Sloppy Moussakaas

I am somewhat of a sandwich addict.  They are just so easy, and usually so delicious, that I have a hard time not putting several sandwiches on my menu plan every week.  I get Rachel Ray's magazine and usually her sandwiches and burgers sound so delicious that I save the magazines until I try them all.  When I saw this recipe for a spin-off on Sloppy joes, I knew I had to make it.

Sloppy Moussakaas
slightly adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground lamb or beef

Salt and pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons tomato sauce

1 - 1 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

Freshly grated nutmeg

A small handful feta cheese

4 ciabatta or other rolls, split and toasted

 

Directions

1) In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, over medium-high heat. Add the lamb (or beef) and cook, crumbling the meat, until well browned, about 5 minutes.
2) Season with salt, pepper and the cinnamon. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, jalapeno and oregano and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and cook for a minute. Stir in the stock and simmer over low heat until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.

3)   In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly; season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the cheese.

4) To serve, spoon the meat mixture onto the rolls. Top with the sauce.

I thought these were great.  The sauce was a little grainy, but the flavor was still good.  Jacob loved the saltiness of the feta on the sandwiches while I loved the cinnamon flavor in the meat.  I think these were a great spin-off on regular sloppy joes.  Even though they aren't really Greek, they were really great and came together really fast.  For some reason these make me want to curl up with My Big Fat Greek Wedding and a bag of popcorn. 

Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles over Orzo

The one thing that I haven't ever been able to get Jacob to try is eggplant.  I find this extremely saddening because eggplant is one of my favorite things to eat.  Apparently one time when he was overseas, the chow hall fed him some eggplant that turned him off of it for awhile.  I've always been suggesting dishes that use eggplant, and he always turns them down and makes a face.

For this recipe, I figured the lamb and tomato sauce might be just enough to hide the eggplant taste so that I could sneak it in.  When I mentioned it was a lamb stew dish over orzo, he quickly agreed to trying it...not even caring about the eggplant.  So, I threw it on the menu excited that I finally whittled down his campaign against eggplant.

Lamb and Eggplant with Chiles over Orzo
slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachel Ray January/February 2013
Ingredients
3/4 pound of orzo or small penne rigate
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground lamb or lamb stew meat
1 small, firm eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatos
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1 cup feta crumbles
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and Pepper

Directions
1) Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it, and add the orzo, cooking until al dente.  Drain and return to the pot.
2) While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil, over medium-high heat.  Add the lamb and cook until well browned, about 10 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
3)  Stir the eggplant, chiles, onion, garlic and rosemary into the lamb.  Partially cover and cook until the vegetables are softened, about five minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, chicken or beef stock and lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
4) Toss the pasta with the feta and butter, and top with the lamb.

This dish was so different and tasty.  It developed a lot more flavors than I expected it to in the short amount of time that it was on the stove.  The lamb didn't have a gamy taste, because it absorbed all the tomato mixture.   The only thing that I regret doing was that I only used one jalapeno instead of the two that it called for.  I didn't get much heat, and was kind of looking for that element in this dish.  You could also use a red fresno, which is on the same heat scale as a jalapeno.  For people that like lamb...or even don't like lamb, this is a fantastic different lamb dish.

Lamb and Red Onion Tacos with Tomato Relish

When Jacob got the Boy meets Grill cookbook for Christmas, I was ecstatic.  I have a whole shelf of cookbooks in my guest room closet that only get used occasionally, but I still love getting them.  I usually hit them when I am in a food rut and nothing looks good online.

Christmas morning, I spent like an hour looking through the Boy meets Grill cookbook, asking Jacob what recipes sounded good and what didn't.  When looking for something for the week of New Years, I found this recipe for lamb tacos and thought it would be a good recipe to try first.

Lamb and Red Onion Tacos with Tomato Relish
slightly adapted from Boy Meets Grill
Ingredients
Tomato Relish:
4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Lamb Marinade:
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
10 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup olive oil

Lamb:
1.5 lamb stew meat or lamb tenderloin
Lamb Marinade
Salt and Pepper

To Assemble Tacos:
Flour tortillas
1 cup grated white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 red onion, sliced thin
Salt and pepper
Tomato Relish

Directions:
1) Tomato Relish: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature.
2) Lamb Marinade: Combine all the ingredients, let rise to room temperature, put lamb in and mariate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.
3) Lamb: If you have lamb tenderloins, you can drain the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Grill 4-5 minutes per side until medium rare.  Let sit for 10 minutes and then slice.  If you are using lamb stew meat, drain the marinade and saute for about 4 minutes, turning as it cooks. 
4) Assemble tacos using desired ingredients.

 

 

These tacos turned out great.  I thought three different types of cheese would overwhelm everything in the taco, but it all worked well together.  The tomato relish provides just the right amount of acid to cut through all the cheese and the meat is delicious.  The marinade cut through the kind of game-y taste that I think lamb can sometimes have.  This was a great recipe and I can't wait to try more of the recipes in this cookbook.

 



 



 



Yogurt Marinated Lamb Loin

In college, every year, my Bible Study group would get together for an Easter dinner.  Every year, we had the exact same thing: lamb.  I remember my first year, I had never had lamb and was very wary as to how it would taste.  After dinner, I remember being surprised I liked it.  Everyone except for me grew up eating lamb for Easter, so they were used to the distinct flavor.

This year, I decided to try lamb again.  I haven't had it in about three years, since I've usually had to work, but this year I had it off.  I found this yogurt marinated lamb recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.

Yogurt Marinated Lamb Loin
barely adapted from Family Spice
Ingredients

2 lb leg of lamb (boneless), butterflied  (I used lamb loin)
2 teaspoon basil, dried, crushed

¹/₂ teaspoon black pepper, ground 
¹/₂ cup lemon juice

5 large garlic cloves, crushed

1 onion, grated, with juice

1¹/₂ cup Greek yogurt, plain

2 tsp mint, dried, crushed         

Directions

1) Rinse lamb and pat dry with paper towels.

2) Open lamb up and cut into the larger chunks of meat so that it is of even thickness.

3) Remove and discard the larger deposits of fat, reserving some fat on the meat which will add flavor during the grilling process.

4) In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, onion, garlic, mint, basil, and black pepper.

5) Pour marinade over the lamb, covering all parts of the lamb entirely. Massage the marinade into the meat.

6) Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

7) About an hour prior to grilling/cooking, remove lamb the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.

8) Preheat grill to medium-high heat or preheat oven to 400 degrees.

9) Sear lamb on one side, about 7 minutes, then flip over to sear the other side.

10) Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking the lamb until a thermometer inserted to the center of the meat reads 145ºF for medium-rare, 160ºF for medium and 170ºF for well-done.

11) Allow meat to rest 5-10 minutes prior to carving and serve.

In the few years that it's been since I ate lamb, I forgot about it's distinct flavor.  The flavor of the lamb still stood out through all the ingredients.  I thought it was delicious and rich, so the yogurt marinade was the perfect compliment to the meat.  Lamb loins don't have a lot of meat on them, so I think doing the leg of lamb would definitely be better if you have the option to get them.  We took the only lamb that our store had.  I think we may use this recipe every Easter and keep the lamb for Easter tradition alive.