Memorial Day Weekend. Portland. Sunny. 70+ degrees. No rain. Really, no rain. What to do? Make lamb burgers!

Wow, these were good. Juicy and flavorful. The recipe is very easy to halve and make just two burgers (what I did). I found some kalamata ciabatta rolls at New Seasons which worked perfectly with these burgers.

Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers
Adapted from a recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (you could sub flat-leaf parsley)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup low fat, plain yogurt, mixed with 1 clove crushed garlic and 1/2 a grated English cucumber
4 crusty kalamata olive rolls, split
spinach leaves
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 tomato, sliced

In a large bowl, combine the lamb, cilantro, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties.

In a grill pan, set over medium-high heat, toast the rolls, set aside. In the same pan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and brush it onto the pan’s surface.

Add the burgers and cook, turning once, for 5 minutes each side for medium-rare.

After the first side cooks, add some feta to each burger top. Slather each roll top with the yogurt and stack some spinach leaves and tomato slices on the other side of the roll.

When the burgers are done, place each on top of the tomato slices, place the top roll in place and nom-nom-nom!

On the side we had a salad with 1 cup cooked lima beans, some halved cherry tomatoes, diced red onion, kalamata olives, fresh oregano leaves and crumbled feta. The dressing was some red wine vinegar, lemon zest, crushed garlic and olive oil. Delicious!

I know I said there would be salad rolls next. I lied. Those will be soon Wednesday(!) because oh my, this meal was delicious and it bumped the salad rolls. You’ll notice the title image even has a bite taken out of it. Yeah. And I’m not sorry about it either.

The rack of lamb is from Trader Joe’s and is probably one of my most favorite products that they carry — the seasoned, Frenched, frozen rack of lamb from New Zealand. This was about $14 and some change for 1.3 pounds. Score. It has a garlic, sesame seed, rosemary marinade already but it’s not so strong that you can’t add more things to it. Like this pesto, for instance. All together, there’s only six ingredients here, which is also nice.

I was able to find one happy sprig of rosemary on one of plants outside, so that made me quite relieved! Our rosemary did not like all the snow, that’s for sure. Walking around town I see some rosemary bushes that seem perfectly fine. I hope all of ours comes back okay this Spring, because after 7 years, I am just not used to buying rosemary anymore…

Now the directions on the package say to defrost and cook on 350 for 25 minutes. I never do this. I think I always cook it higher than that…but do defrost the day before you’re roasting it. Also, if you don’t live by a Trader Joe’s just use a plain rack of lamb — that kind is not important, just a great deal.

On the side: goat cheese polenta with artichokes and green olives and some roasted broccoli.

Rosemary Pesto Rack of Lamb
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit
1/2 cup (packed) parsley leaves and stems
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary plus rosemary sprigs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1 1/2-pound rack of lamb

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Place parsley, chopped rosemary, grated Parmesan cheese and garlic in processor. Process to coarse paste. With machine running, gradually add olive oil. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper.

Place lamb on small rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread all pesto over rounded side of lamb.

Roast 25-30+ minutes. The internal temperature should be around 135 for medium rare. I pull it then and let it sit, covered with foil for about 5 minutes.

Cut lamb between bones into chops. Divide chops between 2 plates; garnish with rosemary sprigs.

I saved all the bones and threw them into a pot with maybe 6-7 cups of water, some onion, carrot, and garlic. Simmered (I don’t think it was ever actually boiling) for about 3 hours. Strained.

Lamb stock. Tasty, tasty liquid gold.

I’m going to use it Thursday to make some lentil soup!

PS: I like this wine quite a bit. Around $10 at Fred Meyer. Not with the lamb, but I had a glass of this while making the lamb.

This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is hosted by Mel’s Diner with the aptly chosen, Celebration Dishes as the theme. For this, I chose my newest cookbook, Nigella Express and made a lamb stew from it.

She calls it a tagine, but since I didn’t cook it in an actual tagine and I’m not familiar enough with Moroccan cooking to judge it’s accurateness, I’m certainly not going to call it a tagine. So, uh, no one get their knickers in a twist.

Anywho….I used a mix of olives here, mainly because that’s what I had — nicoise, kalamata and a handful of plain black, pitted olives. But, I’m thinking oil cured might be super tasty here. I also just made my own caramelized onions, rather than hunting down a jar of them (as the recipe calls for). I have never even seen jarred caramelized onions…maybe that’s a British thing? Another thing I changed is that I added carrots. I just felt the need for more vegetables with the big meatiness of the stew.

Let’s celebrate!

Lamb Stew with Olives and Caramelized Onions
Adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson
2 1/4 pounds diced leg of lamb
1 head garlic, separated into cloves
12 ounces pitted black olives in brine, 5 ounces drained weight to give 1 1/4 cups
1 white or yellow onion, diced roughly
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
sprinkle of salt
3 tbsp capers
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground ginger
1 bottle red wine (I meant to use a merlot but I grabbed a cab by mistake — worked just fine!)
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots — about 1-2 inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Preheat a pan over medium heat — preferably a big Dutch oven that you can layer the whole recipe into for its trip into the oven. Add the olive oil and then onions and honey. Give a small sprinkle of salt. Cook until light brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Turn the heat down if need be to keep from burning.

