Traditional Lamb Fricassée With Avgolemono Sauce Recipes

LAMB FRICASSEE: GREEK STYLE LAMB & GREENS IN AVGOLEMONO SAUCE

Steps:

• A traditional Greek dish made with lamb and greens in a refreshing lemon sauce.
• Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in a pot and brown the meat in a few batches all around. About 5-8 minutes. Do this in batches as to avoid overcrowding the pot. Overcrowding the pot will prevent the meat from browning.
• Note: the meat can also be browned in the oven by placing it in a baking pan, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Roast at 500 °F, 260 °C for about 10 minutes.
• Add the sliced scallions to the pot with the meat and cook over high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the scallions soften a bit.
• Cover the meat with water and bring to a boil.
• Cover the pot with the lid and reduce the heat to a medium low. Cook for approximately 1 and ½ to 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir often and add more water if needed.
• Wash, dry, and coarsely chop the greens.
• Once the meat is soft, add the chopped greens to the pot, cover with lid and cook until they are wilted.
• Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
• Prepare the Avgolemono sauce by combining the egg yolks, lemon juice, and corn starch in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.
• Temper the sauce by adding about ½ cup of hot liquid from the pot and whisking to combine.
• Pour the sauce into the pot and mix to distribute.
• Cook over medium heat 3-5 minutes. Stir in the chopped mint and dill and serve.
• Enjoy!

TRADITIONAL LAMB FRICASSéE WITH AVGOLEMONO SAUCE

Steps:

• Trim most of the visible fat from the lamb then cut the meat into 1½" - 2" chunks. Pat down the lamb to remove any excess moisture then brown it on all sides over medium-high heat in the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
• Add the leeks, onions, and celery to the pot and sauté until the vegetables soften. Add the chicken stock to cover the mixture and season it generously with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 40 minutes.
• Mince the dill, reserving some for garnish. Chop the lettuce and add it to the pot, along with the dill. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or, until the lamb is fork-tender and a small amount of liquid (about a cup or so) remains in the pot. Turn off the heat.
• Prepare the egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce. In a small bowl whisk the egg whites with the teaspoon of cold water and a little corn flour until very frothy. Whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice (start with only one lemon if you do not like the acidity of the lemon too much). Temper the avgolemono sauce by slowly adding one ladleful of the hot liquid from the pot to the small bowl with the eggs, while whisking the whole time. Continue with a second ladleful of the hot liquid and whisk again. Now add the avgolemono to the pot and stir gently to incorporate. Shake the pot a few times to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed together.
• If you need to reheat the lamb fricassée before serving, do so very gently, making sure the stew does not come to a boil. Place on a serving platter, topped with the reserved minced dill, a drizzle of olive oil and a few wedges of lemon. Good, crusty bread is a must and a Greek salad on the side is always a good idea.

LAMB FRICASSEE

Steps:

• Cut the lamb in portions.
• Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pot and brown the lamb in it.
• Strain excess fat. Take out the lamb.
• Add the rest of the butter, salt& pepper, the lettuce, the onions and the lamb.
• Cover and simmer for about 1 hours Stir.
• Don't fret about not having any water in the stew. The veggies will provide it as they cook.
• Prepare the avgolemono sauce, by beating together the eggs, lemon juice and flour (I use about 2 tsp).
• Just before serving, pour the avgolemono in the pot, simmer lightly and serve hot.
• Note: With 2 - 3 (2 - 3 lbs) heads of lettuce and 3 lbs of green onions, you will need a pretty big pot to hold all the chopped veggies. These will cook down to half the raw amount.

THE TRADITIONAL EGG-LEMON SAUCE (GREEK AVGOLEMONO) RECIPE

Steps:

• To prepare the classic Avgolemono recipe, start by cracking the eggs into a bowl and whisk well.
• Gradually add the lemon juice and whisk again to combine.
• Add a little of the warm stock or soup and whisk quickly, add more and whisk again. The reason for slowly adding the broth is to gradually warm up the eggs so you don't end up with an omelette instead of a sauce!
• Pour gradually the egg mixture back into the pot, whilst constantly stirring and bring just below boiling point. Remove the pan from the stove and serve.

GREEK FRICASSEE OF LAMB

Steps:

• In a large Dutch Oven, heat the olive oil till smoking and in it brown the pieces of lamb (you may have to do this in 2-3 batches) until golden-brown all over.
• When all the pieces are browned add onion, garlic, water and wine (you could use just water if you wanted to), salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
• Add lettuce and dill. You may have to cram it into the pot but it will reduce to practically nothing. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove lid, stir carefully not to break up meat and cook another 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
• In a large, heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, cornstarch, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper to taste (remember, there is more in the pot).
• With a ladle, remove ladlefuls of the cooking liquid the meat and lettuce have cooked in and VERY slowly whisk it into the egg/lemon mixture. Keep doing this until, whisking all the while, until you have incorporated most of your cooking liquid - this tempers the egg-lemon sauce so it won't curdle when added to your lamb.
• Pour all the sauce into the pot, covering the lamb and lettuce. Turn heat up to medium-high and just bring to the boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Dinner is ready. Have lots of crusty bread around to sop up the delicious avgolemono sauce.

LAMB FRICASSEE WITH AVGOLEMONO

Steps:

• Boil the lamb in enough water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain.
• In a frying pan, heat the oil over high heat, and brown the meat. Add the onions, and cook until they soften.
• Transfer to a stew pot with 1/2 cup of water, celery, salt, and pepper. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes over medium-high heat.
• Add dill and lettuce, resume boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
• When the fricassee has cooked and only a small amount of liquid remains in the pot, turn off heat.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of cold water until frothy. Whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice.
• Add 1 to 2 ladleful of liquid from the pot to the egg-lemon mixture and stir gently. Slowly pour the egg-lemon sauce over the meat.
• With a wooden spoon, stir gently 4 times. Then shake the pot gently side to side to distribute.
• Allow to sit covered on the stove for 20 minutes before serving.