Foti’s Lamb Fricassée
Lamb Fricassée is a dish whose aroma and taste returns Foti, our special KO guest, to his childhood years – he is back sitting in the kitchen watching his mother lovingly prepare one of her special recipes for the family and trying his best to absorb the entire experience – the preparation, the cooking and the feasting at the dinner table. And in this way his love for cooking and gathering in celebration of family and friendship is ignited too. Prepare this hearty, comforting and nourishing dish for you and your loved ones and create your own special memories in the kitchen and around a shared table.
Ingredients
125 grams butter
3 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin (EVOO)
2 medium onions
1-2 cloves garlic
2 kilograms lamb leg (with bone), cut into 8 pieces
3 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
1 Small bunch parsley
1 Small bunch dill
1.5 litres boiled water
2-3 bunches of endives
3 eggs
3 lemons , juiced
Preparation
Watch the full recipe video below. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the Subscribe link on the video
Preparing the Lamb Fricassée
Wash and dry the lamb pieces (optional)
Melt the butter with the EVOO in a large, heavy-based pot on medium to high heat
Finely chop the onions; add them to the pot and sautée them until they are translucent
Add the garlic and sautée briefly
Place the lamb pieces in a single layer in the pot and brown them on one side before turning them over to brown on the other side
Season with salt and pepper
Add the parsley and dill that has been prepared by discarding the coarse stalks at the base of the bunches (but keeping the remainder of the stalks), washing them thoroughly and chopping them finely
Gently mix through the herbs
Add the boiled water to the pot and gently mix the ingredients
Bring the pot to a boil and then immediately reduce it to a simmer
Place an unvented lid on the pot and continue to simmer for 1.5 hours
Occasionally check on the pot and make sure the meat is covered by the stock. If it isn’t, add more boiled water to cover the meat
Preparing and adding the endives
While the pot is simmering, sort and prepare the endives by cutting and discarding the bases of the endive bunches; removing and discarding any spoiled shoots; and washing the good shoots in a water bath three times or until the water runs clean
When the lamb fricassée has been simmering for 1.5 hours, add the endives, gently pushing them in so that they are immersed in the stock
Cook them for 10 minutes or until they have just softened, but still have a little body
Check the endives occasionally and push them into the stock during this time
Preparing and adding the egg-lemon wash (avgolemono)
While the endives are cooking in the pot, prepare the egg-lemon wash
Separate the egg yolks from the whites
Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks (approximately 5 minutes)
Gently fold in the egg yolks
Gently mix in the lemon juice and warm stock (150ml warm stock from the pot) to create the egg-lemon wash
Slowly add the egg-lemon wash into the pot of lamb fricassée and very gently mix it through, being careful not to break the lamb apart
Serving the Lamb Fricassée
Ladle some lamb, endives and stock into shallow soup dishes
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
