On Easter Lamb and Wine

posted April 7, 2009
  by Josh Gunn, Bachelor Chow

We here at CDKitchen advance or preference no religious belief. We do, however, like to talk about religious holidays because that's when people scout about the Tubes in search of food recipes. This week we gots two biggies: Passover and Easter. Passover is a Jewish holiday celebrating Deity's sparing them back before the common era, followed by a seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread. Easter is a holiday celebrating Jesus' resurrection after three days of suffering and then death.

I won't go into the complexities of these holidays--there's all sorts of movies you can rent--except to stress that people eat a lot of food for them. In fact, some believe that the Last Supper or Mystical Dinner was in fact a Passover Seder! The bread Jesus broke could have been matzo, y'all. The relationship between these two holidays—at least this time of year for Christians and Jews—is therefore pretty close, although the precise details of "when?" and "what?" continue to be debated.

One thing I think we do know for sure, however, was that Jesus was a bachelor! According to all sorts of scholars, those rumors about Jesus having a wife and kids have scant empirical evidence to support them, no matter what a very wealthy fiction writer has to say. That's why I think we need to put much more faith in what I shall call The Da Vino Code: proof positive of Jesus' bachelordom was all that wine he miraculously produced and shared with folks. Turning water to wine was one of his first miracles, and sharing wine with his homies (er, apostles) was one of his goodbye party favors. As we all know, booze is the first major food group for bachelors (as I noted in my first column).

In Jesus' time, however, it's important to keep in mind that the rule with drinking wine, of course, was moderation. In this sense, "do what Jesus did" is probably a good idea (and if you fall off the moderation wagon, here's some help). In the Jewish tradition there's plenty of stories to suggest that getting ripped was very bad form (e.g., Noah apparently got drunken naked in the bible, which apparently was quite the scandal). In other words, you probably wouldn't see Jesus and his peeps drunkenly stumbling out of their last dinner together on the ancient equivalent of TMZ.

Now, one thing that is certainly different today are eating habits. For many people on the Easter holiday, lamb represents both the innocence of the soul and Jesus. And like humans often seem to do with revered symbols, we eat them! The "Easter Lamb" dish is a traditional dish served for Easter dinner; typically, though, folks wouldn't be eating lamb for the Passover Seder because guests might worry they were eating the Paschal Lamb (the Paschal Lamb was a lamb that would have been sacrificed to deity on the first night of Passover, so serving lamb at dinner might cause folks to worry they were eating something inappropriate). This tradition carries though to this day, although I'm told eating some Kosher cuts of lamb are technically okay for Passover and the following feast.

For some Christians, the lamb served for Easter is a bone-in roasted leg o' lamb. I, however, have never been very good at roasting things. I'm not sure why, but the art of roasting lamb or turkey or anything is not one I have cultivated well. Consequently, when I have gatherings I serve curried lamb, which is ironically easier to prepare for me. This dish has complex flavors and, consequently, is a little more involved than my normal recipes, but I promise the pay-off is delicious. Serve with wine!


Dr. Bachelor's Easter Curried Lamb Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 4
Ready in: 1-2 hrs

***FOR THE NUT MASALA***

* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
* 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
* 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
* 4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped
* 1 piece (2 inch size) ginger root, grated
* 3 ounces unsalted cashews
* 1/4 cup boiling water

***FOR THE MAIN DISH***

* 2 tablespoons Garam Masala (store bought)
* 2 pounds boneless leg of lamb
* 1/4 cup of canola oil
* 1 large yellow onion, chopped
* 3 dried red chilies
* OR
* 1/2 tablespoon dried crushed red pepper
* 1 piece (1 inch size) ginger root, grated
* 1 small clump cilantro, chopped
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1/3 cup water
* salt and pepper, to taste
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

To make the masala, heat oil on medium in a heavy skillet or Dutch oven and dump in all the spices. Brown, but don't burn. Just when the spices seem like they're going to burn, add the garlic and ginger, turn off the oven, and cook until everything seems to cool. Then, add to a blender or food processor, add your nuts and boiling water, and make a paste. This is really easier and much quicker than it sounds, trust me!

To prepare the lamb, dry it off well and cut into 2-inch cubes. Heat the oil and brown the lamb until each side is done. Then add the onion and cook until its soft. Add both masalas, chili pepper, and ginger, and cook for a few more minutes. Finally, add everything else, cover, and simmer for about an hour. Add the lemon juice and stir only right before you are about to serve this.

Finally, one more note: I buy Garam Masala at an organic grocery store here in Austin. I have a recipe for it if you cannot find it locally; just ask, and I'll post it in the comments section.

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