13th July 2010 a) 30 mins or less

Lamb Steaks with Shallots and Red Wine Sauce

Name: Lamb Steaks with Shallots and Red Wine Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 8 brown shallots, peeled and quartered but left whole at the root; 2 lamb leg steaks, about 175g (6 oz) each; 25g (1 oz) butter; 60ml (4 tbsp) balsamic vinegar; 175ml (6 fl oz) red wine; 150ml (¼ pint) beef stock; 5ml (1 tsp) redcurrant jelly [optional]

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Once you try this lamb steak recipe, you’ll never want to try another one. It might look complicated but it’s easy and you can prepare this dish in 30 minutes. Get cooking!

If you are a long time reader of Greedy Gourmet, you might have seen your share of slow cooked meaty stews. There are plenty of advantages to eating the latter, e.g. the cuts used are cheap, the meat comes out amazingly tender and most of the time the leftovers can be frozen, great for quick weeknight dinners.

But you know what? Sometimes we fancy an old-fashioned, juicy piece of steak. If it still says “moo” or “baa” on my plate I’m even happier. Let’s not forget the sauce though! That’s paramount to completing the meal, whether it’s laced with cream or tinged with wine.

In this recipe, there are three ways you can cook your steak:

Frying: Like I’ve done in the step-by-step photos.
Grilling: Placing the meat under the grill.
Barbecue: For those of you who are lucky enough to own a barbecue, you can simply grill your steaks and make the sauce on the side. Everybody wins!

In good restaurants you won’t find lamb steaks or chops cooked more than medium at the most. In the photos you can see I prefer mine rare. However, it’s up to you. Here are the temperatures you should aim to reach the specific levels of doneness:

Rare: 48-54°C (120-130°F)
Medium-rare: 54-60°C (130-140°F)
Medium: 60-66°C (140-150°F)
Well-done: 66-74°C (150-165°F)

If this recipe is right up your alley, you’ll love the following cookbooks:

Wine Pairing

Lamb is the ultimate spring-time meat and however it is cooked there is simply an affinity to Merlot.

The fast cooking in this recipe really enhances the flavours of the lamb and I have chosen Chateau Le Puy for Bordeaux to complement this quality. Merlot dominates the blend and thanks to careful grape selection and winemaking there is a purity to the fruit which manifests as ripe cherries, raspberries and plums.

Chinon is a village in the Loire Valley of France where red wine is produced using the Cabernet Franc grape. Cabernet Franc is a more rustic wine than the more popular and fruity Cabernet Sauvignon so for a simple lamb dish like this it is a great choice. The fruit is a subtle blend of black and red forest fruits to match the sticky shallots and a soft black peppery finish adds to the savoury, earthy quality which brings out the flavor and meatiness of the lamb. Delicious!

Let’s get cooking. The end result might look sophisticated but the actual process is quite straight forward.

You need some good quality steaks, whether it’s lamb or beef, it’s up to you. Lamb chops will work as well.

Peel and quarter some shallots. As with most recipes, this one is adaptable. If you’re like me and are addicted to the stuff, by all means use more shallots than the recipe states. On the other hand, if you’re not a fan, omit the shallots all together and use mushrooms instead.

Plunge the onions in salted, boiling water and cook them for a few minutes.

Drain the shallots and put them aside while you’re frying the steak.

Heat a frying pan and melt butter in it.

Fry the steak to your liking.

When the steak is cooked to your desire, place it in low-temperatured oven to keep it warm while you prepare the sauce.

You thought wrong. It’s not money but butter that makes the world go round. Add some more to the pan.

Fry the shallots to the pan…

… and continue to fry until they have browned.

Add the balsamic vinegar and let it sizzle.

Don’t forget to stir everything frequently, thus ensuring that all onion surfaces will be infused with the lovely flavours to come.

When the vinegar has reduced add the red wine. Let it bubble for a few minutes.

Add the beef stock. You know the drill. Simmer the sauce until everything comes together.

Redcurrant jelly is optional but it does give that final sweet touch to the sauce. Any kind of berry jelly will do, blackberry, raspberry etc.

There you go. It’s easy, isn’t it?