sometimes, they turn into multicultural balls

when i saw that ground lamb was on sale at the market, i knew i was going to make spanish meatballs, because they are delicious.  but i only have Iranian saffron so i was like, "whatever."  but then i was like, "hmm... i'mma season these with Montreal seasoning." then i said, "hmm... i'mma stuff these with Jamaican cheese."  then i thought, "these should be spicy, i'm adding red pepper."  then i was all, "hmm... i'mma deep fry these so they are crispy on the outside."  so yeah, i call these delicious morsels multicultural balls.  cook time + prep time: 1hr, yields 8 balls, 1 carb per ball.

ingredients:

1.5 lbs of ground lamb
0.5 cups sliced then chopped almonds
4 oz cheese - small cubes
1 egg
4 cloves garlic - minced
1 tsp beef base
1 tsp montreal seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp crushed red pepper
10 threads of saffron
2 tsp olive oil
0.5 cups safflower oil - not pictured
0.25 cup almond flour

• you might be asking yourself, why is she using 1.5 lbs of meat?  the answer is simple.  i walked in to the kitchen at 7:30am the other day and boyfriend was frying something.  i say "what's that?"  he says, "oh, i'm making a lamb burger for breakfast."  for breakfast!?! and a half pound burger!?! he's crazy.  whatever.
• mix lamb, seasonings, egg, nuts, olive oil & garlic until it's all well mixed.  divide the meat into eights and flatten out each eighth into a patty shape.  in the center of each patty, put an eighth of the cubed cheese.  these cheese is i don't know what kind.  its called no woman no cry, and its marbleized with jerk seasoning.  its really awesome.  i thought the sweetness of it would balance the saffron well, and it did.  i was right.  anyway.... ball up the meat into what one might call a meatball shape.  
• at this point, my plan was that i would bake the balls.  but they were so wet i was like these are gonna lose their shape.  so i decided that i should fry them.  and when i decided to fry them i thought i needed to add some flour to them so they would get crispy on the outside.  so roll the balls through some almond meal until they are well coated.
• heat safflower oil over medium heat in a large pan.  cook all the balls until they are golden throughout.  this requires turning them on all sides (about five times).  this is me frying the balls

• place the balls on a paper bag or something to drain off excess oil.

these balls were super duper awesome.  juicy and flavorful.  we totally loved the heck out of them.  plus, its a meal without heavy cream!  yippee!

we served them with some broccolini.  see:

i didn't even know lambs could survive without bones

when i was at the grocery store last weekend i saw this boneless leg of lamb and i was all like, "boyfriend lets get this! it will be interesting and it has no carbs!"  he says, "yah, of course it has no carbs.  its meat."  and that's how i totally won him over on the lamb.  i decided it would be a perfect opportunity to use my beautiful blue dutch oven and so that's what i did.  cook time + prep time: 2 hours, ~3 servings, 1.4 carbs per serving

ingredients:

1 netted boneless leg of lamb
4 tbsp olive oil
0.25 yellow onion - chopped
6 cloves garlic - minced
2 cups mushrooms - halved
1 tsp beef base
2 cup red wine
0.5 tsp red pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp rosemary - minced
0.5 thyme

• preheat oven to 425F
• take two of the minced gloves of garlic, the minced rosemary, and 1 tbsp of olive oil and make a paste.  rub your lamb completely all over with this paste.  lightly salt and pepper your lamb on all sides
• put 1 tbsp of oil in your dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear your lamb on all sides.  a lot of people wouldn't sear the meat before roasting it in a dutch oven, but once when i was way too young to receive cooking advice, my dad told me that i should always always always sear my meat before roasting it if i don't want to eat cardboard.  i have a hard time not following established rules.  remove the lamb from heat.
• add remaining tbsp oil to dutch oven along with remainder of garlic and onion.  stirring often, saute until goldeny-translucent (look it up, its a color).  add mushrooms.  i used baby bella tiny little adorable buttons.  i recommend halving them because there is nothing worse than biting into a whole mushroom you think is cooled and it squirted its spores of boiling hot liquid all over your mouth such that you can't taste anything else for the rest of the week.  yah.  so add your mushrooms and stir them around in the dutch oven.  add all of your seasonings and a half tsp of salt.
• saute mushrooms for ~8 minutes until you're willing to sacrifice your tongue to eat just one of them.  add the beef base plus a half cup of wine and deglaze the pan.  add the remainder of the wine and bring it to a boil.  this creates the delicious and coveted beef flavored wine.  its the best wine you'll ever taste.
• place lamb leg back in dutch oven, cover it, and put it in the oven.  cook at 425F for 30 minutes and reduce the temperature to 350F.  cook for ~1 additional hour for medium rare.

• i know it looks delicious at the point when you've removed it from the oven, but you don't know the half of it.  remove roast from the pot and put aside to rest.  put the dutch oven on the stove over high heat, stirring often until mushroom sauce becomes a thick, delicious gravy.  
• when sauce reaches consistency you desire,  remove it from the heat.  cut the netting off of the lamb and cut it into half inch slices.

we served it with baked green beans and it was super delicious and healthy.  that was dinner and we survived another day on this dang diet.