Leg of Lamb

Andrew asked that I update his website this week whilst he's away as he thought it would give me something to do, so apologies now for not putting up as much detail as normal. Maybe Andrew will update it soon with the detail.
Anyway my sister-in-law was with us this weekend so we decided that we'd use something local so we choose a leg of lamb from the farm across the road. This was marinaded for a few hours in a range of spices (in a Moroccan style) this was then roast for a couple of hours. Shortly before the lamb was ready we add a couple of tins of Chick pea's so they'd absorb some of the flavours of the meat. To serve we also made a salad with some lettuce from the veg patch as it was a really lovely day we ate outside.

Picture should be here but I can't get the computer to do what i want

Deviled Kidneys and Cumin Cous Cous

Deviled Kidneys I have done before - This might not be the same method but is nice and effective. The star of this dish is the cous cous.

It was the farmer's market again so the Lamb man got a visit and I picked up half a dozen kidneys - his are significantly better than anything I have seen in a supermarket (ever).

Simply cut in half, trim any excess fat and season in flour and dried chilli flakes. Fry in olive oil until cooked through.

For the cous cous measure out your portion of cous cous into a sealable bowl. Add to it a sauteed red pepper, mushrooms and onion (just chop up the red pepper and mushrooms into chunks and finely chop the onion, sautee in olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper) with all the oil from the pan. Stir in one teaspoon of corriander powder and one and a half teaspoons of cumin powder. Top up with boiling water from the kettle(about hlf a pint or so - dependent upon the amount of cous cous used). Leave to rest for 10 minutes and stir through before serving. Top with the kidneys. Quick, easy and tasty.

Lamb Shoulder

Lamb Shoulder

I don't really know what to call this recipe as its a bit of a mish mash of flavours that I think go well together. Its simply a roast lamb dish.

Ingredients

1/2 shoulder of lamb
3 cloves of garlic
a bay leaf
a star anise
tin of tomatoes
1/2 pint of boiling water
2 carrots
potatoes (as many as you want for each portion)
1 apple
2 tbs cumin powder
lamb stock cube
1 tbs coriander powder
1 tbs turmeric powder
salt and pepper
good handful of parsley
zest and juice of a lemon

Method

In a roasting tin place the garlic cloves (skinned and bruised with the heel of your hand), bay leaf, star anise (broken in the hand), tin of tomatoes, water, the apple (core removed and cut into quarters), the carrot cut into big chunks (about a third of a carrot at a time).

Place the lamb shoulder on top and put cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, lamb stock cube and salt and pepper.

Cover the whole tin in foil and place into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C.

After 45 mins remove the foil and baste the meat with the juices. Return to the oven for 15 minutes then remove and baste once more, before placing back in the oven add the potatoes. Return to the oven for an hour - baste half way through.

Remove the meat from the tin and leave to rest. Whilst the meat is resting remove the carrots and potatoes from the tin and mix into the remaining liquid the parsley (roughly chopped), lemon zest and juice. This makes a lovely sauce to serve the meat with.