Barbecued Leg of Lamb

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is summer here in Australia, which of course is a good time for a barbecue, but then any time is a good time for a barbecue. One of my favourite summer meals is barbecued leg of lamb. I buy the lower half of the leg, and starting from the side of the leg with least meat, slice down the leg and then remove the bone so that I have have a triangular piece of meat left. I butterfly this so that it is about 4 or 5cm thick. If you wish you can butterfly a whole leg of lamb which would feed more people. Here is my recipe using quantities for half a leg.

1 half leg of lamb, about 1.2kg

3 garlic cloves
a knob of fresh ginger
grated rind of 1 lemon or lime
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup of olive oil

Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.

Put the garlic,  ginger, cumin, coriander and paprika in a mortar and pound into a rough paste with the pestle. Add the grated rind of a lemon or lime and pound for a further minute, then stir in the olive oil and mix well. You can also process this in a food processor if you wish. Spread the marinade over the lamb by hand, working it in to the meat with your fingers, and leave about an hour for the flavours to infuse the lamb.

This lamb can be barbecued over a gas-fired barbecue grill, or better still, over a charcoal grill. When the barbecue is hot, put the lamb on. Cook for about 12 minutes on each side for medium rare. Put on a plate and cover withe foil. Rest in a warm place for 10 minutes before carving.

When the lamb has been rested, carve the meat into 5mm slices and serve.

I barbecued the lamb with some potatoes wrapped in foil. They are a delicious accompaniment!

Pork and Veal Terrine

It is summer here in Australia at the moment. It is good to have some cold meat for picnics or as an entrée and what could be better than a pork and veal terrine? It is easy to make, relatively inexpensive and most importantly, is delicious.

1 kg pork and veal mince
7 crushed juniper berries
10 lightly crushed black peppercorns
1⁄4 tsp mixed spice
1⁄4 tsp dried thyme
1 sprig rosemary, chopped finely
12 pistachios, chopped
4 chopped prunes
20ml dry white wine
 40ml brandy
50g chopped onions
1 clove chopped garlic
1⁄2 tsp salt
3 short-cut rashers of bacon, chopped

Sprinkle the chopped prunes with a small amount of the wine and brandy. Set the prunes and chopped bacon aside. Now mix together everything except the chopped prunes and bacon. Leave the mixture in a covered basin in the fridge for at least two hours for the flavours to be absorbed in the terrine.

Place half the mixture in an unbuttered terrine. Now sprinkle the bacon and prunes on top of this to form another layer. Finally place another layer of terrine mixture in the dish.

Place the terrine in a baking dish filled with water and cook at 150°C for 1 1⁄4 to 1 1⁄2 hours. The terrine is cooked when it comes away from the side of the dish.

Pimentón Spiced Pork Kebabs

I love Spanish chorizo. Recently, when I bought some pork mince, I decided to spice the pork with pimentón (Spanish paprika) and make some kebabs which taste similar to fresh chorizo. Here is my recipe.

1kg pork mince
100g bacon, chopped
3 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tbsp Spanish paprika, preferably the ahumido (smoked) variety
1 tsp dried red chilli powder
50ml dry white wine
1 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
24 bamboo skewers

Soak the bamboo skewers in cold water.

Place the pork mince in a mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients (not the skewers!) and knead thoroughly by hand. Cover the mixture with cling film and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the flavours to cure and develop.

Remove the bamboo skewers from the water and pat dry. Take a handful of the mixture and shape it into a sausage shape about 1.5cm wide by rolling it by hand. Thread a skewer through the shape to form a kebab, carefully pressing the sausage shape onto the skewer.

Cook the kebabs over a barbecue or in a grill pan on the stove. Serve with a chutney or caramelised onions.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is one of my favourite Spanish tapas. They are great also as an entrée.

To make this dish you need:
12 mushrooms
4 long green onions
2 slices of prosciutto
200ml white wine (or you can just open a bottle of wine and serve the rest with the meal)
a handful of chopped parsley
50ml olive oil
salt
pepper


Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems from the caps of the mushrooms and cut the stems of the mushrooms into small pieces. Chop the onion, garlic and parsley.
Now sauté the onion and garlic in a pan with some olive oil. Then add the prosciutto, cook for a few moments and then add the choppped mushroom stems and sauté the mixture until soft. Now add about 2Tbsp white wine until reduced a bit and finally add the chopped parsley. Let the mixture cool.
Fill the mushroom caps with cooled mixture, put them in a baking dish with a little oil,  about 50 ml white wine and sprinkle with pepper. Cook at 180°C for about 15 minutes or until soft. Serve hot or cold.

Baked Hake in Yogurt, Mustard and Herbs

In Australia since Hake is unavilable use Blue Grenadier or Blue-eye.This is an easily prepared and quick dish which is delicious. It is not necessary to skin the filets but if you wish you can do this. Which herbs you use depends on your taste and what is available in your garden. If you wish, you can use 1/2 a teaspoon of dried herbs as a replacement for fresh herbs.

To serve 2:

500g hake fillets

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp fresh chopped herbs

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3 tbsp yoghurt

Spanish paprika

Method:

Place the fillets into a baking dish. I like to use an earthenware dish which can then be used to serve the fish

Mix the other ingredients except the paprika in a small bowl and then spoon over fish. Now sprinkle some paprika over the top and bake in a very hot oven at  about 220°C for about 20 minutes.

Roast Chicken Provençale Style

Roasting a chicken is something which we all often do. I like a moist chicken with lemon and rosemary flavors which is what this recipe gives. The moist chicken is obtained by covering the chicken with aluminium foil for 2/3 of the roasting time, and then uncovering it to brown. The same result could be obtained by first browning the chicken for about half an hour and then covering it aluminium foil.

1.4 kg chicken
sprig or two of rosemary
1 lemon, sliced lengthwise into eighths
1 bay leaf
5 cloves of garlic, halved
olive oil

Slice a lemon into eighths, and halve 5 cloves of garlic. Stuff the inside of the chicken with the lemon slices and garlic together with a sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan with 3 cups of warm water. Rub a small amount of olive oil into the chicken breast. Cover the pan with foil and roast in a 175°C oven for about 1 hour. Now take the chicken from the oven and  remove the foil from the roasting pan. Put the pan and the chicken back in the oven for another half hour to brown the chicken.

Remove the chicken from the oven and rest it for a few minutes before serving accompanied by a sauce made from the garlic cloves and cooking juices.

Tortilla

Spanish-style tortillas are one of my favourite foods, whether served hot, served cold on a picnic, or best of all, served sliced and warm in a baguette on a picnic high in the Pyrenees, with a glass of red wine.

1 large potato, diced
1 onion, chopped finely
4 eggs
pinch of salt
olive oil

Pre-cook the diced potato in a covered plastic container in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until softened slightly. Meanwhile cook the onion in a small non-stick frypan moistened with olive oil until the onion has softened. Add the softened potato and gently cook with the onion until they are both soft but not browned. In a basin, mix the eggs and salt. Add the potato and onion to the egg mixture and return the whole lot back to the frypan. Cook over the stove until the bottom of the tortilla is set. Meanwhile heat the griller and when the bottom of the tortilla is set, put the frypan under the griller to set the top. A useful technique is: when the top of the tortilla is set slightly, take the pan from the stove, put a plate on top of the pan and quickly invert the whole lot so that the tortilla is on the plate. Now slide the tortilla back into the pan and cook it a for a while on top of the stove. You should aim to keep the centre of the tortilla slightly runny.

Remove the tortilla and serve hot or let it cool and then serve. It is a great dish to serve on a picnic in a sandwich sliced between 2 halves of baguette.