Lamb

Accompany this dish with sautéed greens. Pour a Merlot alongside.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 day

A braise is like a stew, but requires less liquid and has a longer cooking time. Allow about two and a half hours for the lamb to cook on top of the stove. Serve green beans and the polenta with it. Pour a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from chef Neil Perry's book Rockpool. Neil also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. For your convenience, we've converted the measures — with as much accuracy as possible — from Australian to American. For those who have metric equipment and wish to follow Neil's recipe to the milliliter, we've included the original measures too. To read more about Neil and Australian cuisine, click here. The availability of Illabo lamb on the Australian market is due to Tony Lehmann's efforts. He is one of the few Australian producers who understands what the market wants, and delivers, in no uncertain terms, a quality product that is markedly better than the bland generic produce grown for the large corporations. It is because of suppliers like Tony that the quality and variety of fine produce we have available in Australia is maintained. This is the driving force behind fabulous multicultural cooking. This is the dish of the moment at Rockpool. The lamb is only 6 weeks old, and has a dressed body weight of about 8 kg (17 1/2 lbs). It is flavoursome, tender and has a wonderful clean taste that is unmatched. The accompanying sauce is rich, flavoursome and has no Asian ingredients, except for a little ginger, for good luck. The only necessary addition is a green salad à la Rockpool. The recipe for Tomato Jam yields 750 ml (3 cups). It is also very good with raw fish, and will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Market Tip: Avoid packaged ground lamb, which can be extremely fatty. Instead, buy shoulder meat or lamb stew meat, which has some fat, and ask the butcher to grind it.

Orzo (a rice-shaped pasta also known as riso) can be mixed with diced summer squash, olives and red bell pepper to make a colorful bed for the lamb skewers. Toss some shredded romaine and red cabbage with an oil and vinegar dressing to serve alongside, and end the Mediterranean-style meal with honey cake from the bakery.

For convenience, the lamb can be prepared one day ahead, then slowly rewarmed before you plan to serve it.

What to drink: A big red with lots of fruit, such as a California Zinfandel; an off-dry white with rich fruit, such as an Alsatian Pinot Gris; or pale ale.

Finish off this meal with some cookies from the bakery and fresh fruit.

Ask your butcher to remove the backbones from the racks to make carving easier. If the lamb has not been trimmed, cut off the outer layer of fat and about two inches of the fat between the bones (the bones will be exposed); this technique is called "Frenching." Begin preparing the lamb a day before serving to allow time for marinating.

"While visiting Chicago, I had dinner at The Berghoff," writes Mary H. Wright of Arlington, Virginia. "I'd like to prepare the excellent lamb chops for my family."

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 40 min When we think of fall fruits, persimmons are all too often forgotten — but they're wonderful. Here, they make a salsa-like chutney that's perfect for lamb chops.

A great way to make a different and light meal with leftover lamb.