A true “con-fusion” cuisine dish, this one came out of my craving for very traditional British cooking, but with a little Mediterranean flair.
I adore beautifully cooked lamb dishes. The problem is that so many of them aren’t. While there is nothing better than a traditional British lamb “Sunday roast”, all too often the lamb is hacked into slices that are too thick and served with less than appetising side dishes, even though the core tenets of the dish are genuinely exquisite.
So I came up with this variant. To some extent, it’s actually your bog-standard British lamb roast, but with a little French flair here or a Spanish gesture there.
This dish serves two to three adult diners, depending on appetite. Your primary school arithmetic will enable you to scale up as necessary…
Shopping list
the lamb
I used a rolled lamb breast of about 500g bought from a local butcher, though other boneless cuts can also work well
3 cloves of garlic, peeled but not cut
3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
The fresh zest of ½ a lemon
Approx. 2 tbspns unsalted butter
A standard glass of red wine
4 or 5 thick spring onions, sliced, or 2 echalion shallots
Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste
For this particular recipe, what works best is that it's a boneless cut of lamb without too much excess fat or with out any bells and whistles, i.e. not something heavily marinated.
for the mushroom 'cottage pie'
6 or 7 small-to-medium new potatoes, boiled and peeled
Approx. 150 to 175g of chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced in a rustic manner
1 red onion, finely diced
4 tbspns cubed "young" chorizo
4 tabspns of mature cheese (cheddar, parmesan, manchego, etc.), finely grated
2 tbspns unsalted butter
A generous dash of red wine
for the "green"
170g broccoli. I went for a purple sprouting heritage variety, but any tender-stem or bog-standard variety works very well. Or, indeed, any fresh veggie that has a little "bite back" such as fresh green beans
for the jus (and alternatives)
4 handsome sprigs of fresh mint, washed
Cooking Method
the lamb
If refrigerated, "rest" the lamb so that it is fully returned to room temperature
While quintessentially English on one level ,much of the method I recommend "are most decidedly French, Sir". Start by bringing the butter to a sizzling, golden loveliness in a frying pan at a high heat
When the butter is on the cusp of browning, add the lamb roll. Allow the initial surface to seal for at least 3 or 3 mins. While this is happening, add the whole peeled cloves of garlic and sliced spring onions/shallots. Stir the ingredients to either side of the lamb to prevent burning, but do not be worried about the lamb: if it blackens on the outside slightly, all the better
Turn the lamb to seal/brown the other side. Add the rosemary either side of the meat. Keep stirring the vegetable elements, adding a dash of wine if the butter has blackened before the juices from the lamb add extra moisture to the pan
Turning the lamb through a sequence of ensuring the whole surface is sealed, pour in the red wine, bit-by-bit, allowing the liquid to stir off and stirring the rough vegetable material (don't worry if it appears rather ugly)
When the lamb is entirely sealed (if may also appear to have absorbed a little of the red wine colour) and you have "soaked" in a full glass of red wine, remove from the heat
Decant from the pan into an ungreased (ideally ceramic) oven-proof baking dish. Scoop all of the cooked vegetable matter out of the frying pan and place it in the dish, pushing it up against the sides of the lamb. Place 2 or 3 fresh sprigs over the top of the lamb and cook in an oven, on a low heat
In an ideal world, cook this dish for two hours on a low heat. In the real world, you can do it in an hour, even faster with a good convection of halogen oven. The most important thing is to ensure that you turn it regularly so that, although the outer surfaces may "toast" (blacken, even) the interior will remain succulent and moist while achieving a cooking temperature of at least 145°F/63°C for at least 30 consecutive minutes. That will reduce your risk of anything nasty. Think of it as the Sunday roast's homage to a good kebab
the mushroom "cottage pie"
As soon as your lamb is safely in the oven, turn your attention to this important side dish Using the same pan used to seal the lamb, remove any excess "matter", but do not wash the dish.
Add 1 tbspn of butter and bring it to bubbling on a mid-to-high heat. Add the diced onion and sweat. If it seems a little "dry", add extra butter, bit-by-bit. You basically want to make sure the onions are properly and easily sweated before the next stage
Add the cubed "young" chorizo, stirring the ingredients regularly, allowing the flavours and juices of the chorizo to meld with the onions. This should take about 4 or 5 mins
Add the chunky slices of mushrooms and stir in. The water content of the mushrooms should bring extra moisture to the pan. Stirring regularly, ensure that the mushrooms are sautéed until al dente, but not entirely browned. Remove from the heat and allow to rest
Now, turn your attention to the potatoes. Mash them, using a little extra butter for lubrication if needed. Stir in the majority of your finely grated chees of preference. But, hey, you may even have done this the day before
Spoon the mushroom/chorizo mixture into individual ramekins or a larger baking dish. Overlay with the mashed potato ( you could even knock yourself out by piping it on with a an icing bag) and finally sprinkling on the remaining cheese
Bake the "cottage pies" during the last 20 mins of cooking the lamb before serving. If you need to, finish under a hot grill to ensure the cheese-potato crust is suitably browned
the final bits
Your broccoli (or other greens) is easily cooked just before taking to table. I personally prefer my fool-proof microwave steamer method. This involves cooking it on a medium power for exactly 6mins in one of my beloved Japanese microwave steamers. You'll find your own sweet spot. The important thing is that it requires no extra effort
There are basically a couple of sauce options for this one. My personal favourite is this herb jus one:
In a small saucepan, heat a tbspn of butter, simultaneously adding all of the juices and "detritus" from the lamb roasting pan
Add a dash of white wine (it can be from the bottle you've left at the back of the fridge for a week) and and allow it to reduce. As it does so, throw in a handful of fresh mint
Add freshly ground black pepper to taste and a half-teaspoon of a "sel saveur" (e.g. piment d'Espelette).
Stir and reduce. If you've got it right, it should be a herbal but extremely tart version of a jus. Drain through a sieve and directly dress the lamb with it
Alternatively, go for the classic English mint sauce, which has its own unique flavour properties. The basic recipe (below) should be prepared at least 90 mins before serving and basically, nothing could be easier: pour the boiling water over the chopped mint mixed with sugar (or honey) and mix in; add the vinegar and remaining ingredients just before serving.
1 large bunch fresh mint
1.5 tbspns sugar ( or honey)
5 tbspns boiling water
3 tbspns (white wine) vinegar
a dab of dark soy and a little miso. Yes, I know they're not traditional, but nor am I
Variations
Sorry, much as I would love to pretend to be creative enough to have a veggie or vegan dish based on lamb, it is what it is.
That said, I'm already musing lyrically on where a veggie riff on this "cottage pie" might go... Watch this space.
Pairings
This is a new dish for me, "invented" and tasted for the first time yesterday on a whim. But, my gut instinct went straight to South African pinotage becasuse, let's be frank, Cape Malay cooking does lamb better than anyone else.
I didn't have access to my beloved Simonsig pinotages, but I'm glad to report that the quotidian bottle from the local Co-Op, with its feel-good benefits of being a fair trade wine did not let the side down.
Karel, as always, will educate and edify us on the real aspirations this dish could have.
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