YAKHNIT LUBIYEH - LAMB WITH TOMATO AND GREEN BEANS

This recipe is my take on a simple Lebanese recipe – Yakhnit Lubiyeh. Traditionally the beans are cooked until very mushy. I don’t cook them for quite that long and sometimes add zucchini too. *Chermoula & Baharat are spice blends and although not traditional, I like the flavour they add to the dish.



Serves 4

8 Lamb Loin Chops

2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion diced
6 garlic cloves roughly chopped
300g fresh green beans
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
*1 tsp chermoula or baharat (optional)
Lots of chopped fresh parsley (optional)



Trim a little of the fat off the chops if you want to. I don’t as I love the rich flavour it gives the sauce.

 

Heat a large crockpot & season lamb chops. Add olive oil to pot & brown chops on both sides to get some good caramelisation. Remove from pot & lower temperature.

 

Sautee the onions until softened and then add garlic and cook for a further 2 mins. Add tomatoes to the pot along with Chermoula or Baharat if you’re using.

 

 

 

Add lamb loin chops back to pot and bring up to a low simmer. Taste sauce and add salt & pepper to your liking. Cook covered for an hour.

 

Add beans & cook uncovered until beans are cooked to your liking. Stir through chopped parsley just before serving.

Serve with rice, cous cous or a baked potato with labneh! Enjoy…

8 HOUR CHERMOULA LAMB SHOULDER

Our fondness for slow cooked lamb shoulder on the bone is no secret. Put it on at lunch time and forget about it until dinner time. It’s also perfect for cooking the day before and reheating.

This recipe uses a dry spice blend called chermoula (A North African spice blend) which is a mix of cumin, paprika, onion, turmeric, cayenne, garlic, parsley, coriander, salt & pepper.

We use Herbie’s chermoula (see picture) as we sell it at Meat at Billy’s. I sprinkle this stuff on almost everything – especially lamb, chicken or fish. It’s great mixed through mince, butterflied chooks or legs of lamb, lamb cutlets and whole roast chickens too.

I like to marinate the shoulder the day before if I remember. It’s still good if you just rub in right before cooking too though.

Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 x 2kg lamb shoulder bone in, shank attached
1 x 50g Herbie’s Chermoula Spice Mix
3 large brown onions sliced thickly
6 garlic cloves skin on
2 cups water
Salt & pepper

Method

24 hours before cooking - rub half a packet of the chermoula spice all over the lamb, top & bottom. Cover and place back in fridge until ready to cook.

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Place onions and garlic on the bottom of a heavy, deep roasting tin that’s big enough to easily fit the lamb shoulder. Pour in 2 cups of water & sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Place lamb on top of the onions & cover the tin tightly with foil. Place in the oven and roast for 2 hours. Turn the oven temperature down to 110°C and cook for a further 6 hours. Check it every so often and if the water has evaporated, add a little more water. Remove the foil for the last hour of roasting to crisp up the skin.

By this stage you’ll be left with a lovely oniony lamb jus. Pour the jus into a container and skim off the most of the excess fat as there’s usually quite a lot.

The meat will basically fall away from the bone. You should be able to serve with 2 spoons. Place the lamb on a serving platter and pull the meat from the bone at the table and serve with jus. Serve with a few lemon wedges and salt.

Serve with a mix of the following:

a)      couscous with roasted carrots & goat cheese
b)      a mix of roasted pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini & mushrooms.
c)       natural yoghurt mixed with parsley & lime zest.
d)      Chickpea, spinach & avocado salad

LAMB, CHORIZO & BEAN STIR-FRY

This dish is best cooked in a wok, or large non-stick frypan. 

Tip: oil the lamb rather than adding oil to the wok our pan, you will use less oil, and the lamb will brown well.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
500g lamb strips
1 tbsp oil
2 chorizo sausages cut into thin slices
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
400 g can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
200 g green beans, trimmed and cooked until tender
juice of one lemon
baby spinach leaves

Method
1. Combine the lamb strips with half of the oil.
2. Heat the wok, ensure it is hot. Stir-fry the lamb strips in 3 batches, reserving each cooked batch to rest in a warm bowl. Reheat wok between each batch.
3. Reheat the wok, add remaining oil and heat. Add the sliced chorizo and cook until well browned, remove and reserve with the lamb. Add the onion and capsicum to wok, stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the cannellini and green beans and lemon juice, toss to combine.
4. Return the lamb and chorizo to wok, toss to combine. Serve immediately on top of baby spinach.

