Braised Lamb Shoulder with Cumin and Apricots

Comfort. We all crave it. Well, except maybe my friend who winter-ran the White Mountains in a day-and-a-half. But even he enjoys a glass of red wine with his sweet potatoes.

In French, the term is “gourmand,” but that doesn’t translate directly. It’s not quite “gourmet” and it’s not quite “glutton.” It’s someone who takes pleasure in food. But not like a foodie who’ll click away an Instagram shot of their espresso or poke bowl.

For me, comfort is about sitting down to a meal, along or with friends or family, and knowing that everything’s okay. Not worrying too much about what comes next. The food can be a bandaid for the day or a balm for the evening to come. For that moment, and hopefully a little longer, you can breathe a little slowly, descend your shoulders half an inch and be a little less overwhelmed by the world.

For most, comfort means slow-cooked meat or rich and creamy pasta – generally, fat and carbs. Fuel, essentially. It’s what theoretically gets you through an all-day, all-night run through snow-topped mountains. Unless you’re vegan. I’m not. Neither is Madhur Jaffrey, on whose recipe this braised lamb dish is based.

I don’t do cold. I barely do winter. But I do do comfort. To me, that means anything with softened bone marrow. Shanks, shoulders, tough pieces of meat that marinate and cook for hours with salt and spice. This is a variation on the best lamb recipe I’ve ever made. It takes one to 1-2 days of patience for the marinade to soak into the meat, but it’s worth it. I’ve made it twice in the last three months, because once you’ve made it once, you’ll crave it again.

I use almond milk and lemon juice instead of yogurt and it’s just fine. I change the herbs and spices. Also fine. And I drink it with this 2016 GriGri from Paul Reder of Domaine Hautes Terres de Comberousse, made from 100% Aramon Gris (and bought from Glou private import wine company in Montreal; a case of this* – pure comfort). More than fine.

 

Braised Lamb Shoulder with Cumin and Apricots

You can use leg of lamb or boneless shoulder plus a shank if you can’t find more affordable lamb shoulder. Either way, it’ll be fall-off-the-bone tender, with the richness of the nuts and almond milk balancing the soft spices and sweet fruit. You have permission to vary the spices (e.g. add turmeric, star anise, ground coriander, black pepper, nutmeg, etc.). You also have permission to suck the marrow from the bone.

Serves 4-6

One lamb shoulder, bone-in (you need it for marrow and flavour)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 bunch scallions (green parts only), roughly chopped
1 handful of chives, roughly chopped
One 7-inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped!
1 tbsp salt 
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
4 cups (1 L) unsweetened, plain almond milk 
1/4 cup natural almonds or pecans, toasted and ground
3 tbsp white or black poppy seeds 
16 dried organic apricots (or a mixture of apricots and figs)

In a blender, combine the lemon juice, scallions, chives, ginger, salt, cayenne, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and just enough of the almond milk to blend. Remove excess fat or any filmy outer sinew from the lamb and place it in a large casserole dish with a lid that can go both on the stove and in the oven. Or use a large bowl now and a pot and oven-safe dish later. Add the contents of the blender plus rest of the almond milk to the dish.

Marinate for up to 2 days in the fridge, rotating the lamb in the marinade on day if you remember.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Meanwhile, bring the lamb and its marinade to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to simmer. Cover the bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Toast the almonds over medium heat in a dry skillet for 7 minutes, or until golden and aromatic, shaking them frequently so they brown evenly. Remove from the heat and immediately transfer to a coffee grinder, nut and spice grinder or blender. Let cool slightly before grinding to a powder.

Remove the lamb from the oven and spoon off any visible fat on top of the liquid. Then stir in the ground nuts and dried fruit, basting the lamb in the juices, and return the covered dish to the oven for another hour.

Grind the poppy seeds to a powder (don’t bother cleaning out the grinder beforehand). Stir the ground seeds into the lamb and bake another 10 minutes. Serve with rice to soak up the luscious sauce. And something green, like cilantro, oregano or parsley to garnish. And something green, like a bed of spinach.

Most importantly, be comforted.

 * The 2016 GriGri is not listed on the Glou website, but you can contact owner Jack Jacob directly to order it: jack@glou-mtl.com. The bottles are something around $35 each, I believe, and come by the case.