Primal Grill With Steven Raichlen; 111; Learning To Love Lamb

Pit roasted lamb barbacoa Mexican style is the world of Latin on the grill. Yogurt and saffron marinated lamb chops. The combination of flavors will come as a revelation. Lambert who is with goats is your notion of the hamburger will never quite be the same three great reasons to love lamb on the grill. I'm Stephen Wright and from the beautiful to buck golf resort in southern Arizona it's time to grill. Primal grilled meat is made possible by. Weber. Weber grills. You know America's backyard since 1952. And by working on books for parents kids cooks gardeners and the people they love. More information is available at workman dot com. And by Reynolds Wrap up

helping grillers outside and in the kitchen. Since 1947 Reynolds Wrap. And by the companion group supporting public television and creating innovative products for outdoor living. More information is available at companion dash group dot com. We're. Going to. The statistics and the winner is definitely not

land. Americans consume less than one pound per person per year. But travel the world's barbecue trail on any given night more pit masters are grilling lamb than probably any other me. To be an accomplished grill master. You have to master lamb. I first saw this dish at an incredible restaurant in Mexico City called Royale and is so large it occupies a whole city block is has its own bullfighting right and the barbacoa is called in for a gigantic Stone pits at the back of the restaurant. 15:14 a Spanish explorer discovered a singular method of cooking the Taino Indians of his were smoke roasting wild game and fish on a wooden grate called barbacoa. That's the origin of our word barbecue. Not to mention our next day a Mexican chili rubbed pit roasted shoulder of lamb called barbacoa.

And it starts with a shoulder of lamb and it's by space to make the Adobo combine Chipotle a Chili's with your smoked jalapeno Chiles. Well he'll chili powder. Oregano onion. Chop pressure like all spice cinnamon and salt puree the ingredients to a smooth case. Adding distilled vinegar. And water. Of course in the old days these ingredients would have been pounded together in a mortar and pestle. Spread half the Adobo over the bottom of a boneless lamb shoulder roast.

This one weighs about six pounds. Then turn the roast over and spread the remaining adobo on top. Mexican barbacoa is a little bit different than American barbecue. First of all traditionally it's made with either lamb or goat. Second of all the lamb or go is wrapped in some sort of leaves in some parts of Mexico. They use a mag a cactus leaves. In other parts of Mexico they use avocado leaves or even banana leaves. This one is wrapped and cooked in banana leaves. So take the lamb roast and invert it so the fat side is down. Then bring the banana leaves over the roast. First this way then this way

then this way and this way and secure the banana leaf with a skewer. Then place a wire rack on top of the barbacoa and flip it over. Don't worry if you are banana leaves Taro a little bit that will just let more smoke flavor in. OK the next thing that makes this dish so singular is that the lamb shoulder is actually roasted over a pan of soup and the dripping lamb juices flavor the soup. It's called consommé and it contains onion carrots zucchini cabbage Browns of corn and bay leaves and chopped fresh Ceylon throw and episode day.

First let's just mix these ingredients up. Now let me show you how to set up the pit. Barbacoa is a dish that's near and dear to my heart because barbacoa is the Spanish word that gave us our term barbecue. The year was 15 16. The place the island of Hispaniola. Today the Dominican Republic and Haiti and a Spanish explorer named Let's see if I get this right. Gonzalo Fernando this stop here a convoy that was bound for Colombia. Now unlike most of his compatriots Oviedo was actually very interested in the local culture the local food. And he came upon a tribe of Taino Indians are doing what amounts to a cookout on the beach and they had rigged up the sort of gizmo with four

logs and there were wooden grates across the top on which wall game and fish had been placed. Smoke rose I'm cooking the barbacoa in an upright barrel smoker and as you can see I've loaded the smoker with about 12 pounds of charcoal and arranged it in this ring around the periphery. Next three or four chunks of your favorite hardwood amusing. If I. Insert the cooking rack the next place the ingredients for the consummate. In the center of the smoker. And add water to cover. Finally place the rack with the barbacoa on top of the consummating. Now what's going to happen is the lamb is going to smoke roast in the banana leaf. The juices are

going to drip into the vegetables in the consummate and make a soup to serve with the barbacoa. So finally. Cover the smoker in the cooking time is about four to five hours. It's been five hours the lamb should be ready. And it sure looks ready. We can use an instant read thermometer. We're looking for one hundred and eighty degrees then go. OK. So first take the barbacoa off and set it on a tray to rest.

