Lamb with Chilli Mint Sauce
Delicious Love to Cook pg. 114
Pavlova
Taste kitchens
“Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first” – Ernestine Ulmer
Hi there everyone!
Love this quote. I always look at the dessert menu first whenever I go to a restaurant – how else would I be able to gauge what I might eat for the main??
Well this week I really had a tribe of bodies for Wine Wednesday so I needed to keep it fairly basic but also feed the crowd in a satisfactory manner. This recipe in the Delicious Love to Cook book calls for a shoulder. There is no way a shoulder would feed the multitudes so I opted for a very large leg of lamb. I treated it in the same way as instructed with the marinade etc., however, I didn’t slow cook it. I really like to do my legs in the BBQ freeing up the oven for other things. Mint sauce is a must with lamb and this interesting Thai inspired sauce will have your guests coming back for more. Rubbing the lamb all over with the combined fish sauce, sweet chilli and oil gives the meat a beautiful and tender sweetness. I marinated overnight and then took the lamb out of the fridge for an hour before cooking it. I also did exactly as the recipe instructs, covering it with foil and then placing it on a tray with water underneath. This makes for a moist and melt in the mouth slice of lamb. You will need to adjust the cooking time according to the size of your roast and whether or not you have chosen the oven or the BBQ. I served this with a potato and sweet potato bake (my own concoction) alongside a bowl of asparagus, beans and broccolini. Please note that I also did a small jug of good old gravox gravy for the MAV.
AND so for dessert – when you need to feed numbers you can’t go past a pav. They are not always easy to pull off but this recipe from Taste, if followed to the letter, really produces a wonderful pav base which is crispy on the outside and soft and sticky on the inside. Then you can use your imagination and decorate it with a million different things. I chose to marinate some strawberries in alcohol (your choice). Once I had strained the berries I heated the sauce added a little sugar and thickened it up. Allowing it to cool, I then drizzled it over the whipped cream and marinated strawberries which decorated the pav. It was a big hit. What’s your favourite way to decorate a pav? Many years ago I had a recipe for crushed pineapple which is thickened on the stove top with custard powder – I can’t find that recipe anywhere and would love to reproduce it again so if anyone knows what I am talking about then please share it with me. Overall this entire meal scored 9/10. Wahooooo!! After the last couple of weeks it was a relief.
Until next week –
From my table to yours with love.
