Lamb & Lemon

I got this recipe from the little book I bought at Cost Plus World Market. Titled "1 Stock, 100 Soups" written by Linda Doeser. It was a really good find as far as cook books go, it was written and published in the UK so the measurements are in both metric and standard measures so that's kind of fun. The premise of the book is that all 100 soups use a vegetable stock described at the beginning of the book. It is a pretty involved stock recipe with a large number of ingredients including onions, leeks, celery, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and parsley. I'll post the full recipe soon. This is not the first time I've used a recipe from this book but it is the first time I've used the vegetable stock.

I love lamb in just about any form. Braised lamb shanks and grilled chops are my favorites. The lamb and lemon soup was a pretty easy recipe with just a few ingredients. Cooking time was about 1.5-2 hours which is longer than most of the soups I've made but the lamb needed to be stewed, probably not 1.5-2 hours so I shortened mine to about 1 hour because the lamb didn't need to be cooked that long to be tender.



I really liked the flavor of this soup. The lamb gave it a heartiness that was just right and I usually add some lemon juice to many soups because of the nice tang it gives so this one was right up my alley. If you try it let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of flour
1.5 lbs of boneless lamb cut into cubes
3 tablespoons of olive oil
5 cups of vegetable stock
2 carrots cut into chunks
2 onions cut into quarters
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Put the flour into a plastic bag and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the cubes of lamb and shake to coat.
2. Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the lamb after shaking of the excess flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned all over.
3. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add the carrots, onions, and cayenne pepper, season with salt and pepper and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour until the meat is tender.
5. Beat the egg yolks with the lemon juice in a bowl. Remove the pan from the heat and heat and whisk a ladleful of the hot soup into the egg mixture, then add it to the pan.
6. Return the pan to very low heat and heat through, gently stirring, do not let the soup boil.