Anthony Bourdain vs. Gordon Ramsey Lamb Recipe Verdict

I want to explore the other red meat, the lamb.  Why don’t we make more lamb?  A lot of people don’t like lamb because of its gamey.  I have always enjoyed making quick-crusted lamb chops or racks of lamb.  But a whole leg of lamb, I have always been intimidated by it, but, how difficult could that be?  So I looked up all the lamb recipes, and I picked Anthony Bourdain's (my favorite TV Host) Bone in 7 Hours Leg of Lamb and Gordon Ramsey's Stuffed Lamb.  Two very different styles to see which is best for my family dinner.  I have also enlisted my long-lost cooking buddy, Calvin Lai to cook with me.  Which recipe will I pick? You will have to watch till the end. Watch my video for the whole Tony Vs. Gordon Experience 

Fun Facts about Lamb that I found out from this video research.  The lamb is a baby sheep (less than 1 yrs old) and Mutton is an old lamb.   The sheep produces wool and the Goat has hair.  They are two different animal.  New Zealand lambs are grass-fed and smaller with a gamey flavor.  US lamb is grain-fed, bigger in size, and fattier but less gamey.   Australian lamb is a hybrid of both, they started with grain and end with grass.  When I lived in Denver, Colorado I loved the lamb there, big meaty chops without the gamey taste.  I have also tasted a whole lamb roast, I mean head and legs and all with teeth.  It smelled so gamey but when you taste it, it was delicious and not gamey at all.  I think the more fat you roast with the lamb, the gamey it will taste.  All the fragrance lies in the fat.  

Since I don't settle for anything less than a flavor explosion, I set myself up for another challenge. I've come up with a couple of game-changers. 

First, taking our beautiful lamb, I flattened it out, giving us a larger canvas to inject that flavorful stuffing into our star protein.  Next, it was clear we had to jazz up our stuffing and here is my recipe:

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup 50g of cranberries

1 cup 100g cooked chestnuts or snack chestnuts in a bag, rough chop

2 cups of chopped leeks, about half a stalk

1 small red onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped

1 box of cut-washed baby spinach, about 150g

1/2 cup pine nuts or more if you like it nutty (can substitute with walnuts or pecans)

1 pack 150g of feta cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

Process:

Fry onion, leeks, and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft and fragrant.  Add Pine nuts, and fry till slightly brown.  Add cranberries, chestnuts, and spinach.  Cook until spinach is soft.  Turn off the heat and let it cool.  Mix in feta cheese, bread crumbs, and egg.  Place in a baking dish and back at 180c for 15 mins until golden brown.  Stuff it inside your favorite meat loins or even chicken to give it an added drama for your dish.  

To settle the score, I pitched the new and improved stuffed lamb against the 7-hour lamb adding more wine and carrots, cumin as flavoring, serving both to my critical jury of 10 family members. 

Those who favor lighter taste leaned toward the stuffed lamb, but the die-hard lamb fans savored the simplicity of the 7-hour version.  The upgraded version of the recipes were well received but I am not sure if only lamb during one dinner can be a show stopper.  After this interesting experiment, it really elevated my love for lamb as a centerpiece for dinner parties. But if you're planning to serve it, make sure your guests share your passion for lamb.   I can certainly see Lamb stew is a great alternative to the traditional western style lamb.  Heavy spicy curry or gravy sauce mutes the gamey flavour making it more palatable for everyone.  Off to get some Mutton for Chinese Lamb Stew.  

Stay Warm and Happy Holidays!