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Turkish lamb is fit company for Napa Cabernet

Joyce Goldstein, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, November 2, 2007

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Thor Swift / SFC

Turkish-style leg of lamb, stuffed with a mixture of ground meat and walnuts, is a special-occasion dish worthy of Napa's top Cabernets. Styled by Elizabeth Gruse. Photo by Thor Swift, special to the Chronicle

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Most Americans tend to lump the food of Turkey with other Middle Eastern countries. Yes, there are the familiar meze and kebabs, but Turkey has a lengthy history of very sophisticated cuisine dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

The cuisine of Turkey is a melting pot of recipes from Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, Syria and Iraq, stretching as far as the border of China, from Muslims and Jews, Byzantines and Kurds, Arabs and Persians. Despite what is happening in the world today, rest assured that peace and harmony can be achieved in the kitchen.

And though Turkey has deep Islamic roots, it also has a thriving wine industry, one that was revived by none other than Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, architect of the modern Turkish state, in the 1920s. The country's popular red wine, Yakut, is a light-bodied blend that shows its versatility with the diverse spices of Turkish cuisine.

Yakut may be a world away from Napa Cabernet, but the richness of Napa Cab also commends itself to Turkey's hearty meat dishes. After tasting some of the 2004 Napa Valley Cabernets from The Chronicle Wine Selections this week, I wanted to prepare a rich and distinctive dish with lamb instead of the usual beef. This Turkish lamb dish is a specialty of southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, although the dish is Syrian in origin.

Kilis Kuslari, the Turkish name for this special occasion dish, is very rich in flavor and a perfect match for the Napa Cabernets, still young and juicy but with a nice amount of tannin. The bitterness of the walnuts is held in check by the tannins in the wine. And the meat is not overpowered by the tannin and holds its own nicely. The wine's fruit is echoed in the tomatoes, which lose acidity and deepen in sweetness due to long cooking. Notes of spice in the wine are echoed by the fragrant hints of cinnamon and allspice in the kofte stuffing.

In the original recipe, the walnut and meat kofte (ground meat) mixture is stuffed into pounded slices of lamb and oven-braised with a mild tomato sauce. However rolling and tying many slices of lamb is time consuming, so I have adapted this for a boneless leg of lamb. That way you have only one large piece of meat to roll and tie instead of a seemingly endless amount of small lamb packets - and more time to enjoy the wine and company.

Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Lamb & Walnut Kofte

Serves 10-12

Serve with a simple rice pilaf and grilled zucchini or eggplant.

1 butterflied leg of lamb, about 5 pounds (see Note)
-- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Walnut kofte filling:
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1 onion chopped, abut 11/2 cups
1 pound ground lamb
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (canned are fine)
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
-- Pinch cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo, Maras or Urfa pepper
Sauce:
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 cup stock (lamb or beef)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 bay leaves

Instructions: Pound the butterflied lamb between sheets of plastic wrap until it is about 3/4-inch thick. Remove silver skin and excess internal fat. Season lamb to taste with salt and pepper, cover and bring to room temperature, about 1 hour.

For the kofte filling: Melt the butter or olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the ground lamb and cook until the meat loses its color, about 8 minutes; stir often to break it into very fine pieces. Add the tomatoes, walnuts, parsley, salt, allspice, cinnamon, cumin, pepper and cayenne and cook for about 3 minutes to blend the flavors. Remove cooked filling from heat and let cool. (You can make this filling a day ahead.)

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Spread the cooled filling on the lamb, roll up and tie it at intervals with kitchen twine.

For the sauce: In a small saucepan combine the ingredients for the sauce, and bring to a simmer for about 3 minutes to blend the flavors. Set aside.

Place the stuffed leg of lamb in a roasting pan. Roast for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting with the sauce a few times. When lamb reaches about 125° (for medium-rare) on an instant-read meat thermometer, remove it from the oven. Rest lamb on a cutting board for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile reheat the sauce. Remove the strings from the leg of lamb and cut into thick slices. Spoon the sauce over the meat or serve on the side.

Note: Ask your butcher to butterfly the leg of lamb.

Per serving: 395 calories, 47 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 20 g fat (9 g saturated), 170 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

San Franciscan Joyce Goldstein is a restaurateur, consultant and cookbook author. E-mail her at wine@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page F - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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