The Summer Salad with Grilled Lamb and Quinoa recipe featured in the video is very simple to make and your family will enjoy it – mine did.

Lamb Recipes

Now that you’re rarin’ to go out and grab some lamb for your next dinner, take a look at these favorite lamb recipes that I’ve tested many times in my own kitchen and that I can promise are a great place to get started bringing more lamb into your food world.

• Grilled Bread with Tuscan Style Lamb – this is great light meal for a summer night. You can use a lamb London broil instead of a leg of lamb.
• Braised Lamb Shanks with Parsley-Mint Gremolata – this is a great winter dish and after you get it into the oven you can tend to other things.
• Lamb Burger with Yogurt Sauce – lamb is a fun alternative to ground beef for burgers and gives you a whole new palette on which to play with burger seasonings and toppings.
• Pistachio-Crusted Rack of Lamb – a rack of lamb is a beautiful dish for any holiday or special meal, and you might be surprised at how easy it is to make.
• Aromatic Lamb Meatballs – I bake these in a 350 degree oven instead of frying them and they are great over spaghetti with brown butter.
• Grilled Lamb Lollipops – this is fastest and easiest way I know to cook lamb. These are perfect party food because they come with a built-in handle.
• Barley and Lamb Stew – I like this dish because it’s hearty and provides a great base for playing with flavor combinations. Add in onions and leeks, deglaze the pan with a nice red wine, or even toss in a few potatoes.

Contest: Share Your Lamb Recipe

I’m always on the hunt for new lamb recipes, and I’m hoping y’all can turn me on to a few. In partnership with the Tri-Lamb Group, I’ll be giving away $25 gift certificates to three readers. Simply submit your favorite original lamb recipe in the comments by noon CST on Tuesday, August 3, 2010. I’ll use a random number generator to select the three winners from all who submit recipes. I’ll notify winners via e-mail, so be sure to submit a valid e-mail address with your comment. I look forward to seeing what tasty lamb treats everyone has to offer.

Disclosure: The only compensation I received for my work with the Tri-Lamb Group was a fun-filled day of video production with their great team, a fridge full of lamb from the video shoot, and a nice dinner at a local restaurant. My partnership is otherwise based on my support for their good work and my love of lamb.

In celebration of Spring and the many fun activities it brings, I challenged myself to create a menu for a casual dinner for 8 that required no more than one hour of preparation time the night before and another 90 minutes of preparation the day of the dinner (grocery shopping not included). The hardest part about building the menu wasn’t finding recipes that would fit with my time limits, but it was choosing from all of the amazing options.

Meats like lamb and pork cook quickly and the Spring’s best vegetables need minimal assistance to shine. My final menu included a spectacular but dead-simple rack of lamb, an oven risotto that would free me from standing over the stove stirring, beautiful artichokes that are fun to eat, and a luxurious panna cotta that comes together quickly the night before the dinner. This menu would be lovely for Easter or for any other get together in the Spring or Summer. In fact, it comes together so quickly that it’s actually practical for weeknight entertaining. Your guests will think you were in the kitchen all day, and well, where’s the good in disabusing them of that notion? Your secret is safe with me.

The Menu (serves eight)

Main Course

Rosemary Pesto Lamb Rack
quadruple the recipe

Baked Risotto with Morels and Asparagus

Artichokes with Garlic-Thyme Mayonnaise
double the recipe

Dessert

Lemon Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

To Drink

Medium-bodied red wine such as Erath Pinot Noir

The Plan

I create all of my preparation plans in Excel because I find it easy to work with and to modify as I go. I’ll admit it’s a little over the top for most, but if you’d like to see the detailed spreadsheet I used to get to this plan, you’re welcome to download a copy in Excel or PDF format.

The night before

• Set the table and set out serving dishes
• Make the panna cotta and raspberry sauce

90 minutes before dinner

• Open the wine so it can breath
• Prep the lamb and let sit at room temperature
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1 hour before dinner

• Prep the artichokes and mayonnaise

40 minutes before dinner

• Put the lamb in the oven
• Bring the artichokes and water to boil
• Prep risotto ingredients

30 minutes before dinner

• Reduce the lamb oven heat to 400 degrees
• Start the risotto on the stove and then place in oven

15 minutes before dinner

• Remove the lamb from the oven and allow it to rest
• Remove the artichokes from the boiling water and drain
• Sautee the asparagus for the risotto

5 minutes before dinner

• Remove the risotto from the oven and stir in the asparagus
• Plate all of the dishes

