Braaied "Mad Moroccan Lamb"
Slow Braaied Shoulder of Lamb
Howzit, I hope that I find you all well after the storms this week here in the UK but more importantly in the USA where I know we have some followers and where this blog is hosted. Sorry if you could not access the blog for a short time but the guys who look after this blog did a magnificent job of keeping it up even after the flood in New York where they are based, carrying diesel up 17 floors to the generator that kept the servers going. Many thanks guys, our thoughts go out to all those families who lost loved ones and we hope that everybody recovers form the devastation that "Storm Sandy" caused.
I was going to make Peri-Peri Baby Chicken but I thought that I needed something a bit more substantial this week to keep me warm. So I'm trying a recipe from the boy wonder "Jamie Oliver" and believe me when I say its worth the time this will take to cook. There are three parts to this recipe so lets crack on...
Lamb Preparation:
Serves 6-8 - Prep: 20 mins - Cook Time: 3-4hrs
Method
- Preheat the Braai to 220°C (425°F)
- Score the lamb in a diamond pattern about 2.5cm/1 inch apart, quite deep so that the spices penetrate though out.
- Either grind you spiced in a pestle and mortar or in a electric grind if you have one
- Rub the spices all over the lamb top and bottom and make sure that you rub it in well in the groves.
- Sprinkle the rosemary on and rub some into the cuts.
- Place the lamb in a roasting pan and put in the braai to cook for 2hrs.
Ingredients
- 1 x 2kg/4.5lb Shoulder of Lamb
- 2 tsp cumin seed
- 2 tsp coriander seed
- 2 tsp fennel seed
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 2-3 dried red chillies
- 2 tsp salt
- handful of fresh rosemary
Chickpeas Preparation:
Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 30 min
Method
- Heat some olive oil and fry the onions, cinnamon and herbs with a pinch of salt and pepper for about 15 mins until they soften.
- Add the chickpeas with about 425ml of water and the vinegar
- Simmer on a medium heat until they all breakdown in to a nice thick consistency, take of the heat for use later.
Ingredients
- Olive oil to fry off the following
- 4 x Large red pinions, peeled and sliced
- 1 x Cinnamon stick
- Bunch of fresh thyme or marjoram leaves roughly chopped
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to season
- 2 x tins or jars of chickpeas
- 200ml balsamic vinegar
Couscous Preparation:
Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 10 min
Method
- Bring The stock to the boil, add the fruit and season, simmer for 5 mins.
- Add a shot of olive oil and the couscous then remove from the heat so that it soaks up all the liquid.
- When it has all been soaked up and there is no liquid left, poor on to a flat tray drizzle with olive oil and set aside for later.
Ingredients
- 1.1 Lt / 2 pints of Vegetable stock
- 250g raisins, dates, apricots, sour cherries or a mix of all of these.
- Olive oil
- 700g couscous
- 2 x Lemons halved
After about 2hrs the lamb needs to be taken out of the Braai/oven. Turn the braai down to 200°C (400°F) so it's ready for when you put the dish back in. Take the lamb out of the roasting pan and put aside. Pour away the oil and return the pan to a low heat and add a little water, stirring up all those juices that had stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then get a large dish with high sides of about 10-12 cm that will take the lamb and rub olive oil around it. Sprinkle about 2.5 cm of couscous on the bottom and sides, then spoon on the chickpea mixture into the middle. Then take the lamb and place on top of the couscous and pour the meat juices all over the meat. Take the remainder of the couscous and enclose the lamb so that it looks like its in an envelope of couscous. Cut up the lemons and place around the sides. Now get a piece of wax paper and make it wet (not that easy to do but crunch it up under a tap) then rub some olive oil over the wax paper and place on top of the couscous. Cover this with some tinfoil and then its ready to go back in the braai for another 1-2 hrs on a lower heat.
You will know when the meat is done just poke a knife thought the couscous and if the meat falls off the bone easily then it ready to serve. take the whole dish to the table, part the couscous and break the meat off the bone and serve. All the juices run to the bottom of this dish and the couscous absorbs most of it, just serve with some chopped up coriander and red chillies to top it off. Another nice touch is to serve a dollop of yoghurt with this along with a fresh green salad and a sweet chutney.
The spices on the meat are truly amazing and it has quite a kick to it from the chillies, it was really worth the time it took to prepare this and the photos just don't do it justice. There's a lot of work to make this but whoever you serve this up to will really appreciate the effort.
