BBQd Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Honey

Note:  I've been nominated for Babble's 100 Top Food Blogs!  I have 28 more votes to get into the top 50.  If you like what I've done here, would you follow the side link to Babble and vote for me?  I am on page #2 "Snippets of Thyme"

S. Kenney - BBQ'd Leg of Lamb

I had another great class at Williams Sonoma on Saturday.  We ate some delicious bbq grilled steak and sausages.  That definitely put me in the mood to cook any kind of meat dish.  My brother and his family came for a visit during Spring Break.  They are wonderful company and we all had a super time.  My SIL is taking some fabulous cooking courses through Viking School in Mississippi so I wanted to make something special for all of us.  I turned to my trusty Curtis Stone's program "Take Home Chef" and found just the right meat dish - Barbequed Leg of Lamb stuffed with garlic.  

After braising the lamb on the stove top, it is covered in a thick layer of honey.  Messy indeed but fun!  Then, garlic cloves are smashed and stuffed on the inside.  The lamb is laid on rosemary stems and rolled up with twine.  Just preparing this was so aromatic I knew it was going to taste delicious.  Honey, garlic, rosemary??  Wonderful scents already...

S.Kenney-BBQ'd Leg of Lamb with garlic and rosemary

Lamb is so aromatic cooking on the grill.  I think the entire neighborhood could smell this delicious scented roast from our backyard.  

I will shamelessly  highlight a new item that I purchased at that Williams Sonoma class!  It is an instant read thermometer.  It is magical indeed.  I kept inserting it periodically into the leg of lamb.  It instantly reads the temperature.  I was able to pull that meat off at just the right time in order for it to rise  a little more while cooling.

I would definitely cook this again.  The scents are divine, the cut of lamb isn't too lamb-y.  I scooped out the garlic and served it with the juices from the meat.  

My brother and his wife are a lovely couple with 2 bright and fun teenage boys.  I love bringing everyone around the table with a succulent meal like this one.

Barbequed Leg of Lamb wrapped in Rosemary with Garlic and Honey

Take Home Chef, Episode 20: Deanna's Menu

INGREDIENTS

20 large branches fresh long-stemmed rosemary

Six 24-inch/60-cm long strands of kitchen twine

One 6-pound/2.5-kg whole leg of lamb, large bone removed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, bruised (I used more because I love garlic)

1/4 cup/90 ml honey

PREPARATION:

Soak the rosemary branches and kitchen twine in cold water for 1 hour. This will help prevent the rosemary and twine from burning while they are on the grill.  Prepare the barbecue for high heat. Sprinkle the leg of lamb generously with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Grill the leg of lamb for 5 minutes, or until brown on all sides. Transfer the lamb to a baking sheet. Rub the garlic over the outside of the lamb then place the garlic pieces inside the lamb.  Lay the strands of kitchen twine horizontally across a work surface, spacing them evenly apart.  Lay the rosemary branches perpendicularly atop the twine.

Spread half of the honey over 1 side of the lamb and lay the lamb honey side down atop the rosemary. Spread the remaining honey over the top and sides of the lamb. The honey will help adhere the rosemary to the lamb.  Tie the twine as tightly as possible around the lamb and rosemary, completely encasing the lamb with the rosemary. 

Decrease the heat of the barbecue to medium so that the temperature inside the barbecue is about 350°F/170°C (use an oven thermometer to help gauge the temperature inside the barbecue).  Place the lamb on the grill.  Cover the barbecue and grill the lamb about 1 hour and 30 minutes, turning the lamb on a regular basis, or until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 140°F/60°C when inserted into the thickest part of the lamb meat.

Transfer the lamb to a carving board and let rest for 30 minutes.  Remove the twine and rosemary from the lamb.  Carve the lamb into slices and serve with any juices that accumulate on the carving board.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

It'll be St Patrick's day in a couple of days, and I thought it fitting to share a shepherd's pie on this Irish festival. That raised an all-important question though: Is the shepherd's pie British or Irish? I always thought of shepherd's pie as a classic British thing, but others (the Irish?) claim it's Irish. Oh well. I'm doing it Indian-style anyway. Yes, indian. I want the kick of spice in my pie.