30 minutes after dinner

• Make coffee
• Plate panna cotta
• Serve dessert

Keys to Success

You’ll be cooking for this dinner right up until it’s time to serve the meal. However, that doesn’t mean you have to feel harried or not enjoy pre-dinner time with your guests. Some things I’ve found helpful when cooking a meal like this one include:

• When you set the table and set out the serving dishes the night before, be sure to also set out dessert dishes and forks, as well as coffee mugs. This will make the transition from the main dinner to dessert much easier.
• Run and empty the dishwasher so you can load your prep dishes into it as you go. Your kitchen will be neater when guests arrive and it will be easier to ask them to help you with any last minute preparation.
• Ask guests to arrive 15-30 minutes before you plan to serve dinner. By this point in the process most of your heavy prep work will be done and you’ll largely be stirring and checking on the status of cooking dishes. You’ll be able to welcome guests easily and leave some wiggle room for anyone who might be running late.
• You won’t want to abandon your guests while you finish dinner, so consider setting out some olives, cheese, and bread near the kitchen so you can chat with them while you finish cooking. You may want to serve a different wine, or possibly some bubbles, with your pre-dinner nibbles to get everyone in the party spirit.
• If you plan to serve water or tea with your dinner, instead of or in addition to wine, pre-pour the drinks and stash the glasses in the fridge. You can set them out just before dinner is served.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Friends can carry dishes to the dining room, pour wine, or even rinse a dish or two.

While I’ve purchased and cooked both ham and lamb for many years, I’ve never really made a serious study of either. Given that all I learned about turkey for my Turkey Buying 101 post had such a significant impact on the way I selected and cooked my Thanksgiving bird, I decided a similar knowledge gathering exercise for ham and lamb was in order. Luckily, Howard Miller, the meat guru from Central Market, was more than willing to share his extensive experience with me once again. I’m happy to report that buying ham and lamb isn’t quite as multi-faceted as buying a turkey, but there are some important things you should keep in mind as you go forth to acquire your spring meat.

Ham – The Heat and Eat Favorite

When most of us think about ham during the Spring, and honestly during just about any other season, we think about a smoked ham that is ready to eat. Fresh ham, AKA pork roast, definitely has its place but doesn’t show up nearly as frequently as the ubiquitous smoked ham. Smoked ham is such a favorite from table to table for two reasons:

1. It’s part of our culinary memory. My mother serves ham during the spring just like my grandmother before her and my great-grandmother before her. For some, the Easter table in particular simply isn’t the same without ham. During our discussion Howard did say that he thinks ham doesn’t take quite the starring role that it did in past years. Now, instead of being the only meat on the table, it may be one of a couple of main course selections, but make no mistake, it’s still there.
2. It’s easy. Ham is pretty much a no-fail dish. You heat it according to package directions and serve it. If cooking a big meal for friends and family causes you stress, ham is a perfect main dish because it’s one less recipe you have to find and make. Conversely, if you enjoy the thrill of putting together an over-the-top menu, ham is still a great option because it frees you to focus on fantastic side dishes and exceptional desserts.

Buying Ham: The Basics

In the past, many hams were bone-in with a layer of fat on them. These more traditional hams have been largely replaced by the spiral sliced ham. When selecting your spiral sliced ham, you’ll need to consider two things:

1. How much to buy. Depending on the appetites of your guests, the number of other dishes you’re making, and the amount of ham you want left over, you should plan between 4 and 8 ounces of ham per person. If ham is one of a couple of main dishes and you have 3-4 side dishes plus dessert, then the 4 ounce per person range is probably better. However, if ham is the star of the show or you want quite a bit for leftovers, then buy 6 to 8 ounces per person. Ham is sold in whole or half ends and besides their weight, there’s no difference between them.
2. Glazed or not. Many hams come with some sort of glaze for additional flavor. Honey is common, as in honey baked ham, but fruit-based flavors are also popular. Whether you buy your ham with extra flavor added or not is entirely based on personal preference. I tend to buy my ham without the extra flavor so I can put my own personal touch on it and also because I can better control the ingredients in the glaze to avoid corn syrup and other unnatural additives. If you do buy an already flavored ham, be sure to read the ingredient list carefully.

What about Organic Ham?