Essential Tips
1.When you stir-fry meat cook it in batches and set it aside.
2.Return the meat to the pan with sauces once the vegetables are cooked.
3. Stir-fry only to combine – do not reheat meat for too long or it will toughen.
4. Best lamb cuts for stir-frying - lamb stir-fry strips or prepare your own from eye of loin/backstrap, tenderloin/fillet, round or topside leg steaks.

INCREDIBLE ROASTED SHOULDER OF LAMB

with loads of garlic and rosemary...

 

 

You've got to love Jamie Oliver's recipes. They're usually quite simple and easily adapted to your own tastes. He has a great deal of respect for good meat too.

I love cooking lamb shoulder slowly on the bone like this. The flavour is like nothing else and the way the soft, rich meat falls from the bone gets me every time. The sauce in this recipe is the perfect accompaniment too. It's got a little zing from the capers and red wine vinegar and then a little freshness from the mint - lamb's best friend.

 I substitute button squash or sometimes broccoli for the swede in the smashed veg and then for the greens, I'll cook up whatever is looking good at the fruit & veg shop. Curly kale is a bit of a favourite of mine at the moment and brussel sprouts are really good right now too. Bon Appetit!


CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE
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MOROCCAN MEATBALLS

These guys are quick becoming a best seller at Meat at Billy's. Quick and easy to cook.

We make these using seasoned lamb mince and then stuff a piece of fetta into the centre. We then brush over some of our very own Moroccan marinade and then sprinkle with a little parsley and parmesan.

Simply bake these guys these guys in the oven and serve with a green or roasted veg salad & couscous dressed with Suzanne Quintner's Chermoula Dressing. Or serve with baked potato and herbed natural yoghurt with a dollop of spicy harissa.

MOROCCAN SLOW COOKED LAMB

We use this Moroccan Tagine Intense Flavour Paste a lot in the shop. It's made right here in Brisbane by a lady named Suzanne Quintner, who has been making Moroccan marinades, pastes & preserved lemons since well before it was popular to do so (-:

This is what we use on our our insanely popular, Moroccan lamb shanks that come pre marinated. We also sell it instore so you can try using it to marinate different things at home. It's made from onion, tomato, preserved lemons, Moroccan spices, honey, Australian vinegar, garlic, ginger & rose water.

I often get asked if you need a tagine to cook with this paste. The answer is absolutely not. While a tagine pot/dish looks beautiful, it is simply not required to cook these types of meals. A heavy based pot, casserole dish or slow cooker works in pretty much the same way.

Try the tagine paste with anything slow cooked - beef cheeks, lamb shanks, oxtail or even poultry. Try brushing a little on some quails before grilling them.


MOROCCAN SLOW COOKED LAMB
Serves 4

*Pick and choose your own vegetables here, there's no rules. You can use normal potato, throw in some pitted green olives & dates, cherry tomatoes - whatever takes your fancy really.

750g 3cm diced lamb shoulder
Half a jar of Suzanne Quinter Moroccan Tagine Paste
half a sweet potato chopped
1 brown onion cut into large chunks
3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
eggplant cut into large chunks
Cup of chicken stock or water
bunch of fresh coriander
natural yoghurt (I prefer Meredith sheep milk yoghurt)

OVEN METHOD
Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
Throw everything into heavy based casserole dish and cook for a couple of hours or until the lamb is soft and falls apart.

SLOW COOKER
Throw everything into the pot and turn it on. You might need a little more liquid for this method.

STOVE TOP
Throw everything into a casserole pot. Bring to a gentle simmer with the lid and leave for a couple of hours or until the lamb is soft and falls apart.

*Serve on rice, cous cous, quinoa or freekah topped with fresh coriander and a dollop of yoghurt on the side.

