I had to try it.
The orginal recipe was an obscure find online for something called Red-Eye Gravy. Traditionally, this is made with ham and coffee, pepper onions, carrots. I wanted lamb. So I had to try it. To say it was well received would be an understatement. Let me start by saying that I would make it again, but probably not very often.
I made my own brown stock, using oxtail (the meat from which went into the most amazing French Onion soup to which I have been party). Using homemade maple cured bacon, pre-cooked flageolet beans, a bouquet garni of rosemary, parsley and thyme, lamb arms that had been well seared, sherry to deglaze, large dice of onion, red peppr and carrot, and a sauce mix of 50/50 fresh brewed nicauraguan coffee and my beef stock to top. In this order, I layered a cast iron braising in pot, roughly 10 inches oval, and these ingredients filled the pan to the tip top. I finished the dish by reducing the braising liquid to a sauce with added truffle butter, and a garnish of parsley. A very peasant appearing meal, hearty and full of flavor. The bitter element of the coffee is well balanced with the meaty flavor developed by braising for 3 hours, and the collected fond. The vegetables, being on top of the whole dish, get a chance to roast against the lid of the pan, before succombing to the rising tide of released juices from the intermingling layers of savory ingredients. The lamb was, of course, fork tender; the vegetables were excellent with the sauce, and the beans were subtle, as flageolet are wont to be.
Critically, I have issue with the cross-smell of coffee and bell pepper, as the two together remind me of years of composting, and the trip from the kitchen to the outdoor drop-site. Not that this is unpleasant in its ideals, but somehow the mixture of coffee grinds and spent vegetable ends sets my olefactory cringing. A lesser balanced cook may have difficulty with this recipe, as it does, with said ingredients, require quite a balncing act of flavors to achieve its end. I might try to a different vegetable combination, though I have no doubt the recipe would work very well for the intended ham, sans the bacon.
The orginal recipe was an obscure find online for something called Red-Eye Gravy. Traditionally, this is made with ham and coffee, pepper onions, carrots. I wanted lamb. So I had to try it. To say it was well received would be an understatement. Let me start by saying that I would make it again, but probably not very often.
I made my own brown stock, using oxtail (the meat from which went into the most amazing French Onion soup to which I have been party). Using homemade maple cured bacon, pre-cooked flageolet beans, a bouquet garni of rosemary, parsley and thyme, lamb arms that had been well seared, sherry to deglaze, large dice of onion, red peppr and carrot, and a sauce mix of 50/50 fresh brewed nicauraguan coffee and my beef stock to top. In this order, I layered a cast iron braising in pot, roughly 10 inches oval, and these ingredients filled the pan to the tip top. I finished the dish by reducing the braising liquid to a sauce with added truffle butter, and a garnish of parsley. A very peasant appearing meal, hearty and full of flavor. The bitter element of the coffee is well balanced with the meaty flavor developed by braising for 3 hours, and the collected fond. The vegetables, being on top of the whole dish, get a chance to roast against the lid of the pan, before succombing to the rising tide of released juices from the intermingling layers of savory ingredients. The lamb was, of course, fork tender; the vegetables were excellent with the sauce, and the beans were subtle, as flageolet are wont to be.
Critically, I have issue with the cross-smell of coffee and bell pepper, as the two together remind me of years of composting, and the trip from the kitchen to the outdoor drop-site. Not that this is unpleasant in its ideals, but somehow the mixture of coffee grinds and spent vegetable ends sets my olefactory cringing. A lesser balanced cook may have difficulty with this recipe, as it does, with said ingredients, require quite a balncing act of flavors to achieve its end. I might try to a different vegetable combination, though I have no doubt the recipe would work very well for the intended ham, sans the bacon.
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