I adapted a Gordon Ramsay video recipe for the classic shepherd's pie--the man's brilliant, I love how no-nonsense he is. But I also incorporated the spices in kheema matar (spicy minced meat with peas i.e. matar. I didn't use peas, so it's just a masala mince)-- this man is brilliant too-- for an extra special touch of spicy goodness.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

serves 4

Ingredients

for the filling

500g lean minced lamb (if it's beef, it'll be cottage pie)

2 large onions, grated

1 large carrot, grated

handful of mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp ginger, grated (or 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cardommom pods, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masla

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 cup whole plain yogurt

sea salt, black pepper

1 tbsp flour

for the mash

3-4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp parmesan + extra to top (optional but it's a secret ingredient that'll lift the dish)

sea salt, black pepper

Method

1. Boil potatoes.

2. Add oil to a hot pan, and the whole spices to toast.

3. Add the minced meat, breaking it up and searing the meat to get the caramelised brown. Season.

4. Grate in the onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. This helps them to disintegrate into the sauce better, a Ramsay tip, which is why I didn't add the onions before the mince like what vahchef did. Also add in the flour to cook out, this will help thicken the gravy later.

5. Add the mushrooms, ground spices and tomato puree, cook for 3 min more, then add the yogurt and let simmer for 10-15 min.

6. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be cooked. Drain, mash and season. Add the egg yolk, butter and parmesan to the mashed potato.

"mash that deserves to sit on my mince"

7. Add the green chillies and garam masala powder to the mince and continue to cook uncovered till you get a dry gravy. You don't want a soggy shepherd's pie. Also a good idea to pick out the cinnamon stick (and the cardamom pods) now.

8. Tip the filling into a baking dish, then top with the mashed potato and another sprinkling of parmesan. Fork through (important, to get the crispy edges!), and dot with butter.

9. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 min, or till golden.

Serve with a light salad, hopefully more indian style with thinly sliced red onions and cilantro.

How can you not love a good shepherd's pie? You can't go wrong with buttery parmesan-mashed potatoes and minced meat that's coated with rich savoury gravy , but add to that the piquant flavour and aroma of spices, and it's definitely a winner for the singaporean in me!

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop #39, Tasty Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday.

Rocking The Casbah

So I'm off to Marrakesh for a Yoga Retreat in May and to get me in the mood for rocking the casbah and suchlike I thought I'd give the Lamb Chop Tagine with Minted Fluffy Cous Cous a try - Page 88.  Unlike traditional tagines which need long slow cooking this was a quicker method although it seemed rather strange to have to cook a panfull of only onions, stock & spices for 30 minutes before even adding the lamb, but I did as I was told.

I pretty much followed the exact recipie and method which does call for quite a lot of different spices but all ones that I had in the storecupboard so nothing too unusual to buy and never use again.  I didn't have any green olives (and don't really like them!) so used black ones and I halved the quantity of prunes as there seemend to be loads of them and I feared the after effects!

Alas my cous cous was anything but fluffy - stodgy and porridge like would be a better description!  Its not usually something I have problems with cooking so don't quite know what went wrong but will stick to my own tried and tested method of preperation in the future.

Boy though it was amazing and especailly enjoyed the prunes, Girl turned up her nose and refused all black bits, and all the bits in the cous cous, and all the chick peas - I guess she perhaps ate a bit of the lamb.  Why do I bother?! 

Unfortunately one of my major bugbears of recipie books has been rearing its ugly head in Giraffe - no pictures for some recipies.  ARGH!  I can't tell you how much it puts me off not being able to see what I'm supposed to be cooking.  So as to whether it turned out looking like it should have I have absolutely no idea - and that really annoys me.  At a rough estimate I'd guess there are only photos for half of the book so black marks from me for that.

