Two weekends ago I took a train from the city to the south shore of Long Island lugging four pounds of lamb’s neck and a bottle of Pinot Noir in my bag. Navigating from the subway to the hub in Penn Station where the trains leave eastward bound is considerably more taxing with all that meat and booze tucked away. Still, I like to arrive at someone’s house prepared to cook.
The moment I got to the house I headed straight for the kitchen, where I found a stainless steel pot that was wide and shallow. I lay the pieces of neck evenly inside the pot and poured in the entire bottle of wine.
I love recipes that use whole bottles of wine. Poured with abandon, the bottle takes heaving, baritone gulps. The wine mingles with the bones; little streaks of red – the blood, the marrow – muddy the juice.
This recipe is a simple one as far as stew recipes go. The pieces of neck soak in their bacchanalian bath for a full day, after which the meat is browned, then braised gently in the marinating wine. You can add carrots and onions if you’d like, and I always put in large sprigs of rosemary, but the important relationship here is between the lamb and the wine. Potatoes or crusty bread should be nearby to balance the heady rush of the broth.
The lamb necks were a real crowd pleaser. Over the course of a day I served it on three separate occasions – four, really, counting myself. The stew was late breakfast for two girls, barely thirteen but already exhibiting all the symptoms of teenager-dom. One of the girls had recently become a vegetarian. The night before she’d eaten chocolate chip pancakes while the rest of us dined on meat.
When the aroma of the lamb wafted out of the pot, I could sense her resolve ebb away.
“One piece of lamb or two?” I asked casually as I stirred the broth. In conversations with thirteen-year-olds, sometimes it’s best when you don’t look them straight in the eye.
“Oh, I guess I’ll have two pieces,” she replied.
I won’t say I’m proud that I corrupted a budding vegetarian, but it was so satisfying to see the girls using their fingers and teeth to pull the tender meat off the bones. Their meal was over in all of ten minutes, but the brevity of their experience was just as it should be for two young people.
The second meal was meant as dinner for two octogenarians who were considerably less inclined to gnaw at bones. In preparation for their meal, I deboned the sections of neck, a task easily accomplished since the tender pockets of meat slipped right off the bone. By the end I had accumulated an entire pile of lamb neck bones on one plate – what else was there to do, but finish them off myself?
In the quiet of the afternoon, I stood over the sink and gnawed on bone after bone. Each section came with tendons and bits of marrow. Without the bother of flesh, there was more of everything else to enjoy. By the end my fingers were sticky with the gelatin of the bones and tendons; my lips, covered in remnant lamb broth. The measured tick of the clock in the hallway carried throughout the quiet house; as I gnawed, I gazed at the pond outside, frozen around the edges. I saw no reason to be more civilized; no one else was there to witness the denuding of the lamb neck.
The house itself is one of my favorite spaces, and the long hallway, the central nerve of the house, taps into every corner. On holidays, the hall is noisy with pounding footsteps and the clatter of canine paws.
I served the last portion to an old friend who’s largely responsible for who I am today. A bowl of lamb’s neck doesn’t begin to repay his kindness and support over the years, but it’s not a bad start, either.
Lamb Necks Braised in Pinot Noir
Adapted from The Paley’s Place Cookbook by Vitaly Paley and Kimberly Paley.
- serves six to eight-
Ingredients
4 to 5 pounds lamb neck, cut into 2 inch chunks
1 large onion
1 bottle Pinot Noir
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs rosemary
The Night Before:
Lay the lamb necks flat in a container. Coarsely chop the onion and add it to the pot. Pour in the wine so that the necks are completely submerged, cover the container, and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator for 18 to 24 hours.
The Day of Cooking:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Drain the lamb and the onions, reserving the wine marinade. Pour the marinade in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Skim off the scum that rises to the surface.
Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Place a skillet or ovenproof braising pan over high heat. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the pan and add the pieces of lamb neck, taking care not to crowd the pan. Brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side, and set aside. Once all of the lamb is browned, sauté the onions from the marinade. Then deglaze the pan with the wine.
Return the pieces of neck to the pan. Add enough water to come up halfway to the pieces of lamb. Add the bay leaves and rosemary. Cover the pan and braise for 2 hours, until the meat is fork tender.
When the lamb is done, remove the pieces of lamb from the pot and de-fat the broth. Return the lamb to the broth and serve immediately with plenty of bread and potatoes.
beautiful and quite hilarious writing. I look forward to your post, but initially got started with your “crab” blog. It’s good to know that there others like me who love to gnaw on the goodness of bones. Please keep experimenting and documenting on these nasty bits.
I must say, this wordpress theme fits your writing pretty well. I miss you!
Thanks, Winston. Yes, I do love to peel and gnaw away at those blue claws. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’m a very quick sheller of all types of crustacean.
Greg, I miss you too. There’s a very easy solution for that, you know.
I never thought writing about lamb necks could feel so personal. Is lamb neck something that’s readily available from the butcher?
Hi Andrew,
It depends on where you live – Lamb necks are becoming more available at Western-style grocery stores. In NYC, Fairway and Fresh Direct carry them during most times. You might also check Mexican stores. Hope that helps!
Hi Chichi!
I usually make this with beef – why it hadn’t occured to me to use lamb neck I cannot think! The lamb is marinating as I write this – smells and looks gorgeous already! Plan to cook slowly in crock-pot, trying to stay focused on my work while lamby-winey-garlicky-herby aromas waft temptingly through the house… Thanks for this tasty recipe and very cute post. (I’m a nutritionist based in France and post recipes on my website – no lamb yet (too fatty for most), but two duck recipes. Check them out if you like.)
[...] The Offal Cook raises its nose and exposes its lamb neck braised in Pinot Noir. [...]
Took me ages to find this post, this time I’ll bookmark it.
Hi Connor,
Hmmmm, I’ve never really used beef neck with this preparation. Thanks
I didn’t understand the concluding part of your article, could you please explain it more?
Quick question about this recipe: I’m vague on where the cooked down wine goes while the lamb neck is braising. Does it sit aside, waiting, or is the lamb braised in this reduced wine which then has water added to it so that it covers halfway up. The second option sounds like you’re undoing the work you did to reduce it, but the wine going from being a marinade to wine to broth here and I’m not sure I follow. I’d love to try this recipe, though.