Nona Schubert’s Lemony Lamb
My Grandma died two years ago. She was an awesome cook. Without getting too sappy, I’d like to spread her knowledge. There was a recipe box marked “top secret” that I’d like to share with the world. If you do decide to share this too, it’s important to me that you give credit to the amazing woman that took the time to write her wisdom down- Mrs. Nona Mae Schubert of Okauckee Lake, WI.
I was given her recipes and I will do everything I can to honor her and the time and love given to make amazing meals for her family.
So we begin Mondays With Nona. Nonna is a name given to Italian Grandmas. Though its perfect for me to call my Grandma Nona in that respect, her given name was Nona Mae Breen. The reason I chose this recipe is because, when asked, it was the first recipe my mom named as one of her favorites in Grandmas box.
The pot my grandma (Nona Mae Schubert) used for this dish was my great grandmothers (Lorraine Audrey Agerholm) and was kept under the microwave at her house on Okauchee Lake, Wisconsin. The land for this house was bought by my great-great-great Grandfather for $1 in 1903. Even though it was cold a lot of the year, my 3rd great grandfather Hahn would spend 7 months out of 12 at the cottage on the lake. He owned a saloon in Milwaukee and made friends with a man by the name of Mr. Phil Nickels while playing cards. They liked betting with each other, and my 3rd great granddad bought the land that our family still has from him because of their affinity for cock fighting and Mr. Nickels wanting to be surrounded in this rural area by his friends. The roosters apparently fought at the end of Nickels Point. That’s digressing, the pot my grandma used was my namesake’s Lorraine Audrey. My name is Audrey Lorraine. The reason we had to throw out all of that cookware was because it was made from Aluminum. The reason Americans stopped getting aluminum cookware in the 50’s is because- UNTREATED ALUMINUM- causes alzheimers. Bummer, but I have a Le Creuset that did just fine.
So I’ve replaced the heavy aluminum cooking pot with a ceramic dutch oven. And I’ve replaced the “Accent” spice with “ Tony’s Creole Seasoning”. I used fresh parsley too, just doubling the dried amount asked for. The lemons came from the tree in our yard, a perk of living in California. It's producing like crazy even in January.
My Grandmother would make a very simple and very loved leg of lamb for the family and after beginning this recipe as the first of many I realized this was meant to be used for the leftover (cooked) leg of lamb. It was really good with fresh lamb too. Asparagus was really tasty with the sauce.
Nona Schubert’s Lemony Lamb
INGREDIANTS
½ cup / butter
½ cup / sliced green onions
2½ lb. / boned lamb, or 3-4 cups leftover meat from leg of lamb
1 tsp. / grated lemon rind
1/3 cup / lemon juice
¼ cup / parsley flakes (using fresh parsley, double the amount to 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp. / dried dill
2 tsp. / Accent (replacing with 2 tsp. Tony’s creole seasoning)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup water
Salt & Pepper
2 eggs + 2 egg yolkes
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter, add onions and cook until tender. Remove onion, add lamb and cook until brown. Return onions to pan with lemon rinds and juice, parsley, dill, accent, and bouillon cubes. Simmer until tender, adding water (about 1 cup) if necessary. Taste and add salt and pepper. Beat eggs lightly, drizzle small amount of hot mixture into eggs and then drizzle eggs into the lamb mixture stirring constantly. Cook until thickened, keeping below boiling temperature. If you wish to save some, prepare to point of adding eggs, reheat and add eggs just before serving. Accompany with rice.
