Marinated lamb leg steaks and Hacker Pschorr Weissbier

 Primarily, please allow me to apologise for the long time since I have written this blog. This has been caused by a health scare that meant that I was not in a place to write about food and especially drink for a while. However, all is now well and I am back at my keyboard. I am going to continue to write about the matching of beer with food until I run out of beers or ideas.

It has been a beautiful Spring in the UK. Much warmer and drier than usual and there has been plenty of sun. This means that all over the country men (and it is mainly men) are getting out their rusty BBQ grills and filling them with charcoal. I am no exception to this norm! I have a tiny little grill which folds up on itself for storage this is plenty enough for two people though I would probably get one far larger if I was feeding a gang.

Below is a recipe for a marinated lamb leg steak cooked over charcoal. It made enough for 3 in reality but certainly enough for 2 greedy Brits.

• 2 lamb steaks
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• pinch of salt
• 1 handful of fresh mint (shredded)
• Salad leaves
• 50 gms pomegranate seeds
• a few parmesan shavings 
• a smear of humous
• 2 tbsp vinaigrette 
• 1 large ciabatta loaf

Mix the molasses with the oil , lemon juice, garlic, salt and mint in a shallow dish. Add the lamb and coat all over. Pop in the fridge for, at least, a couple of hours.

Light your grill and give it plenty of time for it to come up to heat. Slice the ciabatta in half along its length and toast the open sides on the grill. Smear the humous over the bottom side of the loaf. 

Get the steaks on the grill and cook to your liking (probably medium to medium rare for lamb). Then, and this is really important, allow your lamb to rest for quite a bit longer than you imagine - about the same length of time as they took to cook.

Add the salad leaves to the vinaigrette (you could even add one or two mint leaves here). Throw in the pomegranate seeds. Then pile the salad on the bread. Slice up the lamb and pop it on top. 

A few parmesan shavings over it all, then put the lid on your sandwich and take a short minute to enjoy how beautiful it looks and what a genius you are and then slice it and serve.

The Match

Hacker-Pschorr is one of the great breweries of Munich. It is, however, difficult to truly say when it was founded: maybe in 1417, the first records of the Hacker brewery or 1813 when Joseph Pschorr bought the brewery from his father in law having married into the Hacker family or even 1972 when they became a single company in law! They are now owned by massive beer corporations but maintain their brewing independence and produce some cracking beers. 

I make no secret of my abiding love of German wheat beers and this is one of the classics. Golden honey to look at, it has banana, clove and vanilla on the nose. Then comes a rich, soft mouth feel with more banana and spice. It finishes long and demands that you take another gulp.

It matched beautifully with the lamb adding spice and depth whilst being strong enough to work with some pretty powerful flavours. (Then again, I would say that, wouldn't I?)

Lamb loin dinner with Animal Brewery Hop kitty

 This is a posh dinner. Trimmed lamb loin (or cannon of lamb) is not a cheap cut of meat. However, treated simply and with a little care it more than pays back the expense of the initial purchase. With this recipe I have added some dinner party favourites alongside the meat. A loin of lamb should serve two or three people depending on the time of year and hence the age of the beast.

• 1 trimmed lamb loin
• Lamb stock
• Fruity red wine
• Redcurrant jelly

Dauphinoise potatoes

• 500gms maincrop potatoes (sliced quite thin)
• Large knob of butter
• 300ml double cream
• Full fat milk to top up
• 3 plump cloves of garlic (crushed)

Crushed peas

• 400gms peas (fresh or frozen)
• Large sprig of mint (leaves only)
• Dash of double cream

Its always best to start with the spuds. Dauphinoise is one of those dishes of which everyone thinks they have the perfect recipe. Many trace their recipe's history back to the great chefs of French classical cooking or to an ageing French great aunt. I have developed mine over time and there is nothing very clever about it, I promise there will be no rubbing of cut garlic on the roasting dish as I have never found this in any way effective. Put the cream and garlic in a small pan and slowly bring to a simmer. Allow this to barely disturb the surface for 5 minutes then turn off the hob and allow it to stand for over an hour. Add a pinch of salt.

Rub the inside of a baking dish with the butter to ensure an even coating. Place the potatoes in any order and push down a little to minimise the gaps. pour over the cream whilst stirring it to ensure the bits of garlic are evenly distributed. Top up with the milk if necessary so that the level of liquid is just below the top spuds.

cover loosely with foil and place (on a baking try) in a medium hot oven. After about 40 minutes take the foil off to crisp up the top.

Add a little oil to a frying pan and bring up the heat until it is almost smoking. pop in the entire loin turning to ensure all sides and edges are sealed and taking on some crust. Then place the lamb in a small roasting dish and into the oven (you could add a clove of garlic and maybe a sprig of rosemary if you wanted to be flash). It should take 10 to 15 minutes depending on how pink you like your lamb.

