Fruits of the lamb

Scottish lamb possesses a distinctive flavour which is famously sweet, requiring little more than roasting with soft herbs (tarragon and basil are good) to bring out its finest qualities. Older meat is robust enough to stand up to stronger flavours, among them rosemary, thyme, garlic, cinnamon or curry spices. I happen to love apricots with a lamb stew or olives in the sauce with roasted joints.

Age matters. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy lamb at its best: lambing naturally occurs in spring and lambs are ready by midsummer and early autumn. It is a sad myth that we should eat lamb at Easter. Spring lamb means meat which is born, not slaughtered, in spring. A summer spent suckling and grazing new-growth pasture creates lamb blessed with even and necessary fat.

In a fortnight, I return to lamb, discussing the quality points when buying. For now, here are some possibly unexpected flavour combinations which turn out to be irresistible with Scotch lamb.

Slow-cooked tagine of lamb, cinnamon, apricots, almonds and honey

Recipes serve 4

800g diced shoulder of lamb, cut in 2cm cubes

1 large or 2 small aubergines

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 onion diced finely

1 leek sliced into rounds

1 celery stick sliced into moons

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2 cloves

2 tins of chopped plum tomatoes

Lamb or chicken stock (about 800ml, this can be topped up with water during cooking if required)

80-100g dried apricots

2-3 dsps of flaked almonds

1 dsps of runny honey

2-3 dsps of chopped coriander leaf

sea salt flakes and olive oil

Method

1. Cut the aubergine in cubes about 1.5cm, then place in a colander in the sink. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt then toss well and leave for 30 minutes

2. Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan. Add oil and when hot, brown the lamb, working in small batches so the pan stays very hot. Transfer the meat as it is done to a plate.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan, reduce heat and add the onion, garlic and cinnamon stick and fry. While doing this, crush the garlic, coriander seed and cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar then add to the mixture. Add the leek and celery.

4. Continue frying over a gentle heat until the vegetables have softened, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Add the tomatoes and mix in well before returning the sealed lamb and any juices which have collected on the plate while the meat was standing. Stir in well then cover with the stock and bring to a gentle simmer.

5. While waiting, squeeze out excess water from the aubergine with your hands. Heat a wide frying pan and fry the aubergine pieces in small batches until brown. Add the aubergine to the lamb pot as they are done. Cover with a lid and cook either on the stove very gently or in a pre-heated oven at 120C for 1½ to two hours, stirring once or twice and topping up with a tiny bit of stock or water if required.

6. To finish and serve: place the apricots in a small bowl of hot water for 20 minutes to plump up. Add these to the lamb stew either 20 minutes from the end of cooking with the almonds and honey.

7. Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped coriander leaf all over and serve with cous cous or rice.

Roast leg of lamb and salted anchovies

1 leg of lamb on the bone, about 2-2.5 kg

8-12 salted anchovies in oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

A few sprigs of rosemary

1 onion cut into 1cm rounds

2 carrots peeled and cut lengthways

60g butter

A spoonful of vegetable oil

Method

1. Using a knife, make slits all over the top surface of the lamb. These incisions want to be about 2cm in length and to penetrate the surface no more than 1cm. Slice the garlic in fine slivers. Snip the rosemary into lengths of about an inch or just a little larger. Place the anchovies on kitchen paper to drain off excess oil. With the tip of a knife, separate out the anchovies.

2. Press the anchovies into the slits you have made in the leg of lamb. You can fold each fillet in half if this helps or even crush them up a bit, anything that helps to ease the anchovy fillet into its prepared slit. In other slits, press the rosemary and the garlic, making sure the herb, garlic and anchovies are evenly spread across the whole area. This can be covered in cling film and refrigerated for now.

3. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Remove lamb from the fridge at least 30 minutes before starting the roasting. Place the carrots and onions on the roasting tray to make a bed then place the lamb on these. Slice the butter thinly and pat these across the surface of the meat like a coat. Cover the tray with tin foil. When the oven is hot, place into the oven and cook for 30 minutes with the foil on.

4. Remove the foil then cook for 50 minutes for medium, or 65 minutes for medium well. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with tin foil. Stand to rest for 20 minutes before carving. This is particularly great with a creamy potato gratin or, for the dedicated anchovy aficionado, with the Swedish potato dish Jansson's Temptation, a potato gratin-like dish with more anchovy layered through it

Geoffrey Smeddle is the chef patron of The Peat Inn by St Andrews, Fife, Ky15 5LH 01334 840206

www.thepeatinn.co.uk