272 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
272 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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recipes
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7749976
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-----
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# Best British recipes: perfect roast lamb
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## Everyone loves an old-fashioned roast, says Xanthe Clay .
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![Traditional roast lamb: perfect with rosemary and garlic
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][1]
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Traditional roast: perfect with rosemary and garlic Photo: JANE WEBSTER
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By Xanthe Clay 3:54PM BST 21 May 2010
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[Comments][2]
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Your entries for the Telegraph/Morrisons Best British Recipes competition are
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pouring in fast and I'm busy reading, testing and eating them. Lucky me. It's
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a fantastic job and I'm thrilled so many of you are sharing your family's
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favourite dishes. If you haven't got around to sending in a recipe, or want to
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add another, there's still time.
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In the meantime, here's my recipe for an early summer Sunday lunch. We all
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love a proper roast dinner and this month the British lamb season kicks off in
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earnest, so it has to be roast lamb.
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Rosemary is lamb's best friend, its resinous fragrance balancing the sweet
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muskiness of the meat. Add a few cloves of garlic and you've got the perfect
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menage-a-trois; one on which all the big-name chefs have their take.
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Nigel Slater roasts his lamb simply, with whole sprigs of rosemary and an
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entire head of garlic, while Nigella Lawson goes the other way, with a garlic,
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herby paste she presses into slashes in the meat. Delia spikes her joint with
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slivers of garlic and needles of rosemary. This is fine, but the white chunks
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of garlic in the slices of lamb don't suit everyone.
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I like to rub the lamb with a herb-infused salt to give the skin the right
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crispness and to add a gentle flavour to the meat and the rich juices. As my
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grandmother would say: "That's gravy."
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19 May 2010
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* [A very British sort of ecstasy][8]
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15 May 2010
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**Roast lamb with rosemary**
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Enough for 8 people
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These timings will give you a crowd-pleasing range of meat from well done but
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juicy at the narrow end, to slices that are still a little pink in the middle
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at the fat end. Add or subtract 15 minutes for a more well done or pinker
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result.
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Although classic accompaniments would be roast potatoes and steamed vegetables
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(there's still some great purple sprouting broccoli around), don't rule out
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serving the meat with salads. Try warm, buttery new potatoes topped with cress
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freshly snipped from a punnet and a salad of roast beetroot, radish and
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orange.
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1 leg of lamb, weighing about 5lb/2.2kg
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4 x 6in/15cm sprigs of rosemary
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2 carrots
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2 onions
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1 head of garlic, broken into cloves (unpeeled)
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3 tbsp olive oil
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18fl oz/500ml stock (lamb ideally, but chicken, beef or just the water from
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cooking floury, not new, potatoes will work)
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4 tinned anchovies (optional)
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1 tbsp plain flour
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* Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
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* Strip the leaves from one sprig of rosemary and chop them finely. Mix with
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1 tsp sea salt. If you have a pestle and mortar, it wouldn't hurt to give them
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a good bash in there too, to release the pungent rosemary oils.
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* Halve the carrots lengthways. Halve the onions and put them (unpeeled) in
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a roasting tin with the carrots, the garlic and the rest of the rosemary. Pour
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over 2 tbsp olive oil and toss vegetables until well coated.
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* Massage the lamb well with the rest of the oil and rub it with the
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rosemary salt. Lay it on top of the vegetables.
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* Put the tin in the oven and roast the lamb for one hour. Use a heatproof
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pastry brush (either natural bristle or silicone) to baste it every 20
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minutes. I set the timer to remind me to do this.
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* When the hour is up, baste again and raise the heat to 220C/450F/gas mark
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8. Cook the lamb for another 20 minutes or so until the outside is golden and
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crisp. If you have a meat thermometer, take the meat out when the internal
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temperature reads 60C/140F for medium lamb.
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* Remove the lamb from the oven and put it on a serving dish (one with a lip
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to catch the juices that will seep out). Place it in a warm spot out of the
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draught to rest for half an hour or so, covered with a large upturned bowl or
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a tent of foil.
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* Now's the time to make the gravy. Put the roasting tin on the hob over a
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medium heat and add the anchovies if you're using them. Use a potato masher or
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wooden spoon to bash all the vegetables, which will now be soft and slightly
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caramelised, into a pulp.
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* When the anchovies have broken down into a mush, pour in the stock. Bring
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to simmering point, stirring and scraping hard to lift all the brown gunk from
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the bottom of the pan.
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* Pour this dark, unpromising looking mess through a sieve into a bowl (or
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use a gravy separator), pressing well on the solids to get all the juices out.
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Throw away the solids.
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* Spoon the fat off the liquid and put a couple of tablespoons of fat back
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in the roasting tin. Add the flour and cook until brown and nutty smelling.
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* Add the dark, savoury liquid to the flour mixture and cook, stirring,
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until smooth, thick and glossy.
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* Add any juices that have gathered under the resting lamb (they have a
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wonderfully lamby flavour) and taste to check the seasoning.
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* Carve the lamb and serve with the gravy.
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**TOP TIPS**
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* A cold joint won't roast evenly, so make sure the lamb is at room
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temperature before cooking by taking it out of the fridge a couple of hours
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ahead of time.
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* The meat needs to be really dry to crisp properly, so remove any wrapping
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and put it in a roasting tin, covering it with a tea towel while it comes to
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room temperature. Just before roasting, rub the skin with salt for the
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ultimate crunch.
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* Put carrots, onions and garlic in the roasting tin. They'll act as a rack
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for the meat and add flavour to the juices.
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* Add anchovies to the gravy. No one will know they are there, and they
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boost the savouriness.
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* Always let the meat rest before carving; up to 40 minutes is fine. This is
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a good time to make the gravy and crisp the roast potatoes.
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* Always take the meat out of the oven before it's quite done. It will go on
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cooking as it rests.
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* **Register your recipes at [telegraph.co.uk/bestbritishrecipes][9]**
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/7749976/Best-British-recipes-
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perfect-roast-lamb.html
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Telegraph
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## [Recipes][15]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][16]
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* ### [Food and Drink »][17]
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* ### [Editor's Choice »][18]
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In food-and-drink
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[![Cook along with Xanthe Clay as she prepares tasty meals in just five
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minutes][19] ][20]
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### [Fast and delicious recipes][20]
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[![telegraph wine club][21]][22]
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### [Reader Offers][22]
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### [Best wine deals][24]
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Share:
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