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Kitchen On the Road- Camino de Santiago- Burgos and an Oven Baked Lamb Recipe

October 24, 2012 by Renee

Mention Burgos and most Spaniard’s mouths begin to water at the thought of the infamous lamb made there.  Considered to be the best in Spain, the local lamb, known as Lechazo, are suckling lamb from the Churra, Castellana or Ojalada breeds. Because the Lechazo is such a special lamb product, they are actually protected by an Indication of Geographic Protection designation -Association of Assadores de Lechazo de Castilla y Leon.  The tradition and skill involved in perfectly roasting this suckling lamb is an esteemed ability that is shared by the members of the Roasters Association of Lechazo from Castile-Leon, who are located all over the country. So if you get to dine in one of their restaurants,  you know there will be some seriously good eating!

The method of cooking for these young lambs is slow roasting them in a wood fired oven. The low, slow heat yields an incredibly tender meat that is very succulent and exceedingly delicious. If you are passing through the region of Castilla y Leon for any reason, you must try some of this lamb. The best part?  It’s perfectly acceptable to eat it with your hands- the meat closest to the bone just begs to be sucked off.

While in Burgos, my Camino friends and I enjoyed a fabulously carnivorous meal at Restaurant Ricon de Espana just off the main square.  We also enjoyed a few bottles of  the Tempranillo seen here. Oh, and dessert? It got a thumbs up.

And while you are in Burgos, be sure to stop into the cathedral. Even if you are not religious, it’s a massive, magnificent Gothic-style building.  Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984, it is the only Spanish cathedral that has this distinction independently without being joined to the historic center of the city. You can spend hours just wandering around the inside looking at all the stone carvings and beautiful relics.

Now, I don’t have a wood fired oven…yet. (It’s on the list!)  But you can easily recreate the tenderness of this meat in your home oven or for that wood fired taste, you can use your grill.  The recipe here is for using your oven for the slow roasting. It takes some time so pop a cork and sit back and relax with a good book. Dinner will be served “soon”.

Kitchen Conundrum’s Slow Roasted Suckling Lamb Recipe
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
1 hour 30 mins
Total time
1 hour 40 mins
 
Author: Renee
Recipe type: Meat, Dinner, Lamb
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 11-15lb Suckling Lamb (Also called a Spring Lamb, no more than 4-6 months old. Bone-in. (Also can use a leg or shoulder))
  • 5-8 cloves Garlic (Peeled and smashed into a paste)
  • 3 large sprigs Thyme (Leaves chopped and combined with the garlic paste above)
  • Salt (To season)
  • Olive Oil (To drizzle)
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  2. Rinse the lamb and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut into manageable pieces. Rub the garlic and thyme paste all over each piece of the lamb. Place in a large oven proof dish. In Spain, they use a clay dish- so if you have one in your cupboard, now is the perfect chance to use it! Season each piece with salt and drizzle with olive oil. In the bottom of the pan add a bit of water- no more than ½".
  3. Place the lamb in the hot oven. After 15-20 minutes, or once the lamb is a nice golden color, reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. Roast for 1 hour.
  4. At this time, remove the lamb from the oven and turn each piece over. Add some more water (just a little!) if needed so as not to totally dry out the pan. You basically want to steam around the meat until the last few minutes of cooking. Return the lamb back into the oven to continue roasting.
  5. Once the lamb has reached a desired internal temperature, it is ready to serve. For medium rare meat the thermometer should read 120 degrees F. For medium well, 145 degrees F is the magic number. The meat should be tender and flake easily from the bone with a fork.
  6. Serve with a rich, velvety red wine like a Rioja, Priorat, Zinfandel, or Cabernet Sauvignon. (I'd go with one of the first two, keeping with the Spanish theme- but that's just my opinion!)
  7. Serve with a simple salad or roasted potatoes. This is truly a carnivore's delight.
3.2.2885

 

 

Filed Under: Eat, Travel, Featured Posts, Meats, Spain Tagged With: Burgos, Camino de Santiago, Lamb, Recipe, Spain, Travel

Kitchen On the Road – Camino de Santiago, A Hike Across Spain

August 24, 2012 by Renee

This past Spring, I walked/hiked/struggled the Camino de Santiago.  For those who don’t know, it’s traditionally a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela near the West coast of Northern Spain from several points all over Europe. The route I chose, the Camino Frances, begins in France and ends some 800+kms later. (For an idea of what it is like, watch the incredible movie, “The Way”, starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez-who also directed the film.)

I flew into Paris and spent a few, last days among “civilization” before heading out on my trek. After wining (whining too) and dining, and visits with some of my friends, I took the “pilgrim” train towards the charming, small village of St. Jean Pied de Port (literally, St, John at the foot of the mountain pass) nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees where I would begin my journey on the Camino de Santiago.

I had no idea, then, what effect it would have on my life. I knew it would be special, but it was more than just special. It was life-changing. The people I met and the experiences I had were among the very best of my entire life. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy (someone implied before I left, that it was just a walk- they could not have been more wrong!). It was the hardest, most physically demanding, most mentally challenging thing I have ever done. And I loved it!

Sure, there were tears. Lots of tears. There were extremely hard uphill climbs and sloshing through calf deep mud.

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There were long days when my feet burned with blisters and my muscles seized and the kms seemed to never end. There was horrid weather- rain, hail, freezing temperatures.

