I like one dish meals, since I generally only have an hour or two to whip something up before my wife gets home. Nothing says thanks for driving 3 hours a day so we can keep this house like having good food ready when she walks in the door. Today's one dish meal is Lamb and Spinach. I did make some cilantro chutney and purchased nan from an Indian food store as an appetizer.
I bought about 2 pounds of leg of lamb butt. This was half the price of chops, and the same as a lower priced steak...about $7 a pound. This was seared in a dutch oven with olive oil.
I chopped one Vidalia onion in large chunks...about an inch cubed. I purchased a 28 ounce can of tomatoes. I tend to favor canned over fresh tomatoes because it's juicer and less messy to prepare. I cut these into thirds. Chop 4 cloves of garlic.
Once the lamb is seared, add the onions, and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and saute another minute.
Before searing the lamb, I combined the spices in a small bowl. These were 2 teaspoons of Turmeric, a quarter teaspoon of Nutmeg, a teaspoon of crushed red pepper, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom. All of this is put in the pot after sauteing the lamb, onions and garlic. Add the tomatoes and a cup of beef stock and stir.
Now, I have been preheating the oven at 350 since before I began cooking. I cover the dutch oven with aluminum foil and put in the oven. This is baked for one hour.
While the lamb is cooking, I make the cilantro chutney. Roughly chop 2 bunches of cilantro. Remove the seeds from a jalapeno pepper. Take a couple handfuls of walnuts. Add a few pinches of sugar, a cup of lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of salt. All of this goes into a grinder or mixer. I admit that my chutney came out pretty watery. You may want to add a little less lemon juice; or, be sure not to mix to a puree. Even so, it was hot and delicious. We dipped hot nan in the chutney and enjoyed while enjoying the aroma of cooking cinnamon and red meat...one of my favorite smells.
After the hour is up, I removed the dutch oven and added a 9 ounce bag of raw spinach to the mixture, stirring until the spinach was wilted. I topped with a half cup of Greek yogurt, the zest of one lemon and toasted pine nuts. Just leave the oven on when removing the lamb, and put a half cup of pine nuts on a baking sheet. Bake about 5 minutes. These can be added when the servings are dished out. It makes a nice and tasty garnish.
Since this is Afghan food, I thought it appropriate to enjoy with a nice alcoholic beverage and watch some movies with women who didn't have their faces covered. I am such a cheeky Devil.
To sum up...
Afghan Lamb with Spinach:
2 lb. Lamb leg, shoulder or other stewing lamb
1/3 cup Olive oil
1 Vidalia onion, chopped into 1 inch cubes
4 Garlic cloves, chopped
2 ts Turmeric
1/4 ts Nutmeg
1/4 ts ground cardamom
1 ts Crushed red pepper
1/2 ts Cinnamon
28 oz Canned tomatoes
1 cup Beef stock
9 oz Raw spinach
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
Zest of one lemon
salt to taste
1/4 cup Pine nuts, roasted
Cilantro Chutney:
1 bunches Cilantro
1 Jalapeno, seeds removed
4 Walnuts, crushed
3 pinches Sugar
1 cup Lemon juice
2 ts Salt
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