Lamb

Like Wor Teep, Chinese pot stickers, these meat-filled dumplings are filling and delicious (with store bought dumpling wrappers, they’re also quite easy). But the serving style is completely different: these are usually cooked and served in broth, with yogurt. Alternatively, you can boil them in water and serve them with yogurt or melted butter.

Especially when made with lamb, this is incomparably delicious; serve it with good bread or toast. There was a time when this meat was chopped, then pounded and kneaded by hand, for longer than you or I have the patience to do. The food processor makes quick work of the process, and if you buy good fresh meat from a reliable source and handle it carefully, it’s as safe as a rare hamburger.

Italians eat a lot of lamb, especially in the spring and summer. I recall that on every major holiday I would always see the whole animal slowly turning on the spit, and it was indeed delicious. I particularly liked to nibble on the rib bones, and my second-favorite was part of the shoulder blade. But when there was no holiday, the slaughtered animals were butchered and sold and enjoyed as lamb shanks, chops, and stews. For this dish, either the boneless shoulder meat or boneless leg of lamb could be used, but the shoulder is more economical, and I am sure this cut is what the Italian immigrants used. In this slow cooking process, the flavors harmonize and the meat becomes fork-tender.

Peppers are a New World product, but they rapidly took hold in Italian soil, especially in the regions of Calabria, Basilicata, and Sicily, in southern Italy. Most of the early immigrants came from these regions and, missing many of their traditional products, found a friend in the peppers they found in America and used them abundantly. Peppers are used much more in Italian American cooking than in Italian cooking, and can be found in recipes such as sausage and peppers, peppers frittata, chicken cacciatore with peppers, veal and peppers, and, as it would follow, lamb with peppers. A sturdy two-foot pepper plant yields an abundant quantity of peppers, and was a favorite planting in the small backyard gardens of Italian immigrants.

You’ll need lamb shoulder chops again for this great dinner dish, but, unlike the thin chops for skillet cooking, the right ones for roasting won’t be in the meat case. Don’t just pick up a package of thick-looking chops: ask the butcher to cut lamb shoulder chops expressly for you, each one 2 1/2 inches thick (or as close to that as possible). If he or she looks surprised, it’s because she’s never cut them that thick before. The chop size is unusual, but the meat is exactly the same as everyday thin chops—so make sure she gives you the same price! Thick chops are treated here like roasts, following my covered/uncovered roasting procedure. To shorten the roasting time, I divide each chop into two pieces. Still, the meat needs 90 minutes or more in the oven, typical of the long cooking all shoulder cuts need, to melt the connective tissue and fat, to extract the flavor of bones, and to soften the meat fibers. Bigger pork and beef shoulders will take twice as long as these lamb chops.

Here’s an uncommon preparation for one of the most common and popular cuts of meat in the market: thin-cut lamb shoulder chops. They’re inexpensive, wide, and meaty. Barely 1/2 inch thick, they look like they’ll cook in a minute, perfect for fast family suppers. But shoulder chops also have lots of cartilage and gristle, and usually two sets of bones, which call for slow cooking (and the meat is tougher than it looks). Though it is a thin chop, it will take about 20 minutes to cook. Get out the big skillet to caramelize the meat and flavoring agents, and then bring everything together in a superb sauce. With surprising ingredients, this is a good recipe to add to your growing repertoire of aglio e olio base sauces. Also, as the sauce reduces, it actually braises the chops for a few minutes, which tenderizes the meat a bit, although it will still be chewy (which I love). What is surprising about the sauce? In addition to my usual aglio, olio, e peperoncino, I drop a couple of chopped anchovy fillets into the pan, where they quickly disintegrate. As part of the sauce, their flavor has a subtle presence but a remarkable impact: taste a bit of lamb by itself, then a morsel with sauce, and you’ll see. Here is delicious evidence that the anchovy is a potent source of umami—the amino acid that makes other foods taste better. You can omit the anchovies entirely, but I hope you’ll give this food synergy a try: if you’re doubtful, use just one fillet of anchovy. We all need to be adventurous!

Everybody is familiar with lamb chops and leg of lamb—but how about the shoulder? When is that used? Well, here I give you the recipe for a roasted lamb shoulder—and you will see why it is my favorite cut for roasting. The meat is sweeter on the blade bone, and, with lots of cartilage to melt during roasting, the meat is finger-sticking good. You might not get a clean, precise cut of meat from the shoulder, but it will be delicious.

