The one occasion that I have eaten goat, it was so good that when faced with the frequently posed question "what is the best meal you have ever eaten?", then that goat is usually my answer: spit-roasted, milk-fed kid served with grilled asparagus, just before Easter, in a tiny restaurant in northern Italy.
The elderly owner said he often did the same thing with a butterflied leg of lamb when he couldn’t get goat, but on our visit we were lucky with the goat.
Butterflying a leg of lamb before cooking strikes me as a terrific idea. It does away with the fiddliness of carving, as the bone is removed. It also dramatically reduces the cooking time, so it’s quicker. Marinating becomes straightforward thanks to the simplified, flatter shape of the meat. Like Cesare and his spit roast, you could leave a butterflied lamb leg to smoulder with no problem on a good barbecue outdoors. What a beautiful, charred-sweet flavour the meat would get.
Easter is the traditional time to return to lamb after winter but cooking methods don’t have to be traditional. Marinating makes the difference, imparting not just flavour but character too. Cumin, paprika and chilli bring a hint of Morocco; oregano, garlic and thyme sing of Italian sun. With lamb, I can never resist the pungent spices of India, aromatic with coriander, heady with cardamom, heated with ginger, all cooled by yogurt.
Butterfly leg of lamb
Recipes serve four
1 butterflied leg of lamb, with the bone removed by the butcher, weight about 2.5kg to 2.7 kg
For the marinade:
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 cardamom pod
A one-inch piece of cinnamon
1 tsp black peppercorns
A half-inch piece of ginger, peeled
3 garlic cloves, peeled
A bunch of coriander, leaves picked and reserved, stalks washed and reserved
About 4 dessertspoons of vegetable oil
For the coating sauce:
400g thick yogurt such as Greek yoghurt
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
A one-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 red chilli
1 scant or level teaspoon of turmeric
3 pinches of cumin seeds
A dessertspoon of mint leaves, or more to taste
The coriander leaves picked and reserved from the marinade, above
2 limes, juiced
1. Make the marinade first, starting the day before you want to serve the lamb. Place the fennel seeds, cinnamon, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a dry frying pan and roast on the stove very gently for half a minute or a minute or until their scent is released. Now transfer them to a blender and add the cardamom pod. Process everything briefly until ground. Add the ginger, garlic and coriander stalks and blitz again for a minute, then finally drizzle in the oil with the blender still running. Lay the meat in a non-reactive dish or tray and rub this marinade all over the lamb’s surface. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. For the yogurt coating sauce: slice the garlic, ginger and chilli into thin slivers then finely chop. Heat a small frying pan or sauce pan and cover the base with a film of vegetable oil. Add the chopped mix then fry very gently until soft, without colouring. After five minutes add the cumin seeds and turmeric. Cook for a few more minutes then remove from the heat. Place the yogurt in a bowl. Add the cooked garlic and ginger mixture then stir in, chop the coriander and mint leaves, adding these too.
3. To cook the lamb, heat the oven to 180C. Transfer the meat to a roasting tin with deep sides. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 15 minutes then turn the meat over onto its other side. Cook for a further 15 minutes then spoon half the yogurt mix over the meat, spreading on the uppermost side of meat. Return to the oven for a final 15 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven. Spoon any juices in the pan over the meat then transfer to a carving board. Add the lime juice (not totally authentic, I know, but good anyway) to the rest of the yogurt then spoon this over the meat and serve at once.
Jerusalem artichokes and green beans with chilli ginger and coriander
1 kg of Jerusalem artichokes
250g green beans, topped and tailed
1 or 2 red chillis depending on taste
A rounded dessertspoon of chopped coriander plus some leaves saved for decorating at the end
A one-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Water or chicken stock, about 400ml
1. Peel the artichokes with a swivel-head peeler or speed peeler. Slice into rounds about 3mm or 4mm thick. Heat a wide frying pan and add a generous film of vegetable oil then add the sliced artichokes. Season lightly with salt then fry gently, allowing them to take on some light golden brown colour. This may take some time so do be patient. Meanwhile slice the chilli in rounds or chop finely. Add with the ginger to the artichokes once they have turned golden brown. Fry for a few minutes more to allow the ginger and chilli to slightly soften. Now add enough water or chicken stock to just cover and allow to simmer until the artichokes are tender. Add more liquid as required to ensure they cook evenly. The artichokes are done when the flesh is moist and tender and the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated off; they should not be swimming around in liquid.
2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil then add the beans. Boil rapidly for four minutes then drain. Add these to the artichokes, stirring them in. Finally add the chopped coriander. Arrange on a serving dish and scatter the reserved coriander leaves all over for decoration. Serve with the lamb at once.
Geoffrey Smeddle is the chef patron of The Peat Inn, by St Andrews, Fife. Visit www.thepeatinn.co.uk or call 01334 840206.
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