Lamb and Feta Loaves

I cringe just looking at the name of this dish. Unless we're talking LOAVES of bread, fresh from the oven with tons of softened butter or a lovely bowl of olive oil with herbs, garlic, and sea salt - the word "loaves" makes my belly wanna heave.

With that said, I have no other way to describe these babies. I guess we'll have to overlook the crappy name and just dig in.

I made these a while ago and picked up freshly-ground lamb the other day, so this will be on the menu shortly. This recipe will make individual loaves of rich, meaty goodness. Trust me and my not-so-flat stomach.



Lamb and Feta Loaves



Ingredients



1lb ground lamb

1tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp coriander seed

1/2 tsp cumin

1 egg, slightly beaten

4 oz feta, crumbled

1 1/2 C shredded baby spinach leaves; chiffonade 'em

1/2 C unseasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a cooking sheet with a slab of that wonderful Silpat stuff.
3. In a LARGE bowl combine the meat and all other ingredients. Use your damn hands! Forget the fancy shmancy Pampered Chef accoutrements you purchase because your friends have those parties. Just use your HANDS. You'll be able to efficiently and completely combine all of the ingredients in a minimum of time thus yielding a tender finished product. I loathe tough loaves of ANYTHING. That kinda crap is AKA OVER-MIXED AND OVER-HANDLED! Gak!
4. Separate the meat mixture into small loaves - enough to serve one person. I ended up with 6 loaves, but then again, I don't eat large amounts of any meat in one sitting.
5. Place them on the lovely Silpat and bake for approximately 15 minutes. They will have a lovely crust with small patches of dark spinach and oozy white feta peeking out at you.

Variations and notes:

• Dried herbs in this recipe: Not fresh here. Just not.
• Feta: I didn't use any of that flavored feta stuff. Just plain, salty, zingy feta. I have been known to make myself sick eating feta. I'm just gross that way.
• Silpat and professional baking sheets: I cannot impress upon you how important Silpat and professional sheets are in the realm of all that is cooking. If you are lucky enough, like me, to have a restaurant supply store in your city/hometown, go and gaze at all that is beautiful there. The sheet pans. *sigh* I must stop. Please just go.
• Spinach: I know it's long and involved. I know frozen spinach has 'come a long way.' I also know there's no way I'm using frozen spinach because it tastes 'gamey' and tough to me. Always. It ALWAYS does. If you wanna use frozen for the ease of this recipe, go for it.
• Bread crumbs: Let's be honest here. If you want to use the canned, seasoned ones from Progresso, go for it. When I'm dragging-ass tired at the end of the day and have to throw these together, I'm gonna go for the can in my butler's pantry and not lose any sleep over it.
• My Oven: I have a dual-fuel stove. The top is powered by gas while the oven is electric. There is the option for convection. I'm lazy and always pressed for time, so I always use the convection mode which means I have to watch anything in there for fear of overcooking. I think my little loaves took all of maybe 10 minutes because they were SO little. Use your convection wisely, people!
• If you like, you can always get some bamboo skewers, soak those suckers in water, mold some of the loaf mixture around them, and grill 'em.
• Feel free to grill these suckers patty-style as well - grill pan or grill outside. Whatever works!
• If you want to go patty-style, throw together a little yogurt sauce, chop up some tomato, onion, and cucumber, and toss it all into a pita.

Feedback:

The husband wasn't touching these. He just wouldn't. He's a purist where meat's concerned and hates the thought of vegetables of any kind touching his cloven hoof. I'll convert his ass yet!

The people at work? Loved 'em.
Made them for some friends another time to rave reviews.