Ready

Then there was heat and scorching sun and I had a “stupid” hat with a brim that refused to stay down, so my face reddened in the sun.  There were the albergues (or hostels), some sparse and very basic and then some almost like hotels.  They were clean and they were dirty. But you couldn’t really complain at 5-10 euros a bed.  There were communal showers with flimsy curtains and towels that were the size of washcloths (I finally bought a large one in a major city) and you’d have to dry off and dress in the shower stall so you wouldn’t flash the world. There were the bunk beds (I nearly always had a top bunk- and a Moro reflex to go along with it!) and the mummy sleeping bag that slid around the bed and trapped me inside in a stifling position. I usually sleep with one knee up. No chance of that with my mummy bag.

Ventosa to CirenuaCirenua to Granon

Then there was “Lucifer”. Lucifer was the name my backpack earned as it was truly the devil on my back. That pack weighed nearly 20kilos at the start and dropped down to around 16kilos and no matter what I got rid of, it stayed around 14-15kilos for the entire trip. By the end of the journey, I gave up carrying “him” and sent him by car “Jaco-trans” or by Peugeot to my next destination. The problem with that though was gauging what I needed for the day hike and exactly how far I would have to travel to meet my pack (and sleeping bag etc.) each night.

The pack that would be named "Lucifer"

25kms became my breaking point each day. But there were some days where we walked 30 or even 35 kms. And then there was one day where we stopped counting after 35 kms! Needless to say, that was not a good day.

But there were the people I met along the way…people I walked with every day, and people I only walked with on some days, but each person had a story to tell and each person was absolutely pure in heart and soul. The kindest, warmest and most wonderful people I have ever known and I am truly blessed and honored to have met each and every one of them. Some, I am lucky enough now, to call lifelong friends and family; My Camino Family. I love them all dearly. They made the trials, tribulations and the trip worth everything.

And of course, there was the wine. And the food.  And the liquors.

Logrono to Ventosa

We would start each day with the “Pilgrim” breakfast- usually a café con leche and leftover (stale toasted) baguette with butter or jam. By the first village, we’d stop at the bar (bar/café/only thing open in a town that may or may not serve food) for café con leche and a slice of Tortilla, a potato omelet. Some were bland, but many were delightfully flavorful. Some even were cheesy and filled with other vegetables.  There were also the Bocadillas (sub sized sandwiches) filled with hams and cheeses. If we were lucky, there might even be patatas fritos or patatas bravos (French fries or French Fries with a spicy sauce).  We’d linger over our cafés and then we’d order the most delicious, fresh squeezed orange juice that has ever passed your lips. They were served in large glasses with a packet of sugar, which we’d take with us as an emergency energy boost later in the day.  With our bellys full, we’d be able to get some miles (kms) under our belts before stopping for lunch.

IMG_7906IMG_7766IMG_7907Logrono

Some days we’d pass a Panadería/Pastelerias (bakery/pastry shop) and stop in for treats. Crème filled pastries, éclairs, napoleons or sweet almond cookies called Polvorones, leaving us covered in powdered sugar as we ate them.

IMG_8044

Many days, early in the journey, were spent traveling through the wine regions of Navarra and Rioja. We became very adept at ordering vino tintos (red wine). Most notably, a Rioja Crianza became the wine of choice. The term “Crianza” refers to wines aged for 2 years with a minimum of 12 months in oak and 12 months in the bottle before being allowed to be sold. These wines tend to have more body with strong acidity that helps them to pair well with heavier foods – like roasted meats and rich sauces (for instance, we drank it with the famous lamb made in Burgos). We consumed many a glass of this ruby red treasure.

IMG_2547

In the afternoons, we’d stop for tapas or rather, Pintxos, as they are called in Northern Spain. These little bite sized delights sat on top of small pieces of bread and ranged from seafoods (shrimp or eel) to vegetables (mushrooms) to meats (hams). We’d order a variety with a cerveza (beer), take off our boots and put our feet up.

LogronoIMG_8239IMG_7718

Later in the trip, as the weather turned warm, we’d stop for ice creams too. Magnum Ice Cream Pops were very popular along the trail. A decadent dessert at home, but a welcome cool treat on the hottest of days. The Double Caramel was sinfully good. Surprisingly, or not, even with all of the sweets and treats, I lost weight on this trip!

But what was most wonderful, were the evening meals where I’d gather with other pilgrims, either at the albergue or at a restaurant.  We’d talk about our lives back home or our day and how far we traveled, how hard the trail was, our body aches and what we wanted to the next day. We’d talk about all that we saw along the way and we’d toast to surviving another day on the trail.  We’d eat until we were nearly asleep.  And more so, we’d laugh and laugh, giddy with exhaustion. This time together and these meals were really the sustenance that kept us going and it was what we looked forward to each day.

A Camino Family

My journey lasted exactly 5 weeks, 35 days on the trail, far more than I could ever explain here, however, over the next week I’ll fill you in on some of the most memorable meals and experiences I had along The Way.

Filed Under: Travel, Featured Posts, Spain Tagged With: Camino Frances, Camino de Santiago, Navarra, Pintxos, Polvorones, Rioja, Spain, Travel, Way of St. James, Wine, bocadillas, patatas fritos, tapas, tortilla

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