STEAMED LAMB

Steamed Lamb image

_(Baha)_ Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Paula Wolfert's book [_Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco_](http://store.digitalriver.com/store/harperco/en_US/buy/productID.294041700/quantity.1/pgm.95506400/ThemeID.36934400/Currency.USD). Wolfert also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. If you really love the taste of lamb, you will love this dish. It's a pity that we Americans know so little about steaming meats; just as steamed vegetables keep their original flavors, so do steamed chickens and lamb. If you don't have a steamer, use a couscousière or a colander with a tight-fitting lid that fits snugly over a kettle. Some people think that steamed lamb looks unattractive (though no one denies that it's incredibly good). If you feel this way you may brown the meat quickly in butter or oil at the end, or roast it at high heat until it browns. Steamed food should be eaten the moment it is ready, when it is at its peak: if left too long, it will dry out.

Provided by Paula Wolfert

Yield Serves: 8 (as part of a Moroccan dinner)

Number Of Ingredients 12

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Ingredients

5 to 5 1/2 pounds shoulder and part of the rib section of young spring lamb
Pinch pulverized saffron
Sweet butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh parsley sprigs
4 to 5 whole baby onions (optional)
Vegetable oil (optional)
Paring knife
Steamer, or couscousiere, or colander over a kettle
Cheesecloth
Tight-fitting lid

Steps:

1. Trim the lamb of excess fat: the thin fell can be left on. Blend the saffron with 1/4 cup butter, salt, and pepper. Rub into the lamb flesh.
2. Bring plenty of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer, kettle, or couscousière (to borrow a trick from Diana Kennedy, author of The Cuisines of Mexico,* toss in a penny - when the penny stops clicking you need more water). Dampen a piece of cheesecloth and twist into a strip the length of the circumference of the kettle's rim. Use this strip to fasten the perforated top so that it fits snugly on top. Check all sides for effective sealing: steam should rise only through the holes. Make a bed of parsley over the holes and rest the shoulder of lamb on it. Surround with the onions, if used, and cover with a double layer of cheesecloth and then, tightly, with a lid. Do not lift the lid during the first 1 3/4 hours of steaming. Be very careful, and stand back when lifting the lid. If the lamb is tender and falling off the bone it is ready; if not, continue steaming 15 to 30 minutes longer.
3. If desired, brown in oil and butter or rub again with butter and brown in a very hot oven (highest setting). Serve with bowls of ground cumin and salt, to be used as a dip.
New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
•Traditionally, this dish would be prepared with zebda, a pungent, naturally curdled product that originated with the Moroccan Berbers. American unsalted butter, while not an exact match, can be successfully substituted. •This dish is typically served with couscous, the tiny Moroccan semolina pasta. To produce authentically fluffy Moroccan couscous, steam it for 30 minutes in a couscousière or tight-fitting, lidless steamer. Then dump it into a flat pan, slowly add 1 cup of salted water, and rake out any lumps with a wire whisk. Finally, return the couscous to the couscousière and steam it for an additional 30 minutes.