MOROCCAN MEATBALLS

Recipe courtesy of Jacqueline Guglielmino www.everydaycook.com.au

INGREDIENTS

 500g lean minced lamb

 1 finely chopped onion

 2 garlic cloves crushed

 2cm chunk root ginger, grated

 1 tsp of chilli power

 2 tsp ground cumin

 1 cinnamon quill

 2 tsps of tumeric

 good pinch of saffron threads

 olive oil

 2 pieces of preserved lemon

 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes

 200ml chicken stock

 ½ bunch coriander, chopped

HERB COUSCOUS

 200g couscous or quinoa

 50g butter

 350ml chicken stock, boiling

 ½ bunch coriander , chopped

 ½ bunch parsely, chopped

Method

 1. Put the lamb, onion, half the garlic, half the ginger and half the spices in a bowl and season well. Mix (clean hands are best) and form into little meatballs (you’ll make around 30).

 2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick pan and add the meatballs in batches, frying until browned all over. Scoop out, then add the rest of the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock and season. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add back the meatballs and cook for at least another 20 minutes until sauce is thickened. Stir in the coriander. Save some coriander for serving to sprinkle on

 3. To make the couscous put in a bowl with the butter and some seasoning. Pour over the chicken stock and cover with glad wrap. Leave for 10 minutes. Stir the herbs through and serve with meatballs. If you choose quinoa, you must wash the quinoa first, thoroughly and then gently simmer win the chicken stock and butter until softened. Add herbs before serving.

BEEF & LAMB KEBABS

 

Meat Kebabs

250g Minced Lamb 
250g Minced Beef

tblsp tomato paste (optional)

1 small red onion, grated

2 tblsp coarse chopped flat leaf parsely

½ tsp dried wild Greek oregano

Garlic Yoghurt

250g natural yoghurt

garlic clove or 2 grated finely/pureed

good dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Pinch or two of salt

To serve

Lebanese flat bread or tortillas

Chopped ripe tomatoes

Red onion slices

baby spinach

lemon quarters

In a bowl, thoroughly mix minces, tomato paste, grated onion, parsley, oregano and 1 tsp of salt. Divide into 4 or 6 (depending how big you want them) and roll into a sausage shape.

Preheat your frypan to medium/high, brush meat kebabs with a little oil and cook until a light crust starts to form (3-4 minutes). Turn over and repeat on other side. Be careful not to overcook the meat and dry it out. One of the best things about these kebabs is the moist, juicy meat.

Whilst the meat is cooking, mix together the yoghurt, garlic, EVOO & salt.

To serve, spread the garlic yoghurt up and down the centre of the flat bread leaving a 3cm space at one end. Add the tomato, onion, baby spinach and a meat kebab. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the meat and then sprinkle with a little salt & pepper. Fold the 3cm end up and over the fillings, grab one side of the flatbread and turn it up and over the filling. Keep a firm grip on the filling and keep rolling over until you’ve got a perfectly wrapped kebab!

Enjoy…

CUMIN CRUSTED LAMB RIBS

Serves 2-3 

Serious meat eaters will be in heaven with these soft, fatty full flavoured ribs.

The flavours in the Greek(ish) salad work really well as a side. The vinegary tomatoes & cucumber help to cut through the richness of the ribs.

INGREDIENTS

2kg lamb ribs

approx 2 racks (8 ribs 10cm length)

Spice Rub

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried mint

2 garlic cloves pureed

2 tbs olive oil

1tsp salt

1tsp ground pepper

Greek(ish) Salad

*use whatever quantities you like. No rules here.

cherry tomatoes chopped in half

1 Lebanese cucumber chopped

Snow pea sprouts

chopped feta

half small red onlion sliced thinly

handful kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Handful flat leaf parsley

EVOO & Red wine vinegar for dressing

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 140 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the spice rub ingredients. Cut rib racks into individual ribs and toss well through the spice mixture ensuring all of the ribs are coated. If you have time, leave to marinate for a few hours. If not, don’t worry about it and get them in the oven in a single layer on a roasting tray, covered tightly with alfoil.

After 1.5 hours, take the alfoil off, turn up to 180 degrees and cook for a further 30 mins. This will crisp them up nicely.

Serve with the Greek(ish) salad.