I tackled the first instalment of the lamb cheeks a few nights ago here at Struan Farm, making the lamb cheek taco recipe I'd found online.
Just a few observations on the front end: Lamb cheeks coming directly from an abattoir need to be trimmed, and this takes time. Some might say it's a little tedious, but that wouldn't be me. Clifford also appreciated the trimmings. The "Aji amarillo" chiles called for in this recipe aren't readily available here in NZ. I checked out substitutions, which were serranos or habaneros, but finding those fresh or dried is also challenging here. I ended up using one tinned serrano chile plus some habanero salsa to give the dish a bit of heat. But I understand the aji amarillo chiles have a distinctive fruity flavour that might have been missing.
Be that as it may, the lamb cheeks were trimmed and browned in oil in the roasting pan on the stove top, after which the stock, onion, celery, carrot, oranges, cinnamon, cumin, chipotle, serrano/habanero, and garlic were tossed in. This is then brought to a boil before being covered with aluminium foil and put into the oven for three hours to braise. It smelled wonderfully fragrant going in:
After three hours, everything is strained to remove the meat, which is shredded. The recipe says to reduce the sauce, which is quite thin (and doesn't taste all that fabulous, so we didn't use it). I served the shredded meat over basmati rice with roasted brussel sprouts.
Observations on the back end: The meat was good, but the dish really needed a sauce, especially with rice. I could see the meat tasting great in a taco with salsa and guacamole, but that is a lot of work for tacos! I would also use either a large lidded, oven proof saute pan, or my La Creuset casserole dish. The roasting pan full of liquid with aluminium foil is cumbersome.
Next in terms of cheeky experiments: I will try the lamb cheeks with the Donna Hay beef cheek recipe, which has a delicious sauce. I'm also thinking cheeks would make a very good lamb curry....
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