Why did my lamb get tough?

[obala]

I made a lamb goulash today, using leg of lamb from our organic meat butcher. I've made it before and it was tender and delicious. Today's result was rather tough, sort of rubbery, chewy meat, not the melt in your mouth morsels in the past. What could I have done wrong?

 

[Andy M.]

Perhaps you didn't cook it long enough.

 

[Claire]

I'm with Andy, long and slow wins the day. But also the cut of meat ... believe it or not, it might have been too lean, in which case longer and slower is even more important.

I don't see where you're from, but in some places you might have bought lamb but received mutton. That doesn't happen as much as it used to (hint, stronger flavor).

 

[obala]

Thank you, chefs. I have made this goulash before with the same cut of meat (leg of lamb) from the same butcher. The only thing I did differently was to start it on Saturday evening and then let it cool off, finishing it (I thought) on Sunday morning, then reheating it just before we sat down to eat. I thought it had been long enough, but didn't seem to get any more tender when I tested it at various stages of the process. Actually I wondered whether I hadn't even cooked it too long, or that reheating was the cause. You both refer to more time, which I shall give the leftovers tomorrow. Thanks so far. (I'm an American, living in the Netherlands, by the way.)

 

[obala]

10 extra minutes in the pressure cooker at 10 lbs pressure did the trick. It was delicious. Hadn't believed it was simply underdone!