat or chicken or turkey cutlets.

Fraidy

[Gretchen]

While I LOVE lamb shanks, they are also expensive and time consuming to fix since it needs to be a long slow braise. But that is not the principal reason I suggested a chop. Just find out right away if the meat is to your liking. A chop will do it. Shanks can also be a bit more "tasty" (read gamey).

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by Gretchen

While I LOVE lamb shanks, they are also expensive and time consuming to fix since it needs to be a long slow braise. But that is not the principal reason I suggested a chop. Just find out right away if the meat is to your liking. A chop will do it. Shanks can also be a bit more "tasty" (read gamey).

Of course! I already know I love lamb But where I live for some reason the shanks are usually cheaper than a package of chops (they sell the chops in packs of 2 or 4). A month or so ago I did run across a lamb leg steak, which I'd never seen before. Just had one small round bone right in the middle. It was cheaper than anything else, even a pound of hamburger so I bought it. I marinated it in a little white wine, a dash of olive oil, minced garlic, dried rosemary and salt & pepper. Did it on my stovetop grill, medium-rareish. (It's important not to overcook cuts like chops.) It was tasty! It was also big enough for me to get two meals out of it.

[Gretchen]

Originally Posted by FraidKnot

Of course! I already know I love lamb But where I live for some reason the shanks are usually cheaper than a package of chops (they sell the chops in packs of 2 or 4). A month or so ago I did run across a lamb leg steak, which I'd never seen before. Just had one small round bone right in the middle. It was cheaper than anything else, even a pound of hamburger so I bought it. I marinated it in a little white wine, a dash of olive oil, minced garlic, dried rosemary and salt & pepper. Did it on my stovetop grill, medium-rareish. (It's important not to overcook cuts like chops.) It was tasty! It was also big enough for me to get two meals out of it.

Lamb shanks are usually in the neighborhood of $3-5.99/lb. here so one is $6+ which makes a hearty serving.
You can ask your supermarket to sell you the number of chops you want, unless they are packaged in that factory sealed type of tray package that has taken hold in mass market stores.
That leg chop is a tasty cut also. LOVE lamb.

[FraidKnot]

Originally Posted by Gretchen

Lamb shanks are usually in the neighborhood of $3-5.99/lb. here so one is $6+ which makes a hearty serving.
You can ask your supermarket to sell you the number of chops you want, unless they are packaged in that factory sealed type of tray package that has taken hold in mass market stores.
That leg chop is a tasty cut also. LOVE lamb.

I hate those supermarket already in the tray package. They don't give you much of a choice with lamb. Yes, that leg chop was very tasty and served up two meals for me along with mashed potatoes and peas :) I love lamb but I suppose it's an aquired taste. You either love it or hate it. I adore Shepherd's Pie. Not to be confused with Cottage Pie, which can use anything from ground beef to chicken to turkey, but is the same principle

Fraidy <--feeling nostalgic, listening to Thomas Newman's compostion from 'Braveheart' and remembering Grandma Douglas Brown's cooking scones and meat pies

[Gretchen]

hate those supermarket already in the tray package. They don't give you much of a choice with lamb.

Just to be clear, I was referring to the WalMart foods style of packaging that is all pre-done. All of our regular supermarkets break down any package in their case to what you want to buy--one or two chops, etc. Yours will also, won't they?