Stuffed Lamb Shoulder

Hi there friends! I know it’s been a long time and I can’t really say anything other than, I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post. To say I’ve been busy is an excuse but truthfully I just needed a wee bit of a break. That being said, I’m posting one of my all time favorite lamb dishes tonight. Stuffed lamb shoulder with Waldorf salad on the side.

Here’s the inventory you’ll need to make a mind-blowing lamb supper:

• 1.6 kg boneless lamb shoulder
• 1 cup of English Parsley
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp pine nuts (lightly toasted in a dry pan)
• 1/3 cup of sun-dried cherry tomatos in olive oil (drained)
• 2 tbsp capers (rinsed under cold water)
• 1 small tin of sardines in oil
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup of dijon mustard
• kosher salt/freshly ground black pepper to coat
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried oregano (all 3 dried ingredients pounded to a pulp with your mortar and pestle!)

Now here’s what you’ll need to do:

Combine the parsley, garlic, pine nutes, tomatos, capers and sardines in a food processor. Pulse it about 6-10 times in short bursts. You want to keep the stuffing pretty chunky as opposed to runny and liquid-like. Once done, unwrap your lamb shoulder from the butcher’s net in comes in. You’ll re-tie the lamb shoulder later with your trusty butchers twine (which of course I didn’t have on hand so I improvised…) Spread the stuffing generously across the lamb and carefully wrap it back up as close to what it looked like before. This is where two pairs of hands really come in handy! Take your butcher’s twine and tie it up nice and tight. Nothing fancy required, just make sure the shoulder doesn’t fall apart on you. We wrapped the shoulder up in cling film and popped it back in the fridge for another hour or so.

Meanwhile, get your grill up to ludicrous temperature and get ready to sear your lamb shoulder on all sides. Careful now as the flames will get pretty intense so a long pair of tongs and a fireproof set of gauntlets really come in handy. Coat the shoulder in olive oil and give it a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then, on to the grill and make sure you get a nice sear all over the lamb and once done, then simply set it aside. Now comes the crucial part….add your plate setter (if using a BGE) or make sure your grill is set up for indirect grilling. I plonked in the plate setter and reduced the temperature to about 400 F (dome.)

As the Egg was settling down, I re-tied the shoulder where the twine had singed off (always get quality twine!) and then I spread the dijon mustard all over the shoulder. Then, sprinkled the dried herbs all over and finally I placed the shoulder into a greased v-rack and onto the grid (which sat on top of the plate setter, legs down.)

For this lamb I went purely by temperature. Using my trusty iGrill thermometer, I set the internal temperature alarm at 155 degrees F. To reach this temperature, it took right about 1.5 hours at 400 F. At the sound of the bell, I took the lamb shoulder off and covered it loosely with aluminium foil and let it rest for a full 10 minutes.

The result? A gorgeous crust, a lip smacking stuffing and lamb that was as tender as tender could be! Simple, tasty and nothing better for a Sunday roast dinner!

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It’s good to be back!

Overall Heather Rating: 9/10

“Killer” Cherry Smoked Leg ‘O Lamb

Hi all, a very happy Diwali to one and all! Yes, today we celebrate the festival of lights here in Singapore and that means that I have a holiday Tuesday to update the blog with this post.

This past Sunday we had two dear friends over for a lamb roast. Now we’ve done plenty of lamb roasts but none quite as tasty as this one. So, without a whole heap of photos, here’s what you’ll need to do to make quite possibly the tastiest boneless leg of lamb on your grill/smoker!

You’ll need to plan ahead for this recipe – by at least 12-24 hours if you can. The leg of lamb will require a marinade/paste for at least 12 hours to get what can only be described as an out of this world taste.

For the marinade you’ll need:

• 4-5 solid “glugs” of quality olive oil
• 2 Tbsp dried thyme
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (chopped) and save another 3 or 4 long sprigs for later
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
• 2 Tbsp dried marjoram
• 1 Tsp ground cumin
• 4 garlic cloves (minced) then set aside another 3 cloves thinly sliced
• Zest of one lemon
• A squeeze of half a lemon
• 1 Tbsp quality balsamic vinegar

Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl and mix well – I did it by hand so that I was able to crush the fresh herbs and garlic, releasing all that yummy flavour! Now take your boneless leg of lamb and give it a quick rinse and pat it dry with some kitchen roll (paper towel!) Now take a really sharp knife and make a number of deep but small incisions. Stuff a sliver of garlic and some rosemary inside. Try and go as deep as you can without tearing the a massive hole into your lamb. Careful here and you’ll be just fine!

