Lamb With Coffee Tomato Sauce      
Posted by:  jack Fri, 30 Apr 2004, at 9:04 a.m.

Any type of lamb, even a lamb burger patty, goes well with this sauce. If you serve bone-in lamb chops, allow slightly more per serving. Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes and a vegetable like eggplant, snap peas or sautéed greens.

 
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless lamb sirloin
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry, fruity red wine
1 cup low-salt beef or chicken broth
1/4 cup espresso or very strong coffee
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in pieces
Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
Julienned sun-dried tomatoes in oil (optional)
 

Directions:
Season the lamb with salt and pepper, then grill or pan- fry until done to your liking. Set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the shallots and garlic in the oil in a small nonreactive saucepan over medium heat until translucent. Add the wine, bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Add the broth, espresso and rosemary and continue to simmer until reduced by half. Taste occasionally and remove the rosemary when you can taste a hint of it in the sauce. Strain the sauce and discard the solids. Stir in the tomato paste, then add sugar as needed to balance the flavors.
The sauce may be made in advance to this point and refrigerated.
If you pan-fry the lamb, use the sauce (before the butter is added) to deglaze the pan after the lamb is removed. This will add more flavor to the sauce.
Bring the sauce back to a simmer if it has been refrigerated. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the butter piece by piece just before serving. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Spoon the sauce around the lamb and garnish, if desired, with parsley and/or sun-dried tomatoes. (If the wine has a tart red-fruit character, the sweet sun-dried tomato garnish is particularly nice.)
Serves 2 or 3