Lamb Pilaf with Cinnamon, The Best Recipes in the World pg.412

I’m all about the one-pot meal. I can do one main entre and MAYBE two sides, but that’s pushing it. I’m still rather new at this and I don’t feel comfortable with the whole timing aspect…yet. So that’s why I like to cook meals that have everything in one dish whenever possible. We also love lamb so this seemed like the perfect recipe for us.
First I had to cube a 2 lb. cut of lamb leg (shoulder, which is called for in the recipe was unavailable at my grocery store) with the bone still in. That was no fun, but I’ve done it before and I’m sure I’ll do it again (Jessica, I think you would have passed out). Mr. Bittman suggests that you brown the meat first if you have the time, so I did. This step definitely added an extra layer of flavor to the finished dish.













top=before, bottom= after

The remainder of the recipe was very easy and I liked all of the players (onions, garlic, tomatoes, raisins, red wine, cinnamon, pine nuts and basmati rice). I only had to buy the pine nuts – it’s so nice when you already have most of the ingredients!

Although the book lists this as a Greek dish, Thomas and I thought it tasted more North African or Middle Eastern. This was fine with us since we’re big fans of both of those cuisines. Overall, we really loved the potent flavors and how they blended so well together to make a very satisfying whole. The foods behaved exactly the way that Bittman said they would in the recipe and I had no problems. A yummy and hearty wintertime meal!