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Main Courses: Celebration Rice with Saffron and Sweet Spiced Lamb

Lesson time 28:43 min

Rice can be humble, but it can also be the emperor of the feast. In this lesson, Yotam starts by braising lamb, then dressing his rice in stock, spices, and dried fruits to create a layered and flavorful platter.

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Topics include: Celebration Rice with Saffron and Sweet Spiced Lamb

Yotam Ottolenghi

Teaches Modern Middle Eastern Cooking

James Beard Award–winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi teaches you his recipes for delicious Middle Eastern platters layered with color and flavor.

Preview

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING] [00:00:02.76] YOTAM OTTOLENGHI: For me, rice is the glue that binds all cultures of the world together. Every culture that I know of has some kind of special rice dish. The beauty of rice, really, for me is that it could be two things. It could be a humble side dish. We all know it like that with our curry. But it could be the emperor of the feast, where you really look at it, and you say, wow, I've never seen rice like that. That's the power of rice. [00:00:40.58] The rice dish that I'm going to make today is special in so many ways. It's special, because it's going to take you a little bit of time to make it, so it's a commitment. But really, it's special because, also, it features the rice in all its glory with saffron in the way that is popular in Persian cooking. But I'm also going to cook some lamb to serve on top, so it's-- it is really spectacularly layered. But it's a bit of commitment, so we're going to get started. [00:01:09.45] I'm going to start by searing my lamb, so this is lamb neck. It's like the fillet of lamb for me. It's just it's the top cut, texturally wonderful, it tastes good, and it breaks down really, really spectacularly when it's-- when it's cooked, so I'm seasoning it really well. And this is a bone-in, so it's going to take quite a while to cook. This is why I want to get started with this. [00:01:39.20] If you don't have lamb neck, obviously, you can use lamb shoulder or other pieces of stewing meat, but this is really wonderful. And it's got a lot of texture because of all the fattiness in it. I'm heating up my oil. It's about 2 tablespoon, and once it heats up, I'm going to start searing my lamb. So you want to-- as you put your lamb, you want to hear it, and you do. The lamb already has quite a lot of fat on the outside, so you don't want to add too much fat at this stage. [00:02:19.95] And you want your top heat. You want to get some serious color on the lamb. This caramelization on the outside is going to give you great flavor as the lamb slow cooks. I'm just going to let that cook until it gets nice and brown. I'm going to make my base, and this is where we get all the lovely aromatics in-- good garlic and ginger, some tomatoes, onion, and chili. And it's great to do it in a food processor just to save you all the chopping up. [00:03:06.94] Just going to have a quick look at this here and turn it around a bit. [00:03:10.92] [00:03:15.24] Before I-- I pulse my aromatics, I'm going to add some coriander leaves and stalks. It's all fine. I'm just going to pulse it a few times, so it's just chopped but not minced or pureed. Just like that. The lamb is just going to fill your kitchen with the aroma, which is really what you want to get you going. It's fun, and you-- it's like a little promise of what's to come a little bit later. [00:04:13.96] You can see when the lamb is-- takes on some color for this-- all that wonderful fat is starting to go to get to the bottom ...

About the Instructor

One of the most influential chefs working today, Yotam Ottolenghi creates dishes that layer color and flavor for maximum impact. Now the James Beard Award winner teaches you simple steps for making and mixing Middle Eastern–inspired recipes. Learn how to make generous platters—mezze and brunch spreads to homemade condiments, stunning stand-alones, and delicious vegetables—so you can entertain with ease.

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Yotam Ottolenghi

James Beard Award–winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi teaches you his recipes for delicious Middle Eastern platters layered with color and flavor.

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