Zahav Lamb Shoulder

Here it is… I typically use two smaller pieces of lamb shoulder, or lamb shanks as they fit sous vide bags better. Brine per original recipe... Dry the lamb and sear. Mix the following: 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses (or more depending on taste), 4 - 5 cups vegetable broth or water, 2 crushed garlic cloves, crushed, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar, 2 bay leaves. Preheat the sous vide to 156°F. Prepare two double bagged sous vide or 1-gallon Ziploc bags. Place each piece of meat into a sous-vide bag and pour the pomegranate molasses sauce into it. Sous-vide for 36 - 48 hours. About an hour or two before serving, remove the shanks from the sous vide. Pour the liquid from both bags into a saucepan. Return the shanks into sous-vide. Reduce the liquid, keep warm. When ready to serve, take the lamb shanks out of sous vide, transfer onto a serving platter and pour the glaze all over it.

I had a similar experience and have eliminated them from the dish. But if you would like to include them in some way, I suggest just toasting the chickpeas in the oven (separately) and then serving with the lamb, it's works quite nicely. There are a couple of recipes on the site, such as this one https://food52.com/recipes/64161-joy-the-baker-s-olive-oil-braised-chickpeas-more-or-less or this https://food52.com/recipes/18482-crispy-roasted-chickpeas

Josh. I ran into the same issue, and I tried the foil too, but 8 cups is a lot of liquid. IMO, this is the case of a restaurant dish that cannot be straightforwardly adapted for home use, plus I am not sure that they thoroughly tested the recipe that's printed in the book. (For example, the recipe does not say to season the meat with salt and pepper before browning. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe to the rule and the meat was badly under-seasoned.) To reduce the liquid do the following. On the second day, preheat the oven to 475°F, take the lamb out of the fridge, place the lamb, chickpeas, and one cup of the liquid in the oven, and roast as specified in the recipe (uncovered for about 30min, basting frequently). Meanwhile, reduce the remaining liquid on the stove until you get something like consistency of tomato sauce.

Yes. You may have to adjust cooking time, depending on how big (or small) the leg is. Also, I've been doing this a lot recently in sous vide and with lamb shanks. It's a perfect sous vide recipe.

I did add about a teaspoon to the brine. It added a subtle, non-artificial tasting flavor that I could take or leave. I was too distracted by the recipe in the book being hugely underseasoned and watery to form a strong opinion about the smokiness. I probably won't bother adding liquid smoke if I make this dish again (though I will make the version closer to the one found on the Wine Spectator site).

I am not a fan of liquid smoke, I find it too overpowering. Perhaps smoked salt would be less intrusive. I usually add a lot of fennel seed and juniper to the brine, a couple of bay leaves, and I double the garlic. Works great.

I played with the recipe and changed it quite a bit to arrive at a bullet-proof version I now make quite often. Brine remains the same. For the braise: 8 cups of water, 1/2 cup pomegranate molasses, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar, 2 bay leaves. Roast at 190-200F for about 16 hours. Then reduce the liquid to a thick syrup. Forget about chickpeas. I would be happy to send you the complete recipe.

Queen Sashy...reading through this thread, see how much you've changed and mastered/made the recipe your own...I (and I suspect many others) would love to see it here. If or when you have the time and energy, would you post here as something like the condensed-more savory-Queen Sashy lamb shoulder 2.0
Yeah! :)

Queen Sashy — since you are the expert at this dish would like to get your thoughts. I want to use your modifications except 1) I won’t have 16 hours to cook and 2) my lamb shoulder is actually 10 pounds! Do you think the standard time in the book will work ok with your changes? And do you suggest I double the braising liquid with double the lamb?

Sashy, I would love to get the details. I only have one of these roasts, so your detailed experience would be appreciated.

Are you in the states? I forget where you are. I didn't find my lamb farmer using this, but I have referred a few clients to this resource and they have been happy with it. www.eatwild.com

I'll message you my email.

That's exactly what I did (great minds think alike - ha ha ha). I added a tablespoon of Dijon and about 1/2 cup more of the molasses (without that the sauce did not have any pronounced flavor. Next time I am adding a garlic clove.). Reduced the sauce to a thick syrup and then basted the meat with it during the final roast. And I pretty much arrived to the dish they show in the pictures!!! Yay to that. Another observation for those brave enough to go on this journey is that the recipe does not call for any salt and pepper other than those used in the brine. That did not work either and the meat was very under-seasoned (serves me well for following the recipe 100% percent, and not trusting my gut), so next time I will season the meat before browning it.

Sashy, I am so impressed with you. Did you find a shoulder with ribs attached? I'm buying a side of lamb and my farmer has had to request a special cut from his butcher for me. Can't wait to make this with your adjustments.

Hey there. I am planning on making this dish for Xmas. Could you email the recipe you use? [email protected]! I am planning on smoking for a couple hours then braise for the remainder. Thank you!

Hey there. I am planning on making this dish for Xmas. Could you email the recipe you use? [email protected]! I am planning on smoking for a couple hours then braise for the remainder. Thank you!

Thanks for getting back! And you are right, this dish is a production. I like to slow roast meat at low temperatures (like 220F for 7 hours) and the meat is oh-so-wonderful, so I wondered if it would work here, but then there are chickpeas involved??? That question aside, there are still many things in the Zahav recipe that are giving me hard time. I still have not acquired the lamb, but yesterday I did an experiment with pork roast (it was much cheaper than oh-so-expensive lamb shoulder). I followed the Zahav process exactly and roasted the meat at 300F for five hours in an 8 qt Dutch oven with a lid. The meat is great, but I ended up with A LOT of liquid. A LOT. The pork is now resting in the braise in the refrigerator, and I am supposed to finish the dish tonight, but I do not see how all this liquid will reduce to a thick glaze that we see in the pictures of the dish on the Internet. Also, 1/2 cup of pomegranate molasses barely yielded any flavor, so I am wondering if 1/2 cup is a typo? Finally, the recipe does not say what to do with the chickpeas, do they accompany the meat in the final roast or not (I suppose not, but I could be wrong)? Any thoughts and ideas are much appreciated.

Good luck and keep us updated with how it goes!