Lamb braised in Red Wine

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Lamb and red wine go well together. When cooked properly, lamb can be tender; the acids and alcohol in wine help tenderize lamb during the braising process.

Everyone has a favorite variety of lamb (or beef) stew, here are some basic ingredients:

- Lamb (preferably lamb leg, cut into chunks)
- Flour (or matzoh meal)
- vegetable oil (I tend to use extra-virgin olive oil)
- carrots, celery, onions, each cut into 1" dice (you can also add chopped garlic and tomatoes to these)
- red wine
- salt and pepper

The basic instructions are as follows:
- season the flour/matzoh meal with salt and pepper
- dredge the lamb chunks in the flour/meal
- heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; when hot, add oil
- add dusted lamb chunks to the oil (carefully), in a single layer - don't crowd them, or they won't brown! (Brown them in batches if you have to.) Allow each side to brown, turn for even coloring. Remove from pan, allow to sit in a bowl.
- meanwhile, in a separate pot that's large enough to hold the lamb and vegetables, bring the wine to a boil.
- de-glaze the skillet used for browning by adding the vegetables; stir the vegetables until they've started to sweat and become translucent.
- add the sauteed vegetables + browned lamb pieces to the boiling wine; bring to a boil again, reduce to a simmer, and allow to braised (partially covered), until the lamb is tender.
- when the lamb is just about done, you can add some minced herbs (thyme and rosemary are best).

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Wine-based sauces

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Pictured here are Chicken Breasts, stuffed with Goat Cheese Feta and poached Rapini. They are served with a Cabernet Sauvignon reduction and sauteed wild mushrooms.

Reducing the Cabernet (or any wine) should best be done slowly. Let the wine reduce over a low heat. The point is to let the flavors concentrate, not boil them away. By such time as the wine is ready to use, it should be thickened to an almost syrupy consistency.

At this stage, there are a number of options. One can simply serve the sauce as is ... but it is possible that very strong tannic, resiny elements (for red wines) or acidity (for white wines) will have been overly accentuated by the reducing process. I typically like to finish the reduced wine with butter and/or demiglace (for red wines), or butter and cream (for white wines). These rich additions help mellow out the flavors and lend an attractive shine and gloss to the finished product. Be sure to whisk thoroughly over heat to ensure the butter doesn't fall out of suspension, and finish with salt and pepper.

Bon appetit!

Working with Lemongrass

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Lemon grass lends a lot of flavor but requires patience to work with. I recently served Lemongrass-and-lime-seared Pork Tenderloin Slices on Baguette (pictured here); these are the steps I took to make the marinade:

- First, I cut the lemongrass into pieces about 1" long.
- I sauteed the lemongrass pieces with onions and ginger in a wok, then added red wine, soy sauce, and lime juice. I covered it and let it simmer for about 40 minutes. Then I removed the lid and reduced the mixture until the liquids were the consistency of a thin syrup.
- I transferred the mixture to a cuisinart and processed as much as possible. The mixture still was pulpy and fibrous (lemongrass is a tough plant!), so I strained it, saving only the liquids.
- I mixed the liquids with a little more soy sauce, plus vegetable oil. I then marinated the pork tenderloins in this mixture for about 45 minutes.
- I seared the pork tenderloins, sliced them, and served them on baguette. The marinade lent an ineffably savory and aromatic essence to the meat!