We are big proponents of “intuitive eating” – learning to listen to the signals your body gives you and choosing what you eat in response. No, that isn’t an excuse to just eat whatever you want whenever you want. It’s about understanding why you might be craving a particular food and why your body might need it at the time. The better you understand the way those pieces fit together, the easier it is to make it work. Our cooking often reflects that: taking a particular ingredient that strikes us at the time, and allowing our understanding of how it interacts with different flavors and cooking methods to run their course to see where it takes us. This recipe, then, is a shining example of this “intuitive cooking”.
Chele and I were out doing some shopping at the Tony’s Fresh Market near her place while having absolutely no idea of what we were doing for dinner that evening. While tossing around ideas that just weren’t sticking, we passed by the meat case and both of us locked on to the lamb. We both agreed that sounded perfect, and quickly settled on a pack of bone-in stew meat. It was going to be a stew or other long, slow cooking method because we wanted the meat to be melt-in-your-mouth tender. So it was back to the produce department to pick out some vegetables. On the way, I recalled that Chele had recently picked up a bottle of plum wine, and it was decided that we would use it to braise the lamb. At the edge of the produce section, Tony’s has a large section devoted to dried chiles and hispanic herbs and spices. A bag of dried rosebud petals caught our eyes – they would complement both the lamb and the plum. We still wanted a vegetable, and Chele was drawn to the asparagus. In the cart it went. Back at Chele’s place, we went through her spice collection to pick out our seasonings. I was already feeling a Moroccan vibe to our soon-to-be recipe, so our choices went down that route.
To put it simply, the end result blew us away. Most original recipes require several iterations to perfect, tweaking ingredients and quantities along the way to take them over the top. This one we couldn’t think of a single thing to change (other than making more). We served this alongside our Black Trumpet and Chinese Chive Smashed Potatoes, and highly recommend you do so as well.
Plum Wine and Rosebud Petal Braised Lamb with Asparagus
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs avocado oil
- Salt & pepper
- 2 lbs. bone-in lamb stew meat
- 10 cloves garlic ,chopped
- 1 large shallot ,minced
- 1/3 cup plum wine
- 2 Tbs rosebud petals
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp marjoram
- ¼ tsp coriander
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 1 bunch asparagus
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large braising pan, Dutch oven, or other heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid.
- Season lamb on all sides with salt & pepper. Add to pan and brown on all sides (don't crowd – work in batches if your pan is on the smaller side). Remove meat with tongs or a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the oil and drippings in the pan.
- Add garlic and shallots to the pan and saute until translucent and fragrant. Add plum wine and deglaze the pan by scraping up all of the browned bits. Continue cooking until wine has reduced by half (add more if it reduced too quickly while deglazing the pan).
- Return lamb to pan. Add all remaining ingredients except asparagus. Stir to combine, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 50 minutes.
- While lamb simmers, trim and discard the tough stem ends of the asparagus. Slice into 1-inch pieces. Add to pan, replace cover and simmer an additional 10 minutes or until asparagus and lamb are tender. Remove from heat and allow lamb to rest before serving.
Notes
- Plum wine is a very sweet dessert wine that is most often associated with Asian cuisine. Most supermarkets with a liquor department carry at least one variety. Look for it by the sake.
- We found our rosebud petals among the dried hispanic herbs and spices at Tony’s Fresh Market in the Chicago area. Look for them at hispanic markets, or order them online. Be certain that you are buying food-grade flowers that are free of chemicals. If you can’t find them, full-size rose petals should work fine (again, be sure you are buying flowers that are culinary-grade!). We haven’t tested it yet, but we imagine that a Tbs or two of rosewater could be used instead.
