The difficult fruit, reprise: quinces and lamb

I spent a little bit of time over the last couple of days looking at old posts. One of the things I noticed was that the first ones, at least to me, were more funny than the ones of late. I wonder what that's a function of, or maybe it's just yours truly getting jaded again. It happens when you get to be my age. As some of you will know now, and the rest of you will. SOMEDAY.

So, I went back to the old posts to see if I had ever written about this great dish. I HAVE written about quinces, but I gave you a recipe for quince candy, that is very involved, but worth the time. I hadn't given this one, which is too bad, because it uses two items I want you all to use more: lamb, and quinces.

As I've written in the past, many people avoid lamb because of it's allegedly strong, gamy flavor. If the lamb is closer to mutton, or not treated properly, that is a fact. It WILL taste strong and gamy. If you spend the money and get good stuff, it won't. But in any event, the recipe which follows has enough going on in it to eliminate any of that flavor.

I'm told that this is a Persian recipe, and it's called "Persian Lamb tagine." I know absolutely nothing about Persian cooking. In fact, I'm not even sure if I should be calling it Iranian cooking, or if the forces still at work in our government are going to come after me for making the food of a hostile nation (How would they know? After all, we all know that the only people who know these things are homosexuals, and since we're not allowed to work on Mideast matters ...)

Well, enough of a political diatribe. It's a dish that tastes good , wherever it comes from. The recipe originated in a book from Chez Panisse, on fruit. I changed it a little (big surprise), and I'll tell you how I did.

I should also tell you that the original recipe says that it serves 4 people. You'll see three pounds of lamb in the recipe. That's an AWFUL lot of lamb for 4, and coming from Chez Panisse, which advocates European style portions, VERY surprising. I suspect it is simply an editing error, because a second recipe, using dried apricots and two pounds of lamb, serves four. I think that there's enough here for at least 6, probably 8 people.

Ok, you need 3 pounds of lamb. Lamb stew meat is called for in the recipe, but I would like to make a suggestion here. Buy a half of a boned lamb shoulder, and cut the meat into 1 inch cubes yourself. This is not hard , it will take you five minutes, and you'll know what you have. When you buy "stew meat," unless your butcher is extremely reputable, AND you ask, you don't know what you're getting. And that can be important. For example, in beef stew, if you get beef chuck as your stew meat (fairly common), it will cook differently than beef round (also fairly common). So, get a half of a lamb shoulder and cube it.

I am NOT going to tell you to salt it. That's a break with my pattern, and the reasons why will be clear in a minute or two.

You will also need two large (about 8 ounce) onions, which you will chop coarsely. No need to be fine about this. Those are your main ingredients, except for the quinces, which we'll come to in due course. You also need a stick of cinnamon, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, and a good pinch (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) of saffron. Also, olive oil

Now, I didn't have you salt the meat because I want you to fill a plastic bag with about a cup of flour and a tablespoon of salt. Mix this together, and then dump in your lamb and shake it around. Then dump everything into a colander so that the excess flour goes off. This is my addition to the recipe, and I do so because the coating the flour gives to the lamb adds something to the flavor, in my opinion, and the flour also gives a thickness to the stew.

Put about a quarter cup of olive oil in a big pan, and when it's hot, saute the lamb , at medium high heat taking your time, until it's brown on all sides. You'll have to do this in batches. When
all the lamb is cooked, reserve it, and lower the heat to medium. Pour out all but about two tablespoons of the oil.

At this point, the original recipe calls for three tablespoons of butter. I find that excessive, believe it or not. Saute the onions in that oil, until they lose their clear color. Now, dump the onions and the lamb in a big heavy pot, and then add the cinnamon stick, the saffron and the ginger. Add chicken or beef stock to cover the lamb (the original calls for water), bring it to a simmer, and cover the pot.

You can do one of two things here. You can cook it, at a leisurely, low heat, like the ragu, for about an hour and a half, checking periodically to make sure there's still liquid covering the lamb. OR, you can put it in a low oven -325 for 2.5 hours, which is what I do. The liquid stays there, and you don't have to worry as much as you do with stovetop cooking.

After about 2 hours in the oven - or an hour on the stove top, get two large quinces. Cut them into eights, core them, but DO NOT PEEL THEM. Add them directly to the stew, and cover the pot again, and cook them for about an extra half hour. Then test the lamb. Is it very tender? If it isn't, cook it for longer. When it's as tender as you like - and you can't overcook this - taste the liquid. Is it salty enough? If not, add more salt. Is it too sweet? If it is, add lemon juice (quinces can make this sweet).

You have a wonderful, leisurely stew, using things you might not usually use. I like to serve this with couscous, but rice is traditional. So, too, is flat bread. Make it and enjoy it.