GINA Now, you guys know I am married to the “grill master”—and yet we never seem to think of grilling lamb! Adding the mint vinaigrette pulls the whole thing together in the best possible way: the piquant flavor of the vinaigrette contrasts perfectly with the earthy smoked lamb. It’s a grilled twist on a classic Easter dish. PAT Y’all know how I feel about my grill. She loves it when I bring her different types of meats so we can cook them to perfection. Letting these beautiful cuts of lamb soak in the marinade overnight ensures a delicious flavor, and once Gina adds her outstanding mint vinaigrette, there is nothing else for these babies to do but make it to your plate.

When I roast a lamb shoulder, I like to set a big hunk of meat in the middle of the table, letting everyone tear off a chunk of it and eat it like a group of happy Neanderthals. Crespelle are basically Italian crepes, and here they are used like tortillas, providing a delicious wrapper for hunks of lamb and creating what is basically an Italian taco. You need to use a 10-inch skillet to make the right size crespelle, and if you have a nonstick one this recipe will be foolproof. If you don’t, brush or wipe the pan between crespelle with olive oil and you shouldn’t have any problems. It’s okay to make the crespelle ahead of time and leave them stacked and wrapped in a cloth.

This is your grown-up chance to play with your food! Frenched lamb chops, also known as lamb lollipops, just beg to be picked up and gnawed on because the clean bones make lovely handles. Even the veg gets in on the interactive eating, with tender spring favas sautéed in their skins. Besides being fun finger food, there’s an added perk to cooking them this way: because they’re not blanched, the favas stay extra-sweet and firm. Just pick them up one by one and pop them into your mouth, like edamame served in Japanese restaurants. Don’t bother setting forks or knives at the table, but I recommend providing plenty of napkins.

Tongues have an awesome richness that goes completely underappreciated because people don’t serve them, fearing a food that can taste them. That’s silly. Tongues are cheap and delicious, and enjoyment of this unique cut is all in the preparation. Once I found a reliable tongue source, I was elated, and I started putting them on the restaurant menus in an attempt to win more converts. For this dish, the meat does need a while to cook, but you can poach them up to a day in advance.

Aaaaahhh, Mediterranean comfort food! Think of this as a heady, warmly spiced alternative to your mom’s stuffed bell pepper. The baked eggplant flesh becomes a tender bed for the luscious meat and rice filling, and the whole is so succulent and moist that no sauce is needed. Some chilled sliced cucumber and onion with olive oil and vinegar would be a good starter or side dish.

I loved the idea of pairing lamb and goat—since that’s how I think of them, frolicking in a field together (what do I know, I’m a city girl). The idea for a pairing led me to this dish. The tasty goat cheese, herbes de Provence (a mixture of herbs that includes basil, fennel, rosemary, thyme, summer savory, and lavender), and pancetta mixture was initially a stuffing for the lamb, but it was quite tricky to assemble. I made it simpler for the staff and now for you (you don’t always have to take the most difficult route!) by simply crumbling the topping over the roasted lamb. The rich, glossy zinfandel sauce really pulls the flavors together.

The first apartment I rented in New Orleans was a summer sublet with a tiny balcony, just big enough for a hibachi grill. This sandwich, a beloved Greek specialty, was one I loved to make when I had friends over. We’d drink a bottle of chilled retsina and dream of being in a café looking up at the Acropolis. If you don’t feel like firing up a grill, these skewers can be cooked in a grill pan or under the broiler. You can also make skewers of diced chicken (breast or thigh meat). Just grill a few minutes less, so the leaner meat doesn’t dry out.

Lamb topped with yogurt sauce is a staple of Middle Eastern cooking. In this recipe, the yogurt is flavored with shallots, cilantro, and lemon juice.

Tzatziki, a traditional Greek dressing made from cucumber, yogurt, and mint, lends a cool complement to the burgers.

In this recipe, lemon wedges caramelize on the grill, making them slightly sweet. When serving the skewers, squeeze the lemon juice over the lamb for added flavor.

Mint is a traditional accompaniment for lamb, but in this recipe we use a fresh herb sauce instead of mint jelly.

Both venison and blackberries are farmed these days, but they were once procured in the wild, by early American hunters and foragers. I like to think that this dish is one that would have been at home—in essence if not preparation—on the table of pioneers first settling the woods of northern Wisconsin and Michigan. Blackberries have a tart edge to their fruity flavor, which enlivens the richness of nutty brown butter. The sauce is hit with just a hint of sage, and its slightly woodsy flavor brings out the still-wild-at-heart nature of the berries. Sage is a potent herb, and you need to employ it in small doses. If you can’t find or aren’t a fan of venison, lamb or even pork chops would work in its place.