The Portly Chef

According to the New York Times, neck is the new cheek. [via The Food Section]. Wanting to keep my readers on the cutting edge of modern cuisine, I decided that I would brave this new food trend for you.

When I explained at work yesterday that dinner for the night was lamb’s neck (acquired from my local Hy-Vee), it would be an understatement to say that the average response indicated mild disgust. It was bad enough that I ate lamb (”They’re so cute!”), but to eat the neck — eww (as if, somehow, the neck is more repulsive than any other part of the body). But, nonetheless, I forged ahead — all for you.

I’ll explain what I found about the cut of meat itself, a little of its history in cuisine, the pleasing result that it provided, and a recipe that you can make at home tonight, all after the jump.

Lamb neck (or “collar”) is exactly what it sounds like — the cut of meat that surround the spinal portion of the neck, extending from above the shoulder cut to the base of the head (see right). Though it is new to haute cuisine, the English (wrongly perceived as horrible cooks) have been using it for years, allowing it to star in the regional favorite Lancashire hot pot. But to American cooking, lamb neck is relatively new. Even in the 1997 revision of The Joy of Cooking, lamb neck is only referred to as a “tougher, fattier . . . cut[]” fit mainly for stewing. (If the editors care to send me the new 75th Anniversary edition, I can stand corrected)

Lamb neck is cheap. I found 1.9 pounds for $5.43 (USD). And it is not easy to eat, given that the bone structure is like that of the human vertebrae, thus making it difficult to cut large chunks of meat. However, this can be resolved by cooking the meat to a tenderness where it falls off the bone, as the recipe below indicates.

Having read that the neck portion was largely unfit for roasting (a method ideal for most other cuts of lamb) and that slow, low, moisture was the key to the desired tenderness, I began thinking of various pot roast recipes and worked from there. The wife and I found that the resulting dish tasted delicious, smelled even better, and was easy to accomplish while providing your guests with the feeling that they just ate at Gordon Ramsey at the London. With that, I’m proud to share Neck of Lamb in Chianti with Apples.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds lamb neck
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (divided 2T and 2T)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 and 1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
• 1 cup fennel chopped from stem and bulb; fern-like leaves reserved
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups Chianti
• 32 ounces beef stock (I prefer Emerils - probably available in your organic aisle)
• 4 red apples, cored and quartered
• 5-6 sprigs fresh rosemary
• Salt and Pepper

Heat a large dutch oven on the stove on high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place the lamb neck into the dutch oven and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove the neck and set on a plate. The neck will likely release a fair amount of blood from the bone, but this is normal.

Reduce the heat to medium high. Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan. Add the 1/3 cup of flour to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon. Once the flour has turned to a chocolatey brown and is giving off a nutty flavor, add the carrots, fennel, shallots, and garlic. Coat in the flour and cook until vegetables begin to soften.

Spread the vegetables to the edge of the dutch oven, making a well in the middle of the pan. Add the 2 cups of Chianti to deglaze the pan. Cook until the liquid is reduced to 1/2. Add the rosemary springs, apples, beef stock, and lamb neck to the Chianti mixture and cover. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil (and may be seeping over the sides) reduce heat to medium low and cook for a minimum of 2 hours, maximum of 3 hours, depending on the desired tenderness of the meat.

To serve, place two pieces of meat in the middle of a plate and garnish one side with the roasted apples, which should still have their shape but resemble the consistency of a very thick applesauce. Add some of the chopped carrots and fennel to the plate for color. As a finishing touch, stab a sprig of rosemary into one of the pieces of lamb neck in the center of the plate. The spring should extend approximatley 2 inches out from the piece of meat. You may wish to also garnish the edges of the plate with the remaining fennel fronds.

We found the result to be very pleasant. The flavors or rosemary, lamb, and Chianti controlled the dish. I picked Chianti because it carries the heavy wine taste, but moves out of the way so that other tastes-particularly the licorice taste of the fennel-can cut through.

I have a little lamb neck left in the freezer. If you have ideas or suggestions for what I should do next, don’t hesitate to share!