Often times lamb is not a typical dinner meat unless your are serving lamb chops for a dinner party. Some of the “stigma” of lamb has to do with the prohibitive cost of lamb chops along with the perceived difficulty of preparing it. The truth is that there are many cuts of lamb that are very inexpensive. With cuts ranging from shoulder to leg or in its ground state, you will often find pricing to be better that of beef.
These cuts lend themselves to marinating and grilling to accompany with an Israeli salad, spicy tahini sauce and your favorite whole grain flat bread.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE LAMB
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/ teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
2 pounds of lamb shoulder or leg, sliced into wide strips for grilling
1 orange, red or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
Israeli salad,Tahini Sauce and Syrian Pita Bread, for serving
In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the olive oil with the garlic, lemon juice, cumin, cardamom, Aleppo pepper, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Set the lamb on a rimmed baking sheet and coat it completely with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
Light a grill. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the bell pepper strips, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Season the peppers with salt and pepper and transfer them to a serving bowl. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and add the onions. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Season the onions with salt and pepper and transfer them to another serving bowl.
Grill or stir fry the lamb slices over moderate to high heat to your preferred temperature (med rare is recommended). Transfer cooked lamb to a serving platter and garnish with peppers and onions around the edges of the platter for self service along with, Tahini Sauce and Israeli salad along with a bit of pita bread.
