LAMB TINGA
To close out this quarter, I loosely adapted this from a recipe intended for rabbit from Hugo Ortega. I had about 4lbs of lamb shanks. I made a spice mix from dried chiles - chipotle, morita, cascabel, and arbol, along with bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, cumin, and Mexican oregano. Meanwhile, I blistered some tomatillos, white onion, and garlic under the broiler. I added them to a can of fire roasted tomatoes and blended it up. Olive oil was added to my Dutch oven and I bloomed the spice mixture for about a minute. Then I fried the tomato blend in the spices and olive oil until it reduced and darkened. In went the lamb shanks (didn’t bother to brown them) and water to cover. A bit of salt next and into a 325F oven, covered for 3 hours. Checked for seasoning and then took it out to cool slightly and de-fat. I shredded the meat off the lamb and added it to the sauce. Everything was refrigerated overnight to meld.
Today I reheated the tinga in a 350F oven and served it with a creamy broccoli slaw, tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, flour tortillas, and lime wedges. It was great and we have at least one more meal from the leftovers. Happy Easter to those of you celebrating it today!
