Lamb

This week we are going to Iceland and taking a look at one of their famous Christmas foods; it’s called Hangikjöt.

Hangikjöt is a smoked lamb. It became popular in the 9^th and 10^th centuries and it was smoked over sheep dung. To keep with the tradition, it is still often smoked in dung but birch is used as well. Now it’s cold smoked, boiled, or roasted after dry salting or brining first; smoking usually lasts for up to two weeks. It’s often popular to smoke either a leg or shoulder. As part of Christmas dinner it is often served with potatoes and creamy sauce and canned peas. It’s also popular cold and in slices on sandwiches for lunch. About 90% of Icelanders will have Hangikjöt during the holiday season.

We thought we’d use the main ingredient of lamb and share with you some fun appetizer recipes for all those Christmas parties that you may be attending and needing to find the perfect dish to bring along with you. Check out the three that we thought sounded pretty interesting!

Mini Lamb Meatballs

You will need...

1 lbs ground lamb

¼ small red onion, finely chopped 

1 clove minced garlic

¼ cup breadcrumbs

2 eggs

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 tsp. lemon juice 

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or mint

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano or parsley

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp. olive oil

For the Lemon Yogurt...

1 cup thick plain Greek yogurt

2-4 tsp. lemon juice

1 pinch kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

How to...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Place all ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, roll one tablespoon of lamb mixture into small balls and place on a baking tray about 1" apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Serve with a savoury lemon yogurt, sliced cucumber, and toasted pine nuts or just have plain.

Baby Lamb Chops with Sauces

For the chops you will need...

1 tsp. kosher salt

12 to 15 baby lamb chops, bones Frenched

1 Tbsp. olive oil

For the Red Sauce you will need...

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 clove garlic

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the Green Sauce you will need...

1 1/2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves

2/3 cup fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lightly toasted almonds

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

How to make...

Salt both sides of the lamb chops. Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook in two batches, turning once until chops are deep brown and cooked to medium-rare. Serve with sauces.

Red Sauce - Combine the water, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, vinegar, sugar, cumin, salt, garlic and black pepper in a food processor and process until smooth. 

Green Sauce - Combine the parsley, mint, olive oil, almonds, and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth. 

Sauces can be made ahead and stored in airtight containers in the fridge up to a day in advance. 

Lamb Stuffed Mushrooms

You will need...

1/2 onion

15 Cremini mushrooms

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

½  pound ground lamb

Butter, to taste

Breadcrumbs, to taste

3 sage leaves

2 Tbsp. olive oil

How to make...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.

Finely chop 3 of the mushrooms and set the others aside.

Finely dice the onion, garlic, and chop the sage. Set aside.

When the oven is hot, toss the remaining whole mushrooms with olive oil and roast for 15 minutes.

Combine the ricotta and parmesan cheese.

Brown the lamb. Strain and then sauté the onion over medium heat in the fat for about 5-7 minutes, until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute.

Stir in the diced mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Then stir in the breadcrumbs, butter, and sage leaves. Turn off the heat and mix lamb back into the mixture.

Place roasted mushrooms bottom side up on a sheet pan. Turn on the broiler in your oven.

Stuff your mushrooms with your lamb mixture. Top the stuffed mushroom with a small spoonful of cheese mixture. Then place in the oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is slightly crispy.

Enjoy all the lamb recipes! 

Creamy Soups

Spring is here and the weather is warming up so it’s fitting that it’s our last week of soups! This week we are focusing on creamy soups, ones that are a bit thicker and more filling. You can have these soups as a main meal or even use them as more of a sauce on meals you are having.

Some different types of creamy soups are...chowders (clam, corn, potato, seafood etc.), cream of broccoli, chicken, and celery, mushroom, creamy tomato basil, potato, cauliflower, chicken vegetable with rice (almost like a stew consistency), cheesy broccoli, potato leek, potato and ham, and bisque.

We’re sharing with you a couple of recipes today for creamy soups (you can also look back at one that we posted previously, for Potato Chicken Chowder). One we made for lunch the other day so check them out.

Cream of Potato Soup

For the soup you will need the following ingredients...

2 tbsp. of margarine

1 small onion (diced)

2 tbsp. of flour

2-4 potatoes depending on the size (diced)

2-3 stalks of celery (diced)

4cups of chicken broth

½ tsp. of celery salt

Bacon bits (optional)

First of all, dice up the celery, onion, and potatoes and set aside.

If you are wanting to sprinkle bacon bits on top of your soup, then you can chop up some bacon now to fry later.

Next melt the margarine in a large pot on medium heat.

Add the onion and cook until tender.

Mix in the flour and stir well.

Now add in the potato and the celery along with the broth (we added a cup or so of water as well) and bring to a boil and allow it to continue to boil (with the lid on) for 10-15 minutes. If the potatoes aren’t tender by this time then you can keep on boiling the soup until they are.

While the soup is boiling, you can make a roux for thickening.

In a separate sauce pan, melt 2 tbsp. of margarine and then add 2 tbsp. of flour. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Your roux should start thickening to a cake icing consistency. You should see gentle bubbles.

Once it bubbles and is thicker, you can add your 2 cups of cold milk to the pan slowly while whisking. Adding a little bit of liquid at a time is probably the best thing to do and then whisk after each addition. In order for the roux to become properly thickened (we found this out by failing) you need to let it simmer for 10-20 minutes. Once you’ve let it simmer and it looks to be thicker, then it’s ready.

Back to the soup...after letting your soup boil, you should have soft potatoes. Now you can stir in the celery salt and then incorporate the roux you just made. Add in a couple of pinches of salt.

Allow the “finished” soup to simmer at medium temperature for 10 minutes or so and serve.

In this simmer time, we made some bacon bits to put on top of our soup and a cheesy melt to pair our 

soup with for lunch.

'Cream' of Mushroom Soup

3 Tbsp. of olive oil

2 pounds of mushrooms (finely diced)

1 tsp. of fresh thyme

Zest of 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

2 celery stalks (diced)

1 large head of cauliflower (chopped in small chunks)

1 ½ tsp. of sea salt

½ tsp. of black pepper

½ tsp. of onion powder

1 tsp. of Dijon mustard

4 cups of broth

1 cup of unsweetened coconut cream

In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp. of oil and then add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown and soft. Add in the thyme and lemon and cook for about 2 minutes or until very fragrant.

Set half of this mushroom mixture aside and leave the rest in the pot that they were cooked in. Add in the rest of the olive oil, onion, garlic, and celery and cook until tender.

Now add the cauliflower chunks with the salt, pepper, onion powder, and the mustard. Sauté it all until fragrant and then add in the broth and cook until the cauliflower is tender (about 5-7 minutes). Transfer to a blender and purée.

Once the soup looks smooth, add in the mushrooms that were set aside along with the cream (you could probably use regular cream if you want to) and stir it all up to combine. You might want to add it back to the original pot to warm it up slightly before serving.