Contact Gilli Cliff:
Mosswood Cottage
Crayke
York
YO61 4TQ
Tel/Fax: 01347 822386
Mobile: 07710 421251
Email: gilli@countrycook.co.uk
Now that we can enjoy British lamb all the year round, is there still a cachet to that first delicate pink, almost sweet flavour of new season’s lamb?
Mild in flavour, and usually quite expensive, it is a delicacy that many Greeks, Spanish and Italians just cant get enough of it, but should we, here in Britain, be enjoying a bit more maturity?
Give me hoggit any day, and I will be happy. This is lamb that was born last spring/early summer, fed on grass for the first few months, and fattened during the winter. It has the most marvellous flavour. It tastes of lamb.
To know if you are buying new season’s lamb or hoggit, you need to be able to ask your butcher. And while you are at it, why not ask where it came from and how long it has been hung. Simple questions that make such a difference to how you will cook and enjoy your lamb.
In the cooking, mature lamb can cope with stronger additional flavours of say rosemary, garlic and mint sauce. Lamb that has been hung for a week to ten days will be tender and juicy. And knowing where your lamb was born and raised will bring its own pleasure to the dining table.
It is often the fat in lamb that really gives it the best flavour, and although we are well advised to cut down on saturated fat, surely life isn’t worth living if you have to cut out one of the best flavours of all. A leg of lamb is always a good bet. It can be beautifully lean and yet the flavour is superb.
My favourite cut is loin of lamb. Now more fashionably called rack of lamb, it is often ‘french trimmed’ by the butcher, with the ends of the chop bones scraped clean of meat. Buy two racks and you can link them together to make a Guard of Honour, or tie them back to back and you have a Crown Roast.
I like to cut out the ribs and backbone from a loin of lamb, strip off the skin and then roll it up like a swiss roll. I add some fresh herbs and a little crushed garlic to the eye of the meat, the noisette, and in the rolling, it gains a thin layer of fat to protect the lean meat, and has a give a good covering of skin to crisp on the outside. Either sew loosely or skewered to keep the shape before roasting. It takes an hour in a hot oven.
Loin of Lamb with Fresh Herbs and Port Sauce
1x 500g prepared loin of lamb, boned and skinned
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs, i.e. thyme, rosemary and/or parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon plain flour
200ml fresh lamb stock, hot
3 tablespoons ruby port
2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 good sprig rosemary
Preheat oven to 220.c.
First make some lamb stock from the bones, by putting them into a large pan with an onion, covering with water and simmering gently for about an hour. Skim off the fat and then boil the stock hard to reduce to about ½ pint.
Scatter the fresh herbs and garlic over the eye of the meat. Season with salt and pepper and roll the loin into a swiss roll shape. Sew or skewer to secure.
Don’t add any extra fat, just roast in a hot oven for an hour, turning every 15 minutes to crisp the skin all over.
Once cooked transfer to a warm dish, cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Sauce – Pour away excess fat from roasting tin leaving about a tablespoon. Heat the pan gently, and stir in the flour. Cook for 30 seconds, then gradually stir in the stock and leave to simmer for a few minutes until reduced to a well-flavoured gravy, stirring well. Add the port and redcurrant jelly and simmer again until the sauce has reduced well then add the lemon juice.
Slice the lamb thickly and arrange on a serving dish accompanied by the sprig of rosemary.