Add the garlic, olives and lamb. Brown the lamb just for a few minutes, maybe 5 total, stirring a bit to get color on as many pieces as possible.

Next, add the wine, the capers, and the ginger and cumin. Increase the heat to high, give it a good stir and bring to a boil.

Put a lid on it and stick it in the oven for two hours total. After the first hour add the carrots and continue to cook until the lamb is super tender.

We had this with some couscous that I cooked with chicken broth, about a handful of shelled pistachios and a handful of golden raisins. What were we celebrating? Ah, a cold December evening!

Thanks again to Mel’s Diner for hosting WCC this month!

Well, it least it was a little while ago. Ahhhh, Spring.

This makes a lot (let’s say 6+ servings) so you can invite a couple of people over or have extra lunches for the week. It also freezes beautifully. In fact, jwa’s having a defrosted container of it for lunch today. Myself, I’m going to my new favorite lunch place, Voila Cafe on SW 9th. Today, the special is salmon over soba noodles. But, I believe that’ll be another post.

Baked Bolognese with Lamb
Adapted from a recipe by Dave Lieberman
For the tomato sauce:
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground lamb
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
Couple dashes red chili flakes
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
Sugar
Dash of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add oil to large skillet over high heat. Add ground lamb and saute, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add garlic, oregano, dash of cinnamon and chili flakes and cook a couple minutes. Add the wine, stir and then the tomatoes and season, to taste, with sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes as it simmers.

For the bechamel:
3 tbsp butter
1 large onion
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white wine (I used a pinot grigio)
1 1/2 cups 2% milk, warmed
Dash ground nutmeg
2 cups grated three-cheese blend, divided

The Rest
1 pound parcooked rigatoni
1/4 cup pine nuts

In a large saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat until bubbling. Add onions and saute until translucent. Sprinkle with flour, stirring constantly and cook until the mixture begins to thicken. Gradually whisk in the wine, if using, and then gradually whisk in the milk and nutmeg and cook until smooth, thick and creamy.

Combine the meat sauce and pasta. Cover with almost half the cheese — I like to use a little more than half the cheese covering the top of the dish.

Then pour half of that into your baking dish (lasagna pan sized — 9 X 13 — works well for this).

Spoon the bechamel over the pasta and top with the remaining pasta, ending with the rest of the shredded cheese. Sprinkle pine nuts over the top. Bake 30 to 45 minutes until browned and bubbly.

We had this with some broccolini on the side and a bottle of red wine. Delicious! Hopefully where you live, you can still sneak in one more cold-weather comfort meal before Spring hits in full.

This is a recipe I found on Epicurious about a year ago, emailed it to myself and then forgot about it. While cleaning my recipe folder out last week I came across it. Good things happen when you tidy up your email folders, people!

While the lentil soup was good, the meatballs make it awesome. In fact, a great appetizer would be to whip up a batch of the meatballs and serve them with some cherry tomatoes, chunks of cucumber and kalamata olives. Oh, okay, throw in some feta cubes, the yogurt and flat bread too. You could also impale the meatballs, cucumber and olives on wooden skewers and pretend you are Sandra Lee (but, you know, with actually appetizing and edible food).

Epicurious says that this recipe is adapted from Wolfgang Puck, “Adventures in the Kitchen”.

Lentil Soup with Lamb Meatballs
This makes 8-10 servings, so halve it if needed. That’s what I did and it worked fine. Just beat an egg first, then divide that in half.
Soup:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 celery stalk
1 branch fresh parsley
1 branch fresh thyme
1 pound golden lentils (or regular lentils, if not available)
10 cups chicken stock or store-bought chicken broth (or turkey stock!!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch chili pepper flakes

Meatballs:
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 pound ground lamb
1 cup blanched almonds, toasted and ground
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup raisins, coarsely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Garnish:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp honey
Pinch salt

Start with the soup. In a large saucepan, heat up the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, turmeric, and cumin. Saute over high heat until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make a bouquet garni by tying together the celery, parsley, and thyme, and add to pan.

Stir in the lentils and the chicken stock, season lightly with salt, pepper, and chili flakes, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Skim as necessary.

Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, soak bread crumbs in milk. In a mixing bowl, combine the lamb, almonds, soaked bread crumbs, onion, raisins, egg, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and chili pepper flakes. Season lightly with salt and
pepper. Drizzle olive oil on the platter you will place the meatballs on and rub oil into the palm of both hands. Form meat mixture into 40 golf ball-size meatballs, each approximately 1-inch in diameter.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet or saute pan. Arrange the meatballs in 1 layer in the pan, quickly sear meatballs over high heat, and then place in the oven. Cook until the meatballs are well
browned and firm to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes.

Prepare the yogurt garnish. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until serving time.

Now, return to the soup. Remove the celery bouquet. With an immersion blender, lightly blend soup (you want it to still be a little chunky).

Alternatively, transfer 2/3 of the soup to a blender. Blend until smooth and return to the saucepan. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Ladle soup into 8 or 10 soup bowls. Divide the meatballs evenly among the soup bowls and drizzle the yogurt mixture over. Serve immediately. Mmmm!

Okay. Now, it’s time to make more cookies!