Once done, plonk the leg of lamb into a large zip top bag and pour the marinade (a thick pasty thing) into the bag. Now make sure you cover all of the leg. Massage the bag ensuring you get a good even cover. Now pop the bag onto a plate and into the fridge for the next 12 hours.

OK, fast forward and you’re ready to get your lamb on! First, get your lamb out of the fridge and get the temperature up to as close to room temp as you can. In the meantime prep your smoker/grill.  I used our trusty BGE and this is how I set her up.

• Fire up the Egg to a target temperature of 300 degrees F (130C)
• Plate setter in, legs up
• Cherry wood chips (once the charcoal is lit and settled)
• Drip pan under the rack
• V-Rack for the lamb leg

Lightly oil your v-rack with some vegetable oil  and then remove your lamb from the bag and place your leg of lamb on it, fatty side up. Smush all the herbs and oil out of the bag and onto the leg. Close the lid on your smoker/grill and let the magic happen for the next few hours.

Using my trusty iGrill, I set the target internal temperature for 155 F and the ambient temperature at a stable 300 F. I didn’t bother timing it but the length was about 3.5 hours. Again, I used the internal temperature as my gauge and not time (a far better measure if you ask me but one that peeves my wife when she asks, “when are you going to be done?”

Once you hit the target temperature of 155F, take the lamb leg off the rack and wrap it in aluminium foil and a tea towel. Let that sit for at least 10 minutes to redistribute the juices.

At this point, we prepped the salad, potatoes and pita bread eagerly awaiting the carving of one of Mary’s little ones…The result? Absolute killer and the reason why I wanted to post the secret marinade for everyone to have a crack at. Don’t forget to use all the drippings from the lamb as a gravy! Don’t waste an ounce of this stuff….it’s pure gold!

Sorry, no detailed photos of this one, save for the one I took with my iPad. I wasn’t planning on an entry but the result was so good that I just had to.

Enjoy!

Overall Heather Rating: 10/10

“Levi Had a Little Lamb…”

Over this past weekend I connected via Facebook with an old friend that moved from tropical Singapore to not so tropical Saskatchewan and so I wanted to dedicate this post to him and his crew….Levi, this ones for you. (Besides, I kept singing “Levi had a little lamb….” as I was cooking this wee beastie!)

OK, so simplicity reigns supreme with this recipe. Get yourself a 1.8 kg boneless leg of lamb from your local butcher. Ours was purchased at QB, which incidentally has become my new favorite place for meat.  You just can’t beat the prices there!

Anyway, bring your lamb up to room temperature and simply stab it repeatedly with a small but sharp little knife. In the incisions, insert a sliver of garlic and a 1″ sprig of fresh rosemary. Once done, get your extra virgin olive oil ready and smear the leg, coating it on all sides. Then, as a final touch season with fresh black pepper and some Kosher salt.

Prep your Big Green Egg like this:

• Stabilize the temperature (for direct cooking) at 300 degrees F
• Place the leg of lamb into a V-rack and into a roasting pan
• Put the roasting pan, rack and lamb right onto the hot grates and let the magic begin.

A leg of lamb this size will take 2.5 hours or until the internal temperature hits 140 degrees F.  Once the thermometer “pings” – wrap the roast in aluminium foil and a tea towel and let it rest for a full ten minutes.

Carve and serve…

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Overall Heather Rating: 8/10 

Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb & Alex’s Crème Brûlée

It’s Sunday night roast time at the Matla house and we’ve decided to go with a slow roasted rosemary and garlic leg of lamb.  Lamb is one of these dishes that need not be overly complicated.  In fact, the simpler the better.

I picked up a 1.7kg bone in leg of lamb from the lads up at The Butcher this morning, brought it home and prepped the joint with fresh rosemary from the garden, 5 cloves of garlic, a good helping of extra virgin olive oil, Kosher salt and a good grinding of freshly ground pepper.

Simply take a sharp knife and make about 20 incisions deep enough to house a slice of garlic and a 1/2″ spring of fresh rosemary. The incisions should go around the joint and should be evenly spaced to allow for the maximum flavour penetration when you grill.  Now drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and season with Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper. I then placed the joint in a dish and wrapped it with cling film.  Popped it into the fridge until about 35 minutes before grilling time!

Set your grill up for direct heat at 300 degrees Fahrenheit however before you go on for the long haul, sear your joint on each side when the fire is nice and piping hot. This only takes a few minutes and then you can work your temperature down to 300 F and place your joint into a v-rack and a drip pan covered in alumunium  foil and then in the middle of the grate.  Let the magic happen (without peeking) for about 2 hours or until you reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove the joint and cover it with an aluminium foil tent for at least 10 minutes before you carve it up!

