We love a good recipe here on the Joe Finnegan Show, and our resident Chef Gearoid Lynch from the Olde Post Inn in Cloverhill, County Cavan never dissapoints when it comes to sharing delicious ideas for tasty and wholesome food.
This week - Gearoid shared his recipes for Roast leg of lamb and Roast shoulder of lamb - enjoy and send us your feedback to [email protected]
Roast leg of lamb with lamb jus
By cooking the lamb on the bone, you’re getting all the juices needed to make a good jus. It’s just a matter of following the steps and the results are delicious.
Serves 6–8
1 x 2.5kg leg of lamb, on the bone
5 garlic cloves, crushed
30g fresh rosemary, chopped
20g fresh mint, chopped
50ml olive oil, plus extra for frying
1 tsp rock salt
3 carrots, peeled and cut down the centre
2 medium onions, peeled and cut in half
1 leek, white part only, roughly chopped
150ml red wine
1 litre chicken or lamb stock
Make criss-cross cuts on the leg of lamb with a sharp knife. Mix the crushed garlic, rosemary, mint, olive oil and rock salt in a bowl, then rub this mix into the lamb and wrap in cling film. For the best result, refrigerate it overnight.
One hour before you intend to cook the lamb, remove it from the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and brown the leg of lamb all over. Place the carrots, onions and leek into the roasting tin and put the sealed leg of lamb on top. Roast in the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes, until the skin is crisp and puffed and the meat is pink. Loosely cover with tin foil and allow the lamb to rest for 30 minutes.
To make the sauce, place the roasting tray on the hob over a medium heat. Add the red wine and reduce by half then add the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. Skim the top of the sauce to remove any impurities. At this stage, carefully pass the jus into a medium-sized pot through a fine-mesh sieve and reduce by half. The jus should be rich and slightly thick with a lovely lamb flavour.
To serve, carve the lamb into slices and spoon over the warm jus.
Roast shoulder of lamb with summer vegetables and quinoa
This is a perfect Sunday lunch and will be a favourite with all the family. Shoulder of lamb is an economical cut of meat and it’s incredibly tasty. Quinoa is a grain grown for its seeds and is a versatile and nutritious alternative to barley.
Serves 6
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x 1.4kg shoulder of lamb, boned and tied (ask your butcher to do this for you)
400g pearl onions or shallots, peeled and left whole
2 celery sticks, chopped
½ leek, white part only, chopped
500ml lamb stock
1 dessertspoon honey
Summer vegetables and quinoa:
100g quinoa
700ml water
100g carrots, thinly sliced
100g fresh broad beans, podded and individually peeled
8 asparagus spears, ends snapped off
½ courgette, thinly sliced
1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
Mix the garlic, olive oil and cumin seeds with some salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour this over the lamb and rub it into the meat.
Place the lamb in a deep casserole dish with the onions, celery and leek and pour over the stock. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 3 hours, until the lamb is cooked through and soft to touch. Remove the casserole dish from the oven. Take the lamb out of the dish, place it in a roasting tin and glaze with the honey. Reserve the cooking liquor in the casserole dish.
Increase the oven temperature to 180°C. Return the lamb to the oven for 15–20 minutes to crisp it up. Remove the lamb from the oven and leave to rest, loosely covered with some tin foil.
Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa well and place it in a saucepan with the water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and cover with a lid, then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes, until the grain unwinds. Turn off the heat and leave to cool slightly, then drain off any remaining water, fluff up with a fork. Season the quinoa with salt and pepper and set aside.
Using a large spoon, remove any surface fat from the top of the cooking liquor in the casserole dish. Add the carrots, broad beans, asparagus and courgette slices and return to the hob to heat for 3 minutes. Add the quinoa and chopped mint and stir to combine.
Transfer the quinoa and vegetables to a large warmed serving dish. Remove the string from the lamb and carve into thick slices. Sit the lamb on top of the bed of vegetables and quinoa and serve.
