Dried Lamb Ribs

First, I have to admit something; this is actually something we eat for Christmas in Norway. That said, it is very common to eat it before and after Christmas as well. This version is
done somewhat different than the traditional one. You might not find this specific meat in your country, but you can try with different types of meat you have available.

I find this one a bit more exciting than the original, so go ahead and try yourself. 🙂

Serving: 2 pers
Estimated time to prepare: 2-3 hours
Difficulty: 1

Ingredients:

1kg of dried Lamb Ribs (known as Pinnekjøtt in Norway)
2 Potatoes
Chives
Estragon
Salt
Pepper
200g butter
1 Rutabaga

Vegetable broth:

1 Carrot
5-10 Juniper Berries
1/8 Celery
1/5 Leek
1/5 Fennel
2 Bay Leaves
0,5 tsp Thyme
10 Black Pepper (whole)
1/5 tsp Kayenne Pepper
1,8 L of water

Raw Vegetables

Preparations:

The meat is dried and salted when you get it, and that’s why you have to start the preparations 24 hours before serving time. Place the meat in a container with fresh, cold water. Let it rest there until next morning, change the water and let it rest until it’s been soaking approx. 24 hours.

Rehydrating the meat

This way we are rehydrating the meat, and removing some of the salt. You CANNOT skip this step, by any means. You will end up having a dry, chewy, supersalty sack of meat if you skip this step. So, just don’t! 🙂

3 hours before serving time I would start making the broth. Rinse, peel and cut carrot, celery, leek and fennel. Big chunks are OK, since this will be boiling for a while.

Cut vegetables ready for broth

Add the cut vegetables to the water, and add thyme, black pepper, kayenne, bay leaves and juniper berries. Let it boil for about 1 hour. Do you smell that? It’s the smell of great success! 🙂

Everything in the pan

After 1 hour, sift the broth and throw away the veggies. Put the rehydrated meat in the broth and let it boil for a bout 1,5-2 hours.

Meat ready for cooking

While waiting for the meat finish, cut and peel rutabaga and boil it for about 1 hour until tender in water with a pinch of salt. You can also prepare some potatoes by peeling them.

Rutabaga/swede

When the rutabaga is tender, use a blender or similar to mix it smooth with 150g of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Keep it warm.

Boil potatotes until tender, approx 30-45 mins.

Add a few tablespoons of water to a saucepan and whisk in the rest of the butter. Season with estragon and chives.

When the meat is done (it will start to fall of the bones), plate ut and enjoy this fabolous dish! 🙂

Dried Lamb Ribs

Dark beer and dry red wine are splendid to drink with this. 🙂

Dried Lamb Ribs

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