Along with the lamb, we served up some grilled vegetables, mint yoghurt and a triple herb infused flat bread. The grilled veggies included carrots, green pepper, yellow onions and whole garlic while the flat bread contained fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano from the front garden.  Yum!

Triple Herb Flatbread

• 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup warm water
• 250g plain flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  

Combine your olive oil and water separately and set aside. Process flour, salt and rosemary, thyme and oregano in a food processor. Slowly pour the olive oil and water mixture into the flour until the mixture forms a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until smooth. Once done, place the dough into a bowl covered with a dry cloth and set aside for about 30 minutes.

To finish the flatbread, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each one into a ball. Roll out each ball on a floured work surface until they’re very thin. Heat a small cast iron pan over a medium heat and dry fry the bread for 3 minutes on each side until golden. Transfer the bread to a roasting dish lined with foil, brush with melted butter and keep warm in the oven until needed.

To top tonight’s feast, our son Alex insisted on making his own crème brûlée following the Food Network’s very own Alton Brown’s recipe. He’s really shaping up to be quite the cook at 13 and hopefully by the time he’s 21, he’ll be a natural in any kitchen!  Cheers and bon apetite!

Overall Heather Rating: 9/10

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Lamburgers (for the lads at The Butcher!)

In hopes of getting a huge discount, I’m dedicating this blog entry to the always nutty folks at The Butcher located on 44 Jalan Merah Saga right in the heart of Chip Bee Gardens in Singapore. The lads there are always ready for a bit of banter and they consistently provide good suggestions when it comes to grilling different cuts of meat.  I left the guys our blog address to have a peek…so if you’re reading boys, I need a discount on all the charcoal I buy from you!

Anyway I digress, last night being a lazy Friday night, I walked up to The Butcher and grabbed 6 pre-made lamb burger patties – they’re a wonderful blend of lamb mince, rosemary and mint.

Once at home I set the BGE at 400 degrees F, and the burgs were done perfectly at 4 minutes per side. I let them rest for about 3 minutes under some aluminium foil and a tea towel.  Once ready to serve, we cut up some homemade buns, added a bit of Brett’s salad and a couple of big russet potatoes.

Juicy is the operative word when it comes to these lamburgers!  The Big Green Egg simply doesn’t dry anything out and as a result, we had the best “lamburgers” money can buy.

To the boys at The Butcher, as always, thanks lads and see you next weekend for more charcoal! – Roman

PS – BIG THANKS to our guests for the evening, auntie Barbara and uncle Brett.  We had a great day and looking forward to brunch and hockey tomorrow morning!  GO VANCOUVER!

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Teriyaki Lamb fit for Royalty

Hi everyone! It’s been a few weeks since our last post and that’s because we were galavanting across Europe for the past few weeks.  We took a rest from the egg but did manage to put on a few pounds with all the delicious grub we had between England, Germany and Scotland.  The following post is added with love and adoration for two folks in Wokingham, England that went out of their way to prepare a dish that up until two days ago, I thought was the best beef roast I’d ever had.  Turns out it was lamb…so much for being a foodie!

Ali and Craig Brown were kind enough to share this recipe and I of course want to pass it on to you… thanks guys, that was some dinner!

Ingredients

• 1.5kg boned leg of lamb
• Medium sized onion cut
• Teriyaki sauce-(home made or from a bottle)

Method

• Open up the piece of lamb to make sure that it is approximately the same thickness overall to ensure even cooking times.
• Lay the onions on a non-stick baking dish with their cut sides facing skywards. Place the lamb in the dish, surrounded by the onions. Drizzle the Teriyaki sauce over the meat and rub it all over with your hands.  Leave to marinate for as long as possible.  We try and leave it overnight for best results.
• Take it out of the fridge approximately half an hour before cooking.
• Fire up the barbecue and wait until the coals have turned white
• Add the whole piece of meat plus any onions that you want to roast in the middle of the heat.
• Keep an eye on the meat and keep turning it.  It should take approximately 30 minutes to cook.

Salad Ingredients -(This recipe is great as you can add any salad ingredients that you like or have in your fridge.)

• Tomatoes
• Spinach and/or lettuce
• Celery
• Pepper
• Cucumber
• Feta cheese
• Beetroot
• Bulgar wheat (cous cous or quinoa can also be used.)

