Recipe(tried): Syrian Lamb with Green Beans and Rice Pilaf with Noodles

This made for a good meal on a snowy night. (We had a nor'easter last night and today that left us with 10 to 11 inches of snow here in Western Massachusetts.) I used frozen haricots vert from Trader Joe's rather than using fresh green beans because the fresh green beans where I shopped for this meal did not look very good. The Rice Pilaf with Noodles is not the one originally given with the recipe for the lamb.

SYRIAN LAMB WITH GREEN BEANS
Source: Katherine Dickenson

4 to 6 shoulder lamb chops, fat removed and bones in for flavor
3 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions chopped
2 large cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 small red pepper
1 teaspoon chopped dried Greek oregano
1/4 cup water
2 pounds fresh green beans, snapped and cut into bite size pieces (I used about 1 pound of frozen because that is all I had.)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (I used Hunt's whole tomatoes that I crushed, discarding the stem end.)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the chops in butter so they are brown on both sides. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour on a medium fire checking occasionally to be sure the lamb mixture is not boiling too rapidly. "The beans will be cooked more than we are used to but they will be bathed in the lamb tomato mixture which is divine."

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RICE PILAF WITH NOODLES
Adapted from the recipe given in The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert.

1/2 cup vermicelli, broken in 1/2-inch lengths
1 bay leaf
1/2 small red pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
3/4 Tbsp. melted butter
3/4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup long-grain rice (such as Uncle Ben's Original)
1, 14 1/2 oz. can chicken broth (I like the extra flavor the chicken broth provides.)
1/4 tsp. salt (Add to taste if using low sodium broth.)
Freshly ground black pepper,

In a medium saucepan, saute vermicelli, red pepper and bay leaf in butter and oil until golden, stirring constantly.

Stir in the rice and garlic and fry about 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth, and the salt and allow to boil 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until liquid has been absorbed, about 18 minutes.

Place a folded paper towel or terry towel over the rice, cover the pot, and let rest, with the heat turned off, 10 minutes before serving.

Add freshly ground black pepper, to taste, and fluff rice with a fork.