BBQ rack of venison (lamb) with saffron and roasted peppers cous cous

From Waitrose recipes
Serves 3 or 4
Ingredients:

2 New Zealand Racks of Venison, each with 3 or 4 ribs
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
200g essential Waitrose Couscous,
Large pinch saffron
1 chicken stock cube
280g jar Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Chargrilled Peppers in Olive Oil, drained and cut into thin strips
25g pack fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 Place the venison in a large dish, add the rosemary, olive oil and lemon zest and juice and rub in well. Leave to marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, place the couscous, saffron and stock cube in a heatproof bowl and add 350ml boiling water. Stir well and set aside for 5 minutes until the water is absorbed and the couscous is tender.

3 Remove the venison racks from the marinade then barbecue them over hot coals or under a preheated grill for 10–12 minutes on each side until crusty and well browned but still pink in the centre. Leave
to rest for 5 minutes before carving into cutlets.

4 Stir the peppers and parsley into the couscous. Serve with the venison.

Lamb chops with black olives and chilli

From Nigella Express
Serves 4
Ingredients

Ingredients

12 lamb rib chops
4 tablespoon(s) olive oil (plus 2 tablespoons for frying)
3 clove(s) garlic (peeled and sliced)
1 teaspoon(s) dried chilli
1 teaspoon(s) oregano
1 small lemon juice (zest and juice)
1 teaspoon(s) maldon salt (or ½ teaspoon table salt)
15 black olives (pitted and sliced)
1 long red chilli pepper (deseeded and finely sliced (optional))

Method

Layer the rib chops between clingfilm and flatten gently with a rolling pin or mallet. Unwrap and place the chops in a large dish, so that they all fit in a single layer.
Pour the 4 tablespoons of oil over the chops and add the sliced garlic, chilli flakes, oregano, lemon zest and juice. Sprinkle with the salt and the olives, then turn the rib chops in the marinade so that both sides are coated.
Cover and leave the lamb to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy-based frying pan, and add the chops, scraping off the marinade before you put them in the pan. (Reserve the marinade.) Fry them for a couple of minutes a side on quite a high heat so that they take on some colour.
Turn the heat down to medium and pour the reserved marinade into the pan over the now coloured chops. Add 2 tablespoons or so of water and cook for about 5 minutes for rare cutlets or a little longer if you like your lamb well done (this will also depend on the thickness of the chops).
Transfer the chops to a serving plate, pour over the juices from the pan and sprinkle with the chopped red chilli, should you feel like enhancing the dried chilli with the pep of fresh.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of Nigella’s recipes. They tend to be simple and not inspiring unlike Jamie Oliver who always has a few tricks up his sleeves.That said, this lamb chops recipe works wonderfully well, good combination of hot and savoury.

As the sides, I added some cherry tomatoes to the frying pan, to cook it a bit. And I chopped up some potatoes, added thyme, salt and olive oil, and roasted it in my toaster oven for around 40 minutes. Good combination.

Lamb Shank with Marsala Wine

Lamb shank served with brown rice and brocollini stir fried with garlic

Garlicky Marsala Shanks (Adapted from BigOven)

2 lamb shanks, about a pound or so
Seasalt and freshly grounded black pepper
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
10 cloves of garlic, peeled, bruised and leave as it is
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cooking Marsala Wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary + 1 small bay leaf
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 to 2 tsp good quality balsamic vinegar

Trim excess fat (if any) from the shanks and give it a good shake of salt and pepper. Rub well to coat and brown them with the olive oil until they are evenly brown on all sides.

Add in the bruised garlic and continue cooking until light brown. Be careful not to burn it.

Combine in a jug the chicken broth, Marsala, dried rosemary, dried bay leaf and the tomato paste. Stir to dissolve the tomaoto paste. Add into the shanks and bring to boil.

Lower heat to simmering point and cover on with heavy glass lid. Simmer it for an hour or more until meat almost falls off bone. Add in some chicken broth and wine if necessary if liquid is evaporating too quickly.

Remove shanks, set aside to keep warm. Turn on heat to high and boil for 5mins to thicken the gravy. When gravy appears thicker, whisk in the butter and balsamic vinegar.

Pour the sauce over the shanks and serve immediately.

I bought a bottle of marsala wine some time ago to make Tiramisu but I never got down to making it. So I’m determined to finish the bottle instead of buying any other wine. So when I got a lamb shank from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that I was part of (I’ve since gotten 2 more lamb shanks), I trawled the internet for a recipe that uses Marsala wine.

This recipe is delicious and I loved the garlicky taste. I did not add in the butter to finish the sauce because I wanted to make it healthier, which explained why my sauce looked thinner. Also, upon re-reading the recipe, I realised I forgot to add in the balsamic vinegar. Well, maybe that would have made the recipe even better. I will try again next time round.