They key to a successful smoked ham is the brine, and when you brine and smoked a meat it gets harder for the entire process to stay organic. You can get hams that are organic and nitrite free, but they may not have the smoky flavor you are looking for. While organic ham may be harder to come by, ham from sustainably raised pigs are easier to come by, thanks in large part to the wonders of the Internet. The Kitchn has a great article on sources for sustainable ham. Many of these producers raise heirloom variety pigs and feed them organic diets, so they may be your best option if

Ham Recipes

If you’re like me and prefer to buy an unflavored or unglazed ham so you can put your personal touch on it, here are some recipes you might find useful:

• 5 Ingredient Easter Ham with Cola-Pineapple Glaze (Steamy Kitchen)
• Blackberry Rum Glazed Ham (Steamy Kitchen)
• Easter Ham with Mango Ginger Glaze (Steamy Kitchen)
• Ham with Champagne and Vanilla Glaze (Cooking Light)
• Gingersnap-Crusted Ham with Apricot-Mustard Sauce (Cooking Light)
• Baked Ham with Sticky Meyer Lemon-Spice Glaze (Cooking Light)
• Ham with Burbon, Molassas, and Pecan Glaze (Bon Appetit)
• Marmalade-Glazed Ham with Sweet Orange-Tea Sauce (Bon Appetit)
• Thyme Honey Glazed Ham (Gourmet)

Lamb – The Fool-Proof Meat with the Bad Reputation

Thanks to years of old, tough, rank mutton being offered up as lamb, true lamb has developed somewhat of a sullied reputation. This is truly unfortunate seeing that today’s lamb is exceptionally tasty and so very easy to cook. It’s versatile, readily available, and a lighter red meat option. It looks lovely surrounded by the other flavors of spring: asparagus, artichokes, citrus, and new potatoes. Are you sold? I hope so. A Spring without lamb really just isn’t Spring at all.

Now, on to the business of procuring lamb.

Buying Lamb: Sources

Most of the lamb available in the United States is from one of three places:

• Domestic sources. Lamb is raised throughout the United States. Close to Austin, Loncito Cartwright raises grass-fed, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free lamb that he sells at local farmers markets. At our local Central Markets, we have access to lamb from Colorado, and in El Paso where I was raised my parents buy fresh lamb from San Elizario. Howard said that American lamb is usually milder than other lamb because of its grass-fed diet, and when you buy lamb from the US, it’s typically available fresh.
• New Zealand and Australia. The Aussies have a very productive lamb business and they regularly ship their lamb to the United States. This imported lamb is usually smaller than domestic lamb, and it may be less expensive than American lamb, particularly at large warehouse clubs like SAMs. Because the lamb has to be shipped half way around the world, it will have been frozen at some point during its journey.

I’ll be honest and say that I buy my lamb from several different sources. For special occasions or when I’m buying less expensive cuts of lamb, I will buy from Loncito at the farmers market. Loncito’s lamb tends to be the most expensive of all the lamb in town, but it’s important to our entire food chain to support our local farmers. I also buy lamb regularly from Central Market, particularly when I want to buy just a single rack of lamb chops or a lamb London broil. However, when it’s time to feed lamb to a crowd, I turn to SAMs for lamb from New Zeland. The quality is good as is the price, making lamb a viable option for my dinner table regardless of the number of guests.

Buying Lamb: Cuts

When buying lamb, particularly for the Spring holidays, two cuts stand out:

• Leg of lamb. A good size leg of lamb will feed a crowd nicely and it’s usually available at a manageable price point. Howard’s advice is to have the butcher remove the leg bone and tie the leg for you so it cooks evenly. Unlike other meats that rely on a bone for moistness and flavor, lamb has enough flavor and cooks quickly enough that you don’t need the bone (or much fat even) to get a good result. Howard’s favorite way to cook a leg of lamb is simple. Make small slits all over the lamb and push cloves of garlic down into each slit. Rub the entire leg with olive oil, and sprinkle it liberally with kosher salt. Brown it on all sides in a little oil in heavy pan and then finish it in a 375 degree oven.
• Rack of lamb. Lamb racks make for a beautiful presentation and they are one of the easiest cuts of meat to cook. For a section of lamb ribs to be called a rack, the bones have to be Frenched (or have all of the meat and fat removed from the top of the bone). A rack typically has 8 rib sections, and a serving for one person is usually two rib sections, unless you’re our family and then it’s four. Two racks are perfect for a small dinner party and they look beautiful on a bed of herbed rice. Howard is a fan of simple preparation of lamb. Rub the outside with oil and salt, and maybe some strong herbs like rosemary and thyme. Brown the lamb in a heavy pan and finish it in a 375 degree oven. You can also cut the rack into individual ribs, season them with salt and pepper, and cook them quickly over hot, direct heat on the stove or grill. This is the best way to guarantee even cooking and it’s a perfect option if you want to serve “lamb pops” as an appetizer.

