When I was contacted by the Tri-Lamb group a couple of weeks ago to create a lamb dish I got very excited about the opportunity. I love lamb. However, I don’t have a lot of experience cooking it. I decided to have a dinner party at my friends’ house in Dayton for Valentine’s day (I know it was more than a week ago, sorry for the delay). It took me a while to decide what I wanted to prepare. I got some ideas from a couple of friends in twitter, some from my friends in Dayton and a lot from browsing the internet.
However, after some consideration I decided to make something easy using familiar ingredients. After all, lamb is new territory for me. Using the concept of the “Mexican burgers” that my parents used to serve at their restaurant I created this dish with ground lamb and some ingredients that I am very comfortable working with.
The dinner consisted of the following:
- Sweet potato soup.
- Mexican lamb burgers served with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables.
- Avocado dinner rolls.
- Desserts from Dorothy Lane Market.
The ingredients were bought at Dorothy Lane Market, I had never been in that store before and I fell in love with it. It is a foodie’s paradise! Now that’ll be the store I get food from when I visit my friends again. The dinner was a big success considering this was an experimental dinner and my friends were my guinea pigs, hehe. They all seemed to enjoy it and I received several compliments. The dinner rolls where Darrin’s favorite item.
You can find the recipe for the rolls here and I’ll be posting the recipe for the lamb patties once the Tri-Lamb group tests, tweaks and gets it nutritionally analyzed. Just a quick note, the chipotle/mango sauce on top of the patties was a last minute addition. After dinner we were talking about them and agreed that although they had been very good, a sauce on top would’ve made them even better. So the following day I prepared the sauce for the patties I was going to photograph. My friends were right, the sauce takes them to the next level and makes them look more photogenic.
This is only the beginning of my lamb adventures and now I want to try all those ideas I got in the brainstorming sessions the week before this dinner. That’s why I’d like to know if you have a recipe, idea or favorite way to eat lamb. Just leave a comment with your links or ideas and I’ll pick one for my next lamb dish. I can’t wait to see your suggestions!
¡Buen provecho!
20 Replies
Your photos always are a joy to look at.
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
A delicious choice Ben which you have made your own.
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Lamb is one of my favorite meats. Of all time. I really love that gamey flavor. If anyone wants to contact me to cook lamb, I would say yes in a heartbeat!
Your dinner party sounds excellent…I would ahve loved all of the dishes that you prepared. I can't wait to see the recipe for that mango sauce…mangoes are, after all, my favorite fruit!
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 6:07 pm
The mango chipotle sauce sounds delicious, and it's a lovely color. Have fun cooking more lamb!
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Okay, first those rolls look soooo good!!! And the lamb burgers do sound delicious! I know lamb is so much healthier than regular ground beef so this is going on my to-eat-list as we are all trying to eat a little healthier.
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 9:09 pm
oh yum! I really need to find some chipotle and make one of your recipes…
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Agreed the chipolte mango sauce takes it to the next level. Love the avocado dinner rolls and I look forward to the lamb series.
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 11:46 pm
that sauce sounds divine Ben!
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 12:57 am
I love lamb too, but because Tom is not a big fan of the taste I have never made it myself. I did promise myself I would go and make more lambdishes though as I firmly believe he just had some bad examples of badly prepared lamb. It can be quite strong in taste but the lamb I have tasted sofar was delicious. So no suggestions from me as I wouldn't know where to begin, but I will be eagerly seeing what you come up with so I can learn and try it out myself!
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I love lamb burger but usually give it a Greek treatment. I'll have to try this way.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 3:39 am
Your lamb burgers look great Ben! The mango/chipotle sauce is a great addition for that “added dimension”. Plus who would say no to this meal especially with those beautiful avocado rolls? Love it all Ben!
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 8:20 am
I'm loving this Mexican Lamb Burger with that sauce. Yum
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Sounds so good. I'm always looking for good new lamb recipes.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Ben, only you can make burgers look this elegant!!! Well done, my mouth is watering!!!
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Lamb today is not as strongly flavored as it used to be. It is processed younger and so more people are liking it. American lamb is, to me, the mildest. I prefer New Zealand first and Aussie, second. I buy mine at Costco and grind a boneless leg for ground lamb. I can control the fat content that way. I do want to make these lamb burgers.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
The chipotle mango sauce is really calling out to me … it definitely takes the lamb burgers to a new level!
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Never had lam burger, would love to try it! The sauce looks so tasty…mango and chipotle! Nice pictures!
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
I don't think I've ever had anything with lamb mince but your burgers must taste great and your sauce definitely is great with the burgers.
Posted on February 24th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Hi Ben – Here's an idea, I made them a couple weeks ago, and the dish was so fragrant and tasty.
http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com/2010/02/kefta-tag...
Your menu sounds delicious, and I love that sound of that sauce.
Posted on February 26th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
This sounds great! I might make them with turkey burgers to keep it light!
Posted on March 17th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
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