It hailed today! And it’s supposedly going to again on a perfectly good Sunday tomorrow. To salvage my sacred weekend, I literally fell out of bed in a panic – pulled on my jeans, hoodie, jacket, slipped my shoes on and barely fiddled with my bed-hair – before dashing out the door in the direction of G.A Lockhart. That would be my local butcher. Friendly, fairly good-looking in a buff, burly type of way, he offers a great selection of meats and home-prepared sausages, meat pies, parcel pastries and special sauces (I noticed a jar of goose fat atop the counter as well). If you’re looking for affordable and quality meat, G.A Lockhart is a good place to go – not only does he offer you personal advice on how best to cook the meat, he gives you tips on what meat is good for what, is lovely to talk to and makes a lot of effort to give you the best. Did I mention he doesn’t mind customers, specifically ones that make a breathless entrance with no make-up, a hairdo that magpies would mistake as a sad, abandoned, weather-beaten nest too?
I was really hoping for Best End which would be those fancy, posh-looking lamb racks often found in French restaurants. They are so tender and have a lovely flavour. Unfortunately, there weren’t any today so I was stuck between the lamb shoulder, lamb shank and leg fillet (at least that’s what I think it was). I’m the kind of eater who, other than fish, likes seeing bone on her plate. Not only do I think it makes my meal more heartwarming and real, knowing that this really came from an animal (I never trust what I get at supermarkets anymore), the bone is really what adds to the overall flavour and presentation. My parents have said the bone is where all the flavour lies and I’m sure my dogs would agree plenty. Having watched my mum slow-boil herbal soups, I understand pork rib bones produce one of the best flavours in oriental cuisine.
So of course, I totally chose the leg fillet with all the bone-age over the beautiful shoulder cut Lockhart had lifted out to give me a closer look. This bit of meat comes from the shin of the lamb and is perfect for slow-roasts. A good-sized chunk of leg cost me about 6quid. After getting the bones loosened up a little for easy cooking and carving, I popped into the off license to get a bottle of red wine. I would’ve gone for a good bottle of French, but the wallet has taken a bad turn and I’ve lucked out on moolah. Knowing this would definitely affect the sauce, I still went for a cheap bottle of Kumala: a mixed-grape (and this was seriously quite a bad mix) red hailing from West Cape.
Anyone hoping to keep a lookout for this butcher’s will find the address below. Great meat, great service, good range, free delivery:
G.A Lockhart
Raddlebarn Road
Selly Oak
Birmingham
B29 6HQ
0121 472 2545
The sun came back out for a tiny bit whilst I was preparing the meat in the kitchen. So I took that as a sign that lamb for Saturday lunch was the way to go. I’d had my doubts about having such a large lunch when it wasn’t even Sunday but seeing as I was finally in a good mood, I thought ‘screw it’ and was determined to have a good time this weekend. Of course, that would be balanced with revision. I can’t afford to let myself go completely.
This recipe has been inspired by Gordon Ramsay, kitchen genius, and from some lamb recipes from Delia Smith. There isn’t exactly one recipe that I followed. What I did was kind of got a general idea of the sauces they made and went forward with my own. I’d been playing with the idea of fruit and lamb for some time now. I love pork with sweet sauces, apple sauces and marmalade sauces. But I might have been a little conservative with my lamb. On a day the weather went slightly freakish, I really wasn’t all that bothered about taking the radical train to experiment with some flavours. Just a note: as I’ve cooked this by taste, all measurements stated are written as close to what I can remember. Should you wish to replicate this recipe for your own cooking, I’d advice some watchfulness over the sauce as these measurements are not as accurate as I’d like them to be. I’d served the lamb with garlic mash. Was intending to do a parsnip-potato mash which I’d done once for a Cottage Pie but I was wary of overstepping the line by just doing way too much on a plate. So I left it as it was. Here is a recipe good for 2 with some leftover for a salad or sandwich tomorrow.
Roasted Lamb Fillet in Blackberry and Red Wine Sauce
Ingredients
good chunk of lamb fillet
salt & pepper for seasoning
sprig of rosemary
olive oil
about 1 1/2 cup of red wine
a garlic clove, skinned and crushed
1/4 of a large leek, thinly sliced into rounds
For the sauce:
about 3tbs chopped red onion
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tsp mild honey
1/3 cup or a handful of blackberries
For the garlic mash:
a clove of garlic
2 medium potatoes
tbs of butter
some milk
The lamb will take 1 3/4 – 2 hrs in the oven so get to work early. Preheat the oven to 200d Celsius. Season the lamb and rub the crushed leaves of rosemary onto it. Place it in a casserole dish with crush garlic and olive oil, rubbing it all around. Pour the wine into the dish and give the lamb a turn to coat it. Cover with aluminium foil and roast. After an hour, remove and give the lamb a turn. Baste it in its juices. Cover with foil again and return to oven to continue the cooking process.
About 10min to end of cooking time, get to work on the sauce. Prepare the onions and stock. Crush about half of the blackberries, be careful not to waste any of the juices that spill from its insides. Using a tiny bit of oil, fry the onions in a large shallow pan. Remove the lamb from the oven and pour the juices and some of the leek into the pan. Cover the lamb with foil again, lower oven temperature to about 100d Celsius and return to oven to keep warm.
Add the stock, vinegar and honey into the pan and stir gently. Let simmer as you want this to reduce a little. Add the crushed berries and stir.
Whilst the sauce is slowly cooking, peel and chop the potatoes. Then peel off the skin of the garlic. Boil altogether. When it is soft, strain the water and mash with butter and milk till it reaches a creamy consistency.
Get back to the sauce. Add the last of the berries that were not crushed. Taste it. It should be slightly tart but having a full, savoury, lamb flavour. The honey and berries work strangely well with the wine.
Plates up. 1.Mash, 2.lamb then 3.ladle the sauce over it making sure to spoon some berries on it. Serve with some cracked black pepper and chopped herbs.
I was honestly thinking this might go very wrong what with fresh blackberries in the sauce. On the contrary, the full blackberries gave the lamb an awesome flavour and when eaten together, was refreshing and almost like a time-out from the bang of the sauce. Indeed, the red wine had taken its toll on the sauce but overall this worked out as an ‘Exceeding Expectations’ meal.
Diva gives her stamp of approval and a pat on the back. Not bad for a sleepy-head and/or lazy fart.