Then take off this consummately which has been flavored with the lamb juices and the wood smoke. Now you never want to cut into a smoked roast like this right away. Let it rest for 10 or 15 minutes. It will taste juicy that way. But we can start with the consummate. I mean Roma is absolutely incredible. These heat gloves come in handy for wrapping the barb. So let's see how we did. It slices beautifully. And check out this little smoke ring here. That's a natural chemical reaction. When you cook meat low and slow in the presence of what's mine.

This land is really tender. Smoke roasted soup. And smoked roasted last. From barbacoa to barbecue. As the world of laughs on the grill. Sometimes politics interfere with barbecue. When I did my first tour of the world's barbecue trail I was unable to visit Iran so I found myself Iranian grill masters here in the United States and one of them showed me this dish Persian saffron marinated lamb chops the traditional marinated

features yogurt. Many Iranian meats will marinate for one to two days when it comes to grilling lamb. Iranians are World Masters. They've certainly had practice Lamb has been part of the Persian barbecue tradition for at least 5000 years. In this dish the lamb is marinated in a vibrant mixture of yogurt saffron and onions. The combination of flavors will come as a revelation. One of those flavors is saffron Saffron is the world's costliest spice. It comes from an aromatic crocus and to activate the flavor you simply soak it in a little warm water and you'll see it will release and orange color. To finish the marinate. Start with plain whole milk yogurt add finely chopped onion. About four to finally chopped garlic Arns zest that's the oil rich outer rind of the. Freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Salt. Cracked or ground black pepper corns. Tend to soak saffron. Now for the lamb chops. Two choices I'm using lowing lamb chops. You can also use rib chops. I like the loin chops because they're a little meatier. Finally poor the remaining marinate over the tops of the chops. The only tricky part about this dish is remembering to marinate the lamb 24 to 48 hours ahead of time. In the refrigerator of course. Before you start grilling the lamb to final preparations The first is a simple

basting sauce consists of melted butter and more of you are soaked and a little freshly squeezed lemon juice in. And with the lamb I thought we'd prepare some grilled tomatoes and onions. So these are plum tomato halves. I simply skewer them on these flat skewers which keep the tomatoes from rotating or falling off and brush the tomatoes with a little extra virgin olive oil. And seasoned with dried herbs. This is a mixture of rosemary oregano and dried mint. And while you're at it you can brush and season these millions.

Now let's take a look at the grill. So I set up the grill for direct grilling and preheated it to high. And you remember we have a little rule whenever direct grilling we keep it hot. One Mississippi two Mississippi we keep it clean with a few strokes of our brush and we keep it lubricated either with a folded paper towel dipped in oil or else a half onion dipped in oil and drawn across the bars of the grove. I grilled the vegetables first. And the reason I do this is the onions take a little longer to cook than the lamb and also vegetables grilled vegetables taste great at room temperature whereas the lamb should be served sizzling hot off the grill. Then put on the lamb chops.

The land chops grill for four to six minutes per side and in the Near East people like their lamb medium to well done. Not rare. The way we do here in the West. After a couple minutes give each chop a quarter turn to lay on a crosshatch your grill marks. Meanwhile when the tomatoes are brown on the bottom turn them over and you see by using these flat skewers they don't slip. You should also turn over the onions you're looking for it to be lightly charred too. So once the chops are browned on the bottom turn them over. And at this point you can start basting with that butter saffron basting

sauce. Chop the cook for another four to six minutes for side. To test for doneness we use the old poke test poke the meat. It feels firm to the touch that shows this were right at medium. Don't forget the ends of these skewers could be very hot. Your grilled onions. And grilled tomatoes are. The Lambs ready to. Saffron and garlic grilled lamb chops. It's a 5000 year old BBQ tradition. In North America the most famous grilled ground meat