Method

• Cut peppers into quarters, drizzle with olive oil and roast. (Chili flakes, if you like a bit of a bite!)
• In a pan, cook up approx. 200g bulgar wheat with lime juice and balsamic vinegar and water.  I sometimes use a vegetable stock cube instead of the lime juice/vinegar to add more depth.  This should take around 10-12 minutes.
• Whilst waiting for the bulgar wheat, cut up the salad ingredients and put into a big bowl.
• Place the roasted peppers and bulgar wheat on the top of the salad to allow it to wilt the salad underneath.  After a couple of minutes, mix through.
• Add fresh coriander, lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Will definitely give this recipe a try and report back! Ali, Craig…thanks again for the recipe and sharing it with the world! Note, I didn’t post the cheesecake recipe as that would be entirely selfless!

R&H

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Celebrating Failure…

I once heard an executive say we should acknowledge our efforts but equally celebrate our failures!  That didn’t really ring true for me until last night. I boasted and bragged (and perhaps this is why) about our Big Green Egg and how fantastic it is.  Well in truth it is, but sometimes the cook can be the weak link in the chain!

I decided to try a simple lamb recipe from Wise One Recipes and well, let’s just say that ALWAYS USE YOUR INTUITION AND GUT FEEL WHEN IT COMES TO GRILLING!  I’ll post the ingredients and process but let me tell you that I will never, ever, ever cook on this egg over 500 degrees again!

• 10 lamb loin chops, cut 11⁄4 inch thick
• 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 6 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• Freshly Ground Pepper Salt (I use sea salt)

The Marinade

Mince the garlic finely.  Heat the oil in a small frying pan until hot but not smoking. Add the rosemary and several grinds of pepper to the oil, remove from the heat. Strain the rosemary sprigs out of the oil, the oil will retain enough rosemary flavor. Add the balsamic vinegar, mustard, and garlic to the oil. Stir until blended.

The Lamb

Trim the chops to your liking and place in a non-reactive bowl. Pour the marinade over the lamb, working it into the meat. Marinate for an hour or so, or overnight in the refrigerator. If marinated in the refrigerator, allow them to come to room temperature before cooking.

The Fire (now this is where it ALL went very wrong!!!!)

Fire up the Big Green Egg to 700° (Don’t do this!  Fire it up to a nice medium heat of around 400F -

The Cooking (Get everything ready to work quickly, have a pair of good tongs available)

Remove the lamb from the marinade, leaving a thin coating of oil with some of the garlic.  Sear the lamb on each side for about two minutes. (at 700 degrees two minutes killed the chops!) Close top and bottom dampers to barely open and roast the chops for an additional twenty minutes. (20 minutes if you want your lamb to resemble the soles of your shoes!)
A read with a quick check thermometer should show about 125° for rare and about 140° for medium to medium-well. Ha, ha, ha – when I put in the instant read thermometer, it went off the charts and wailed a warning that the chops were already at 200 F internal temp – they hadn’t been 0n the grill for more than 4 minutes!

Lesson learned – don’t ever boast and cook for friends, particularly when you pick a new recipe.  I’ve been burned before and those of you who remember my salt-cured beef…need I say more!

So in the spirit of that executive, yeah, yippeeee, hurray….dinner sucked last night!

R

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Lamb Chops with Honey Lemon Glaze

Friday night dinner is always a favorite for us here at the Matla house!  This past Friday we decided that simple was the way to go so we popped down to the local grocer and picked up four small lamb chops.  Not the best cut (a little too much fat) but hey ho, they were cheap and ended up delicious given a recipe I found on the Fearless Kitchen Website – http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/big_green_egg_recipes/

Chops

4 lamb  chops Several sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
Sea salt
Fearless Greek Rub (Note: This will make more than you need. Save the rest for use on lamb, chicken, or turkey. It works great on all of them)
3 tablespoons kosher salt, 3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Honey-Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 Serrano chili, finely minced 3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Cooking instructions:
1. Combine the ingredients for the honey-lemon glaze in a bowl, and whisk thoroughly

2. Apply the Fearless Greek Rub to all sides of the chops. You can apply it up to two hours before
cooking, if desired. (Love this rub!)

3. Prepare your grill for cooking. Set up for direct cooking at lava temperature to sear the lamb.  Once done (and no more than 60 seconds per side) adjust the egg dome temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit and put the meat back in to set the glaze. Its a little more work but well worth it.  I also used the multi-tiered rack to achieve the sear but the above method works equally well.

4. Brush both sides of the chops with the glaze, close the lid, and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes. Apply another coat of glaze, flip the chops, and let cook for another 2 minutes. This should give you medium-rare chops. Adjust timing for your preference.

6. Remove the chops from the grill. Put on a platter, pour the remaining glaze over the chops, and sprinkle with the fresh thyme and sea salt.

We threw together a simple garden salad with homemade chef’s salad dressing (similar to a Thousand Island but better…) and a couple of baked potatoes.  Nothing simpler and nothing tastier! Enjoy! R&H

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