On the last Saturday of March, I went to clean the church building with our church young women organization. My job was to vacuum the east wing of our building and I was enjoying my vacuum assignment. The vacuum tipped over when I was switcing to a different outlet to be able to vacuum a new area. As I reach down to pick up the vacuum, my back went into a spasm. I managed to stand straight, and without anymore bending, carefully and slowly finished the vacuuming. I tried to be very careful with my back but by the early evening, I was not able to do much except to lay straight on my back. This is really a problem since you have to move sometimes especially when nature calls. Well, I could not move at all without triggering the spasm again and again. Needless to say, I was not able to go to church or do much of anything on Sunday. I sat on the couch, in an un-natural and uncomfortably straight position, running our "Kneading Fingers 2000" nonstop. I couldn't even put socks on my feet when my toes got cold. When I asked Cassidy for help, she kneeled down in front of me and said "yes, mother queen!" just to be funny. Anyway, to take my mind off the pain and suffering, I watched channel 11-3 Create TV all day. And here is an interesting dish from Lidia's Italy to share with you. It is different but a very flavorful dish. My kids loved it.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or leg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 plump garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1/2 teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, stripped from the branch
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons red- wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups brine- cured green Italian olives or oil- cured black Italian olives, crushed and pitted
Directions:
Trim the exterior fat from the lamb shoulder or leg, and cut the meat into 2- inch pieces, removing fat and bits of cartilage as you find them. Pat the pieces dry with paper towels, and season all over with 1 teaspoon of the salt.
Pour the olive oil into the pan, and set it over medium heat. Scatter in the crushed garlic cloves and peperoncino. When the garlic is sizzling, lay in all the lamb pieces in one layer, scatter the rosemary on top, and season with the remaining teaspoon salt. When the meat starts to sizzle, cover the pan, lower the heat, and let cook gently, browning slowly and releasing its fat and juices.
After about 10 minutes, uncover the pan, turn the pieces, and move them around the pan to cook evenly, then replace the cover. Turn again in 10 minutes or so, and continue covered cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the lamb is nicely browned all over and the pan juices have thickened and caramelized. If there is a lot of fat in the bottom of the pan, tilt the skillet and spoon off the fat from one side.
Stir the wine and vinegar together, and pour them into skillet, swirling them with the pan juices. Turn up the heat, bring the liquids to a boil, and cook them down quickly to form a syrupy sauce. Drop the olives into the pan, all around the lamb chunks, then cover and adjust the heat to a bubbling simmer. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, again concentrating the juices and marrying the flavors. Finally, cook uncovered for a few minutes, tumbling the meat and olives in the pan, coating them with the sauce.
Serve immediately, right from the skillet, or heap the meat chunks on a platter or in a shallow serving bowl. Spoon out any sauce and olives left in the pan and drizzle over the lamb.
Recipe from:
http://lidiasitaly.com/entrees/lamb-chunks-with-olives