dish is hamburger of course. Well as you travel the world's barbecue trail very often the hamburger gives way to Lambert which brings us to the ground grilled lamb patties. Now I never had my hamburger ground lamb actually has more flavor than ground beef. Our next dish belongs to a great family of grilled lamb recipes that includes very little Balkan Kosta and Turkish kabob. It's a cheeseburger with a difference made with ground lamb and fresh goat cheese. Your notion of the hamburger will never quite be the same. Step number one the ground land try to buy land that's not too lean. I recommend a 15 to 20 percent fat content. Next add one finely chopped onion. Chopped fresh parsley dried oregano chopped fresh garlic.

And chopped freshmen which will balance the land richness. Season the mixture with coarse sea salt. And finely ground cracked. Black pepper. Makes the lamb with your fingers. Combine the ingredients Well I've always found that your fingers work best for mixing. Right. Now form the patties. This started as a log of goat cheese which I cut into a quarter in slices. So let your fingers. Pinch off. A quarter of the meat. And form it into a patty making a depression in the center with your thumbs. Next place a slice of goat cheese in the center. And bring the meat over the top. To in case the go cheese. Here's what the finish Patty looks like. Now you can grill the burgers right away but they'll handle better if you refrigerate them for

about an hour. While the lamb burgers are chilling Let me show you the sauce. It's a variation on Greek. It starts with plain whole milk yogurt diced cucumber chopped fresh mint and finely chopped garlic season with coarse sea salt and freshly ground or cracked black peppercorns. That's all there is to it. Lamb has a natural affinity for garlic. In keeping with the Near East roots of this dish will grill the lamb over charcoal. And you know the drill. This is a charcoal chimney starter and place a crumpled piece of newspaper in the bottom. The cylindrical shape of the chimney

funnels the heat upwards lighting your coals uniformly. Let me show you the grill. It's already loaded with hot charcoal so as always we start by cleaning. And you can use your oiling to oil the bars of the grate to prevent sticking. Put on the burgers. And you know one mistake I see people make is never press a burger. All you succeed in doing is squeezing out the juices. The burgers are ready to turn. And while the burgers are cooking on the other side let's grill some pizza. So brush the PITA lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Watch the pita bread. It burns really quickly. Just a few seconds on each side. You know sometimes the fire is a little hotter in the center than the grill on the sides. So don't be afraid to move the food around. Remember barbecue is a little bit like dancing you're always waltzing the food from hot spots to cool spot. And one very important thing folks whenever you handle raw meat be sure and sanitize your hands before you touch the cooked food. OK so the burgers are cooked. You can feel they're firm to the touch. Great. And let me show you how to put this together. Slice of pizza

a burger slice of tomato some bread onion. And a spoonful of barely yogurt cucumber mint sauce. Folded over from the Near East to the southwest. It's a cheeseburger you let's me forget. But caught sight fried grilled lamb chops Lamborghinis with cheese. All great reasons but more or less on your grill. See you next time. To order the 10th anniversary edition Barbecue Bible with new material. Step by Step closer and answers to frequently asked grilling questions. Call 1

800 873 61 54 for order by credit card. Primal girl dot org. A primal girl DVD Vol. 1 with episodes from the series plus extras is also available. For more information that recipes from this program you can visit our website at primal grill dot org. Primal grill was made possible by. Weber. Weber grills. In America's backyard. Since 1952. And by working on books for parents kids cooks gardeners and the people they love. More information is available at workman dot com. And by Reynolds Wrap.

Helping Gruber's outside and in the kitchen since 1947. Reynolds Wrap. And by the companion group supporting public television and creating innovative products for outdoor living. More information is available that's a companion dash group dot com. Traditionally in the West when we grilled lamb chops it's individually that as we place the lamb chops on the grilled one by one turn them one by one take them off one by one in Iran and in the middle and Near East and general lamb chops are often threaded onto a secure and grilled on skewers just about style. First of all this makes it easier to turn the lamb chops. And second of all it looks really neat.