Would definately make it again, lovely robust flavours and nice and quick.  However I might be tempted to buy a Tagine Pot on holiday and try making the real deal.  Then again my measily Ryan Air luggage allowance probably won't even cover my yoga mat - let alone souvenirs.

Pan-fried Liver with Caramelised Onions and Garlic Mustard-Mashed Cauliflower

This is a classic liver-and-onion recipe, but--slight twist-- with a bit of a balsamic vinegar sharpness, and a much lighter cauliflower mash instead of potato, to balance out the richness of the dish.

The most important thing to remember when cooking liver is: DO NOT OVERCOOK. You either quickly sear it on high heat, or slowly braise it over low heat. For this recipe, I'm quickly frying the slices of liver, then topping it off with sweet caramelised onions.

Pan-fried Liver with Caramelised Onions

serves 2

Ingredients

100g lamb's liver (big slices about 1-2 cm thick, trimmed of the membrane, or a friendly butcher should do it for you)

a little bit of plain flour (just to coat, 1/2 a tbsp should be enough)

sea salt, black pepper (to taste)

1 tbsp of olive oil + 1 tsp butter

For the caramelised onions

1 large onion, sliced

1 tbsp of olive oil/ butter

1 tsp dijon mustard

splash of balsamic vinegar

black pepper (I like to be generous with this)

Method

1. Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat, add the onions to the pan (hot enough such that they sizzle but don't sputter), season with black pepper, then cook until the onions are golden-brown, stirring quite often. Add the mustard and balsamic vinegar, and let it reduce till almost dry. Whole process should take around 20 min.

2. While the onions cook, prep the liver! Season the flour lightly with the salt and pepper. Season the liver too, then coat with the flour.

3. Heat olive oil over high heat in a pan. Add the liver slices and fry till browned and cooked, about 1 min on both sides (but it really depends on thickness and pan etc. just make sure the inside is still slightly pink and the outside is nicely seared). Add that little dab of butter to help caramelise and add flavour.

4. Place liver slices on a plate and scoop the onions and any residual gravy over. Enjoy with cauliflower mash (and deep fried sage leaves if you can)!

Garlic and Mustard- Mashed Cauliflower

serves 2-3

Ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower, chopped into small florets

3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

2 tsp dijon mustard

3 tbsp unsalted butter

sea salt (to taste), (generous) pinch of black pepper

Method

1. Fry the chopped garlic till lightly browned. (browning the garlic first makes all the difference!)

2. Add the cauliflower florets and enough water to cover the base of the sauce pan, then cover and cook for about 10 min till soft and till water is gone.

3. Remove from heat, but do not let the cauliflower cool! While it's still warm, mash the cauliflower and garlic till smooth.

4. Add the mustard, butter, salt and black pepper and combine well.

I sometimes add homemade cream cheese/parmesan instead of mustard, or chopped chives/spring onion/any other herbs. It's very flexible! This is a great alternative to mashed potatoes if you feel like having something lighter.

Anyway, here are some closing tips for anyone still scared of trying offal because of "that smell":

1. You can soak your liver in a bowl of milk in the fridge until you're ready to cook, then remove and pat dry.

2. Get fresh liver, from the butcher or farmer. Those in the supermarket are usually old, and I admit, does stink.

For people new to liver, these are the main types of liver:

Chicken liver - small, tender, quick-cooking, least strong flavour

Lamb's liver - tender, quick-cooking, mild flavour

Calves' liver - tender, quick-coking, good flavour (I've not tried this, but my butcher tells me it's got fantastic flavour. He also very kindly told me it's quite a bit more expensive than lamb.)

Pig's liver - slower cooking, good strong flavour

Goose liver - for the lucky 5% of the population who can afford it.

This is a carnival entry for Pennywise Platter Thursday by The Nourishing Gourmet and Real Food Wednesday by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.