Middle Eastern Shredded Lamb TACOS

This recipe happens to be very special to me. It comes from a cheat sheet given to me by a chef I particularly admire from Los Angeles, but I won't tell just in case! This lamb is juicy, flavorful and smells infectious. Your whole house will smell of cinnamon and warmth, and your taste buds will crave the taste of this lamb, over and over.

My favorite way to serve this lamb is as a taco, with my special pickled pomegranate red onions and garlicy lemon yogurt sauce. It's a great make ahead dish that can be done a day or two beforehand and is perfect for serving at parties. However, you can always serve this lamb with cous cous, rice or whatever you like! It's a one pot wonder that you can just set and forget! 

COOK TIME: 8-10 Hours

SERVES: 4-6

Here's what you'll need:

1 large dutch oven (that can hold at least 6 quarts)

1 lamb shoulder with bone in (3.5 lbs)

1 1⁄2 qt veal stock or beef stock (use the best quality you can find)

1 1⁄2 qt red wine (I prefer to use a merlot or a zinfandel. Something with a bit of a sweeter flavor)

1  carrot, roughly chopped

1  yellow onion, quartered

1⁄2 bunch celery, roughly chopped

5  garlic cloves, peeled

4  bay leaves

1 TB black peppercorn

1⁄2 tsp coriander seed

1⁄2 tsp cumin

1⁄2 tsp cayenne

1⁄2 tsp paprika

3  cinnamon stick

Stage 1: The Lamb

1. Add all chopped ingredients, spices, liquids and lamb shoulder into your dutch oven. It's gonna be full! Cook covered at 350 degrees until it's falling off the bone. This takes about 4 hours. You'll know it's done once the meat separates from the bone or when you attempt to shred the meat and it flakes off.

2. Once done, pull it out of the oven and remove the shoulder into a bowl or onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 20 minutes to make sure it retains its juices and to cool down a bit.

3. Strain the sauce to remove all the vegetables and whole spices through a sieve. Pour the strained sauce back into pot and discard the rest. Set this aside on your stove top. 

3.  Time to shred! Using two forks, begin to shred the lamb off the bone. Don't worry about making it too perfect, once it's back in its liquids it will shred down further.

4. Place the shredded lamb in tupperware or a bowl and pour just enough of your strained sauce to cover the lamb. (we wanna keep it moist!). 

 If you're planning on serving this immediately, set the lamb aside fully covered, and continue onto Stage 2.

If you're making this a day ahead, you can place both the shredded lamb covered and tightly sealed into the fridge along with your stock pot (as is) with your strained sauce. The sauce will harden in the fridge, allowing the fat to harden and float to the top, making the next step under stage 2 very easy! 

Stage 2: The Sauce

1.  If you've kept your sauce in the fridge overnight, this will be quite easy. Just lightly tap and break the fat and discard of the white chocolate looking layer! You'll see what I mean. If you did not harden the fat overnight, do your best with a spoon to skim the top of the sauce, trying to remove just the liquid fat. 

2. Next, on your stove top on med-high heat, allow the sauce to reduce down by 1/2. This should take about 2 hours. Doing this will give the sauce depth and more body. 

3. Season the sauce. Adding another 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, salt and a bit more cinnamon is usually what I like to add.

4. Add the lamb back in! Your lamb can be added in straight from your refrigerated container. You'll see fat from this sauce, and that's ok! Put the whole thing back into the pot! 

5. Now let this sit and simmer together for another 2-3 hours. The lamb will break down and soak up the reduced, concentrated sauce. Now, I realize not everyone can wait that long, so truly it is up to you. I have found that the full 8-10 hours of this recipe gives this lamb the most shredded, rich and flavorful outcome, but it will be good at any stage! 

Serve this with an exotic rice pilaf, cous cous or assemble them as my famous lamb tacos! For the tacos you will need:

• Pomegranate Pickled Relish
• Lemon Garlic Labne
• Arabic Green Herb Salad with Bergamot Lemon Dressing