RECIPES
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Rutherglen Suckling Lamb
Recipe courtesy of Bottega Restaurant, Melbourne (www.bottega.com.au)
Stuffing:
1 lamb saddle (back strap with belly attached)
150gm veal sweetbread
6 shallots
1 tblsp chopped sage
1 tblsp chopped thyme
2 cloves garlic crushed
100gm butter (not margarine)
200gm stale ciabatta, soaked in milk
1 egg
Caponata:
2 eggplant
1 red onion, diced
2 gloves garlic, crushed
100ml red wine vinegar
1 tblsp crushed tomato
1 tblsp chopped basil
2 tblsp Lilliput capers
Sauce (jus gras):
3 litre lamb stock
50gm butter
50gm flour
20gm tomato paste
300ml red wine
20gm rendered lamb fat
METHOD
For the stuffing
Season the sweetbreads and saute in 50gm of butter until well caramelised, keep aside with the oil from the pan.
Saute the shallots with the rest of the butter, garlic and herbs. Squeeze the milk out of the bread and add to shallot mix.
Dice the sweetbreads and add to bread mix with the butter from the pan and one egg.
Combine well and season generously with salt and black pepper.
The Lamb
Lay the lamb out flat, skin side down, with a sheet of cling film underneath.
Season the meat well, and lightly flatten with a mallet. Pack the stuffing onto
the backstrap. Carefully roll the whole piece starting from the backstrap end, so that
you have a 'log' with the stuffing in the middle and the belly flap around the outside.
Roll tightly in cling film, twice, then again in tin foil , making sure there are no holes
for liquid to get in or out. Steam the whole piece for two hours then let rest for 20 minutes
before carving portion size pieces off.
Caponata
Peel the eggplants and cut into 1cm cubes, fry over a high heat in a lttle olive oil
wth plenty of seasoning and keep aside. Gently saute the diced red onion and garlic
until soft and clear. Add the sugar and vinegar and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Add tomato and capers and tip over the eggplant, finsh with basil.
Sauce
Melt butter into a large pot, add the flour and cook untl it looks sandy, add the tomato paste,
mix well, then add the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock, skim and simmer until the liquid
reaches a sauce consistency )about 600mls left). Finish the sauce by straining, returning to the heat
and whisking in the lamb fat.
To assemble the dish
Warm the caponata in a small pan, place a generous amount on a plate. Place a disc of the lamb
next to the eggplant (you may warm the lamb gently in the oven with a small amount of olive oil
on top). Coat the lamb with 60-80ml of warm sauce. Finish the plate with roughly torn basil and sea salt.
Mary's Lamb Meat Balls
2 slices of bread
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
5 pitted prunes or 1 apple
bunch of coriander
400g lean lamb mince
1 tblsp ground cumin
pine nuts (optional)
pepper and salt
Crumble bread in blender and set aside in large bowl.
Peel and chop onion and garlic and chop coriander including the stalks
and blend with the prunes very finely.
Add to large bowl with the bread crumbs. Add to this the lamb mince, ground cumin,
pine nuts, salt and pepper.
Mix all ingredients well with your hands. Form the mixture into small balls.
Heat good olive oil in pan and lightly brown the balls in batches cooking for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile in large saucepan heat two jars of good quality pasta sauce or tomato passata to bubbling.
Add meat balls and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with buttery mashed potato or couscous. Shower with shaved parmesan.
Kids love these lttle balls cold for school lunches!
Barbequed Leg of Lamb with Thai Green Spices (Serves 4)
Recipe © Jamie Oliver (www.jamieoliver.com)
Ingredients
for the marinade:
10 kaffir lime leaves, torn
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks of lemon grass, trimmed and roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
a bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked
2 green chillies, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 2 limes
for the lamb:
1 x 2-2.5kg leg of lamb, butterflied (ask your butcher to do this for you)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and chopped
optional: juice of 1 lime
METHOD
This is one of the very first barbeque dinner party dishes I ever cooked. The green Thai flavours build up layer of fragrant flavour.
Most people seem to have got the hang of fast cooking on the BBQ but it's great for slow cooked melting dishes too. When it comes to
cooking big pieces of meat like a shoulder of lamb or a whole chicken or a big brisket of beef on the BBQ, unless you have a cool BBQ
which you can control and keep an eye on it's often safest to start off the cooking in the oven and finish it on the BBQ to get that
lovely charred crust.
Preheat your oven to 170¡C/325¡F/gas 3. Place the kaffir lime leaves, ginger, lemon grass, garlic, most of the coriander and
chillies into a large pestle and mortar or a food processor and bash or pulse until you have a thick, fragrant, green paste.
Stir in the olive oil and the lime juice.
Rub the marinade all over the lamb, making sure you get into all the nooks and crannies. Most of it will fall off during cooking, but
it will still give the meat the most fantastic flavour. Season the lamb well and place it in a roasting tray. Cover with tinfoil and pop it
in the preheated oven for about an hour.
After half an hour or so, light your BBQ so the flames have a chance to die down nicely. Make sure you have coals piled up high
on one side so it's super hot and low on the other side for a more gentle heat to give you some control. Take the lamb out of the
oven and cut or break it into a few big chunks, this way it'll be much easier to handle.
Place the lamb on the hot side of the barbie with the tray with all its juices on the cooler side. Squeeze a bit more lime juice into
the tray if you like Ð you want the acidity to be like a mint sauce. Turn the meat regularly, basting it in the juices from the tray as
you go. This will give you a nice, dark crust. Give the meat about 10 minutes like this, to build up the colour.
Once your meat is done, remove it to a board, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest. Pour the coconut milk into the tray and
allow it to bubble for a couple of minutes until thickened.
Carve your lamb into chunky slices. Serve the sliced lamb with the Thai sauce, sprinkled with chopped chilli and the remaining
oriander. An absolute showstopper.
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