Melt in your mouth lamb with smoky whole grains, topped with toasted nuts and a side of dill yogurt. That’s a party! A unique, flavor-packed type of celebration. Freekeh with Lamb is an elaborate dish that requires some time to prepare… your efforts will be rewarded. I promise.

The recipe has 4 parts, the meat & stock preparation, the freekeh, the quick dill yogurt sauce and the eating. Hands down, eating is my favorite step ;)

Freekeh is baby green wheat, fire roasted and rubbed to remove its casing. These steps contribute to the very distinct flavors of this grain: smoky, earthy, and nutty.

Where can you buy Freekeh? As it is gaining in popularity, you can find it the specialty aisle in some supermarkets like Whole Foods, a Mediterranean food store, and even online. Different brands have different strength of smokiness.

Sahtein!
That is Bon Appétit in Lebanese ;)

Freekeh with Lamb

Recipe credits: Rafaella Sargi
Serves 6

Ingredients for the LAMB (meat + stock)
 4 lamb shanks (bone in) pat dry and salted 
Ghee or Extra virgin olive oil 
Sea salt 
10 cups of water
 4 bay leaves
 1 cinnamon stick 
10 whole black peppercorns 
2 garlic cloves, peeled

Directions for the LAMB (meat + stock) You will need on big pot with a lid, a strainer, a shallow plate, and a small pot.

We are going to cook the meat and stock. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of ghee (or extra virgin olive oil), add the salted lamb shanks and sear for a few minutes on all sides. You are looking for a light sear / browning as it will give a better flavor to the final product. Add 10 cups of water, the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, black pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil. Remove the “foam” with a little strainer... Turn down the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 3 1/2 hours, checking every 30 minutes for the water level. I know! It’s a long time but your patience will be rewarded. The meat will fall off the bone and the stock will be rich and flavorful.

Remove the pot from the stove. Working with one shank at a time, place a cooked lamb shank on a plate (not directly on the cutting board, it is wet and will make a mess!) and strip the meat off the bones, discarding cartilage, connective tissue etc… Place the meat in a small pot.

Strain the lamb stock through a fine mesh strainer, discarding the spices etc… Keep 4 cups of the stock aside, and cover the cooked meat with some of the remaining stock to prevent the meat from drying out. Good news! A major part of your recipe is done! :)

Place the stock in the fridge, covered.

Place the meat immersed in stock, covered, in the fridge as well.

My best advice is to make this step 1 day in advance.

The next day, take the stock pot out of the fridge. You will see a thin layer of fat on top of the stock. Youpi! That is the best way to skim off the fat from your stock. Carefully, using a spoon, remove this thin layer of fat. Save two tablespoons in a small bowl, you will need that to make the freekeh. You can discard the remaining fat you just removed or save it, in a jar with a lid in the fridge, for future use.

Bring the stock slowly to a simmer, covered, over medium-low heat.

Bring the pot of meat to a slow simmer as well, covered of course, to avoid too much evaporation and preserve the meat from drying out. You are heating the meat you will serve with the freekeh. Be attentive, don’t mix unnecessarily (it will break up the meat and you will end up with un-sexy filaments) and bring to a gentle simmer in order for the meat to be heated through and ready to be served hot. Do not boil for hours.

Ingredients for the Freekeh
2 cups freekeh
2 Tablespoons lamb fat (or ghee)
4 cups lamb broth (previous detailed recipe)
2 teaspoons sea salt
Cooked lamb shanks meat
1/2 cup toasted almonds (or your preferred toasted nut mix)

Directions for the Freekeh
You will need one large pot with a lid.

Pick through the freekeh to remove any unwelcome grains. Rinse under cold water. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, melt the lamb fat over high heat. Add the freekeh and mix to coat the grains with the melted fat. Add 4 cups of lamb broth, and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. Mix well and bring to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil stage, lower the heat to the lowest dial possible, cover and let the freekeh cook slowly until the liquids are completely absorbed and the freekeh is cooked through. It might take up to 30 minutes. Depending on the freekeh brand and “age” of the grains you might need to add some water… don’t worry! Just have some boiling water in a kettle ready for emergencies. I would add 1/2 cup at a time, mix, cover and give the freekeh some time to absorb the added water. The freekeh is ready when the grain is completely cooked through, soft, chewy and has a bouncy texture. You don’t want it to be “al dente” nore “mushy”.

Once the freekeh is cooked through, turn the heat off and keep the pot with the lid on for 10 minutes. It’s part of the freekeh magic. ;)

Serve in a shallow dish, topped with the heated lamb and a very generous sprinkle of toasted nuts.

Serve with dill yogurt. (recipe follows)

Dill Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt (I use full fat yogurt)
2 tablespoons fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
A dash of cayenne pepper or Espelette pepper (optional)

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt to brake it down and make it extra creamy. Add the dill and sea salt. Taste and adjust the herb and salt amount to your liking. Chill covered in the fridge until ready to use.

Serve next to the freekeh and lamb with a dash of cayenne pepper or Espelette Pepper.

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