Tuesday 19 March 2013

March 2013 - Slow Roast Lamb with tomato & garlic crust

So delicious. has brought their Italian issue out a couple of months early this year. I have found a lot of recipes in the issue that I want to make, in fact I have already made three, however my previous criticism still stands. It is time for an issue dedicated to and another cuisine. I would love to see an issue dedicated to something a little bit different. I am not sure exactly what but they are a talented bunch at delicious. I am sure they could work something out.

As I said there are a number of recipes that I want to make from this issue. One of which is Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower risotto with chilli pangrattato. It seems to be an unusual combination I would never have thought of putting cauliflower in risotto.

Another recipe that I am planning to try, hopefully this coming weekend, is from the month's guest chef Marie Zarro. It is her Braised pork with leek & ribiola mash. I will have to do the suggested substitute of a combination of ricotta and mascarpone in place of the ribiola as there is no possibility of getting that here but at least a suggested substitute was given. It sounds like it will be wonderfully decadent. I am also keen to make her brutti ma buoni (ugly but delicious) They are basically a meringue with hazelnuts and some cocoa powder. It reminds me of cookies that my mum used to make for me that were a meringue with chocolate chips stirred through and then dropped in tablespoonfuls and baked until crispy but the chocolate chips would still be soft and a bit oozy. I will give the brutti ma buoni a go but may also make my mum's choc-chip meringue cookies too. 

The first recipe that I made was The Food Dept.'s Slow-roast leg of lamb with tomato & garlic crust. It was wonderful. I had a smaller leg of lamb but I still made the whole amount of the crust. Instead of doing it in the oven I used my new weber bbq. I am still learning how to use the weber but it  worked well I think. Since it was smaller I cooked for less time but I think that it could have easily been done for a bit longer as it wasn't quite as 'fall apart' as I hoped it would be. The tomato and garlic crust was fabulous. The only change that I would make would be to add 1/2 to 1 tsp of sugar to the mix as the tomato paste flavour is very strong and it would cut through it well. Like always, I had problems keeping the double layer of foil over the pan. I had to move it as I had an issue with the bbq maintaining heat and it broke the "seal". I think that I am going to have to find myself a pan that has a lid which will fit in both my oven and bbq that I can use. I would still put the foil on but then the lid on top to stop the seal from being broken and letting steam escape. The roasted tomatoes that went with the roast were excellent too. 

Slow-roast Leg of Lamb with Tomato and Garlic Crust
2kg leg of lamb, trimmed
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated unpeeled
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1 and 1/2 cups (375ml) white wine vinegar 
500g vine-ripened tomatoes, halved
1/2 bunch thyme springs
Handful fresh bay leaves
Preheat weber to high, reducing heat once up to temperature. 
Crush two of the garlic cloves and combine with tomato paste, oil and some salt & pepper and rub all over the lamb (the recipe said brush but hands are easier). Pour vinegar into the pan around the lamb. Cover baking paper, then cover with 2 sheets of foil. 
Place in the weber and oven and roast for 3- 4 hours maintaining temperature at 150 C. 
Remove the foil and baking paper add the to the pan, sprinkle over the thyme, bay leaves, remaining garlic cloves, drizzle tomatoes with oil and season. Return the pan to the weber and roast for the further 1 hour or until the tomatoes have softened. 




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