Greek-style lamb koftas

From Waitrose
Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 x 250g essential Waitrose Lamb Lean Mince (10% fat)
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon

12 bamboo skewers

Method

Preheat the grill or barbecue. Mix together the mince, oregano, coriander, lemon zest and seasoning. Divide the mixture into 12 and squeeze around 12 skewers.

Grill the lamb koftas for 10–12 minutes, turning occasionally until well browned and cooked through. Serve the koftas in warm pittas with salad leaves.

Heston’s Lamb with tapenade

From Waitrose recipes

Ingredients

340g jar Waitrose Whole Black Natural Olives in brine (not pitted), washed
142g jar Cooks’ Ingredients Nonpareille Capers, drained
100g jar Waitrose Anchovy Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
20g pack mint, leaves only
25g pack basil, leaves only
6 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for cooking
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
8 pieces of essential Waitrose British lamb (shoulder, loin or rack chops or leg steaks)

Method

For the tapenade, remove the stones from the black olives by placing them on a baking tray with another baking tray on top. Roll the top tray back and forth until the flesh separates. Place it in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients, except the lamb and the 1 tbsp of oil. Blitz together until a thick paste is formed.
Place the tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a high heat until it is smoking hot. Add the lamb and flip over every 15–20 seconds until cooked to medium rare (3–5 minutes approximately) or to your liking, before leaving it to rest for 5 minutes. Spread some of the tapenade on top of the lamb pieces and serve. Alternatively, barbecue the lamb and spoon over a dollop of tapenade while it is still warm.

Yums! Making tapenade is so simple. Just dump the ingredients into the blender and blitz it! The tapenade goes really well with the lamb; it’s strong enough to complement the taste of the lamb.

You can watch how Heston Blu does it here

Saucy summer lamb

Taken from 101 One-Pot Dishes
Serves 8

Ingredients

1 can of chopped tomatoes
1.25 kg cubed lamb shoulder
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
290g jar artichoke hearts in oil, drained
large handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Season the lamb. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat heat and fry the lamb in batches until browned. Put to one side. Lower the heat, add the remaining oil and the onion to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes until softened.

Return the lamb to the pan and stir in the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and splash in some hot water to cover the meat. Put the lid on and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the lamb is tender. Stir in the artichokes and mint, heat through and season to taste.

Lamb chops with red onion and balsamic vinegar

Taken from Sophie Grigson, BBC recipes

Ingredients

1 red onion, chopped
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped savory or 1 tsp chopped tarragon or rosemary
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 double lamb chops, or any other large, chunky lamb chops
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Mix the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and one tablespoon of the oil in a heavy ovenproof frying pan.
3. Cook over a fairly gentle heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft. Don’t rush this stage, it should take about 15 minutes or more.
4. Take off the heat and add the herbs, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a second frying pan and swiftly brown the chops on both sides.
6. Lay them on the cooked vegetables, season with salt and pepper and transfer to the oven for 5-10 minutes, depending how you like your meat cooked.
7. Serve hot, making sure each chop is accompanied by some vegetables and juices

This is a very simple recipe for lamb chops, and I would highly recommend it to my brother if he is ever in the mood for lamb (Don’t bother with the fresh herbs (i.e. rosemary, tarragon) if you don’t have it). This really brings out the natural flavours of the lamb and the balsamic vinegar – vegetable mixture helps to balance the meaty taste of the lamb that some people dislike.

Marinated lamb with rosemary / Roasted rosemary potatoes / Grilled tomatoes

Marinated lamb with rosemary 

Ingredients

4 large lamb leg steaks
2 tbsp of chopped rosemary
2 cloves of garlic

Put the lamb in a shallow, non-metallic dish. Mix 3 tbsp of olive oil with the rosemary and some salt and pepper. Pour over the lamb and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover and chill for up to 8 hours

Heat oil in frying pan. Fry the lamb for 5-6 minutes on each side, until slightly pink in the centre. Add the marinade and cook for 1-2 minutes until warmed through. Serve

Roasted rosemary potatoes

Ingredients

1/3 cup of extra virgin oil
750g floury potatoes, cut into 4 cm cubes
long sprig of rosemary
sea salt

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Pour the oil into a shallow baking tray. Toss the potato into the casserole. turning to coat thoroughly in oil, then spread out so that the pieces aren’t touching. Scatter the rosemary leaves over the potatoes

Roast for 30 minutes, then turn and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Return to the oven and roast for another 30-40 minutes, or until crisp and golden

Grilled tomatoes

Ingredients

Cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp of chopped parsley

Place the tomatoes on a baking tray. Add the garlic, olive oil and parsley and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Put the tomatoes under the grill and cook for 6 minutes.

This is my christmas eve dinner, simple home cooking.