This is a great time to do large roasts, because you’ll be home to eat the leftovers. Pork roast, pork shoulder, leg of lamb and lamb shoulder have been our go to cuts. A nice rub, a nice roast or braise or time in the pressure cooker, with aromatics that have been plentiful in the grocery (at least here), and we have dinner for two for at least two nights, plus a couple of lunches.
I can’t eat legumes or pulses, so we can’t do any bean or lentil dishes, but soups are a must. Love chicken and escarole, plus here is a fantastic lamb neck and cauliflower soup - a variation on a Chinese lamb and mung bean dish. We love this because the flavors are a delicious change, it makes a lot, and lamb necks are very inexpensive. Enjoy!
CHINESE LAMB NECK AND CAULIFLOWER SOUP
Here is our soup method, as developed over a couple of years. It makes a VERY large pot, so feel free to reduce it. All amounts are “ish” – you can adjust as you like.
Grate a 4” piece of ginger and 6 cloves garlic into a large pot with some oil (less oil if your pot is non-stick, more if it’s not) and cook a few minutes to aromatize the oil. Any end pieces of garlic and ginger can get minced and put in as well. Remove from pot and set aside.
Brown meat in the same pot – roughly 6 lbs lamb necks and two pounds of very well-trimmed shoulder, as well as a couple of bones from the shoulder if your butcher will supply. Brown about 5 minutes. The necks we get are split both vertically and horizontally, which gives you more access to the meat and collagen in between. This cut is ideal, but you won’t lose much if they aren’t split so much. Higher quality lamb makes no difference in this soup, we’ve found, and more expensive cuts are not as good. The necks are essential for the gelatin etc. The shoulder fills it out and adds some depth of flavor.
Add 7 quarts of water, 3 star anise, ¼ C of soy sauce, ¼ C whisky or brandy, a bit more salt and bring to a simmer, skimming throughout. Continue to simmer for 1-2 hours, skimming as needed, depending on how soft you want the lamb and if you want it falling off the bones. We like closer to 1 hour, as we like picking up the bones and working the meat off. At 2 hours, the necks are almost completely falling apart, which is better for people afraid of bones (most Americans!). The nature of the necks is such that you’ll get the extraction you need with an hour.
While the meat is simmering, dry toast 1-2 T Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant and visibly smoking, but not charring, and set aside to cool. You can do a larger batch and keep in an air tight container, but the flavor is best if they are toasted right before. Once cool, run the toasted peppercorns through a spice grinder. Don’t make the mistake of using a coffee grinder, as the powder lingers!
Remove meat and bones from the pot and add 2 medium heads of cauliflower, rough chopped, plus 2 chopped jalapeno peppers and 1 habanero pepper (to taste). Add in the ground toasted peppercorns. Simmer about 10 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, puree the liquid and vegetables until rough, not fine. Note, you can skip this step, and just leave the vegetables at the size you chop them to. You can also simmer the vegetables with the bones and get more flavor extraction, but less intact pieces.
Add back in the meat, necks, the sautéed grated garlic and ginger, 1 peeled and chopped medium daikon and cook a few more minutes.
At this point, you can serve, or you can cool overnight and skim the fat off the next day, as you like. Though the fat removal is entirely a personal choice, this soup gets better and better as it sits. So definitely make a large pot and eat it over several days.
Serve with chopped cilantro on top. We also put in some Taiwanese pepper paste with good flavor for a bit more heat. Choose any condiments you like.
***Edited to add that this freezes VERY well.