Regardless of the cut, when you’re buying lamb, try to buy it as close to the day you plan to serve it as possible. Unlike beef, lamb doesn’t age well.

What about Organic Lamb

Lamb isn’t the least expensive meat to raise in the first place, and when you add the requirements of organic ranching into the fray, organic lamb can be expensive and difficult to find. It’s not impossible however. While you may not find organic lamb at your local grocery store as you would organic chicken or even beef, you can order it online. A quick Google search turned up a slew of organic lamb sources. If you happen to leave near one of these suppliers you’ll have the extra benefit of buying local organic lamb – the holy grail of lamb as it were.

Lamb Recipes

Lamb works beautifully with stronger herbs and other flavors because it has enough flavor to hold its own. If you’re not quite sure what to do with your Spring lamb, here are a few recipes to get you going:

• Rosemary-Pesto Lamb Rack (Bon Appetit)
• Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Herbs (Martha Stewart)
• Spiced Butterflied Leg of Lamb (Martha Stewart)
• Classic Rack of Lamb (Simply Recipes)
• Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb (Simply Recipes)
• Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic, Olive Oil, Fresh Thyme, and Grilled Lemons (Bobby Flay)
• Crispy Rack of Lamb with Honey and Mascarpone (Giada De Laurentis)

While we always have Mexican food on Christmas Eve (look for my chocolate dessert tamale recipe coming soon), Christmas dinner is whatever I darn well want it to be in any given year. I typically cycle through the old stand-bys: crown roast of pork, beef tenderloin, standing rib roasts, etc. This year, some time in early November, I decided early on that we were having lamb and I spent the ensuing seven weeks on the hunt for just the right lamb recipe. My goal was to find something easy enough to do that I could enjoy Christmas day with my family without spending hours in the kitchen and that would “feel” like Christmas.

Pomegranate is all the rage these days, and for some reason citrus and Christmas just go together for me, so when I came upon this Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Relish recipe on the Epicurious site, I knew I was on to something. The one big change I made to this recipe was to marinade two racks of lamb and roast them in the oven rather than marinating chops and cooking them individually. For the purposes of Christmas dinner racks of lamb are a little more impressive and I didn’t particularly want to grill on Christmas (shocking, I know, for a girl from Texas). Because I used whole racks and I knew they would take up more room in a bag for marinating, I doubled the marinade recipe. I also didn’t serve the relish with the lamb this year because, honestly, I didn’t feel like supreming oranges on Christmas. I expect I will serve this again as grilled chops in the spring and will definitely make the relish then as I expect the colors will be fantastic.

I think that lamb is possibly the easiest first “rack-o-meat” that anyone can cook because it’s not so huge as to be unwieldy, it works well with so many flavors, and it’s just beautiful when you serve it. Be sure not to overcook it and the results will amaze guests.

Learn more about rack of lamb

Recipe: Roasted Pomegranate and Orange Rack of Lamb

Details

• Difficulty: Medium
• Serves:  8
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Marinade Time: 1-2 hours
• Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 2/3 cup red wine (such as Pinot Noir)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 2 racks of lamb, approximately 8 chops each, frenched
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Whisk orange juice, wine, pomegranate concentrate, honey, oil, garlic, oregano, and rosemary in a non-reactive bowl to make the marinade.
2. Marinate lamb in a glass dish covered with plastic wrap or in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, turning once.
3. Preheat the oven to 400.
4. Remove the lamb from the marinade and remove any pieces of oregano or rosemary still clinging to the lamb.
5. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.
6. Season the lamb well with salt and pepper.
7. Sear fat side down until golden, about 7 minutes. Turn over so that the fat side is up and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
8. Remove the lamb from the oven, place it on a cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest for at 10 minutes before cutting.

Recipe for Success

• Start with a rack of lamb that has been frenched – which any good butcher will happily do. The top of the lamb bones won’t be nearly as pretty if they are covered in fat.
• Use a good wine in the marinade, one that you would be happy to drink. I used a 2005 Terra Valentine Pino Noir that I bought in Napa last year and that I planned to serve with dinner that night.
• Sear the racks in before popping them into the oven is also critical because it gives you a pretty brown crust that you won’t otherwise get if you just roast the meat.