Braise Lamb with Spices for a Great Flavor

With the weather warming and the winter chill thawing, it wont be long before its too warm to have the oven on for hours to braise something. As I was cleaning out the freezer the other day, I found a lamb shoulder thats been in there since last summer. I decided to thaw it out and do something with it before it got lost again for another season. Because lamb shoulder has a lot of fat and connective tissue it wont dry out, and tends to benefit from slow cooking techniques such as roasting and braising. Some people find lamb to be a little gamey, but its full of flavor and can be delicious when prepared properly. The trick is to use lots of spices and garlic when preparing lamb. For this dish I used a ton of cumin and a generous helping of garlic. The pomegranate molasses also adds a wonderful flavor while bringing sweetness and acidity to the dish. The chickpeas absorb the flavors in the braising liquid and make this a one-pot meal. You could also make it in a slow cooker, just do the browning and sautéing in a pan, and then transfer it to the slow cooker after adding all the liquids and scrapping up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Serve this with some rice, cous cous or a flatbread like naan or lavash. The leftovers make great sandwiches or wraps with some salad greens mint and yogurt.

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Marc Matsumoto is a culinary consultant and recipe repairman who shares his passion for good food through his website norecipes.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blog in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marcs been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.