Return the frying pan to the heat and add a large glass of the red wine, reduce this by half then add a similar amount of the stock and reduce by a third. Add two big teaspoons of the redcurrant jelly to the sauce and stir to dissolve. slowly reduce this by just a little. 

Boil a little water in a small saucepan and add your peas, boil the peas for 4 or 5 minutes then place them in a mini blender with the mint, a little bit of butter and a dash of double cream. Blend just briefly so you are left with a lumpy, bright green mash. 

Allow the meat to rest for a good ten minutes after cooking, then carve. Serve with a little tower of the dauphinoisse, a spoonful of the pea mash another seasonable vegetable (I used slim asparagus). Pour the the sauce around the meat and enjoy.

The match

Animal Brewery is the slightly more experimental, alter ego of XT brewery based in Long Crendon, in the shadows of the Chiltern Hills near Thame. Animal produce beers named after or around animals such as Squid Ink Black IPA, Jack Rabbit |American Amber and Hop Kitty. Many of their beers are only available as limited editiomns or at certain times of the year. Hop Kitty describes itself as a Citra Pale. And the Citra hop presence is very clear on both the nose and the palate though it is firmly grounded in an English malt base. The hop power was perfect for cutting through the obvious richness of this dish. The citrus and resiny high notes also lent a bit of balance to the dish. Overall a beautiful match that had me reaching for a second bottle.     

 

Braised Lamb Shanks with Titanic Plum Porter.

• 2 Lamb Shanks
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1tbsp plain flour
• 1 glass red wine (rough as ya like!)
• Lamb or beef stock
• 1 handful of small onions (peeled)
• 1 handful of small button mushrooms
• Mashed potatoes

A few years ago it was possible to pick up lamb shanks for a very little money but now they are a staple of the gastro pub, they are somewhat more expensive. However, they are worth every penny.

Pour a little oil into a medium saucepan with a lid. Brown off the lamb shanks, ensuring that all sides are thoroughly browned. Remove the shanks from the pan and pop on a plate. Add the chopped vegies and brown them too. Add the wine and allow it to reduce by half, throw in the flour and stir. Pop the shanks back into the pot and pour in enough stock to come about 3/4 of the way up the shanks. Put the lid on and boil gently for 90 to 120 minutes, turning the shanks once in a while.

In the meantime pour a little oil into a roasting tin, and put the onions in. roll them about a bit then put in an oven at about 170 c for about 30 minutes.

When the shanks are nearly falling off the bone, lift them out of the liquid and put them on a warm plate, cover with foil. strain the vegies from the gravy and return the liquid to the pan. Add the button mushrooms whole into the liquid. The roasted onions and the shanks can now be added back to the gravy and warm through.

A quick word about mashed potato: Mash the cooked spuds with some butter and some milk or cream. consider how much butter you want to use then double it! I tend to whisk mine a bit at the end.

The Match

If I were matching a wine with lamb I would tend to start with Bordeaux as it's a classic pairing. However, we are matching a beer so, on the basis that a good claret will give flavours of blackcurrant and other red fruit I decided to go with a beer that also offered fruit. Titanic Plum Porter has rapidly become this breweries best seller. For those of us who occasionally like our beers on the dark side this is a superstar! The plum in the mix gives both flavour and sweetness. The match worked very well with the limited bitterness backing up the richness of the gravy.

Inspiration and perspiration.

There are very few new ideas in food. Most interesting ideas in modern food are modern twists on old classics or an introduction of new ingredients or cuisine to a different context. Calital food was probably the first of these to be given a name. The sheer glory of Californian produce with Italian cooking wasn't actually to big a leap of anyone's imagination but it did produce some stunning dishes. Those few cooks and chefs who go beyond innovation into invention usually end up with Michelin stars or bankrupt or both.
Most of us mere mortals search for inspiration from the familiar places: a stunning ingredient, and old classic, a particular location, the work of a "proper" chef and such.
The dish below comes from a few of these!
In February, before the world shifted on its axis, the Beautiful Wife and I were invited out to dinner at the Sir Charles Napier near Chiner on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. The meal was a triumph with that rare combination of great food, great wine and great company. The quality of the cooking was really very high - The memory of the Rhubarb Souffle will stay with me for ever.
For my main course I had the Navarin of Lamb. This in its purest form is a rustic lamb and vegetable stew, very "paysan" and hearty. However, the chef had taken this ancient dish and completely re - thought it. I have never been a fan of the idea of de-constructed dishes but to a degree that is what he did. It was a piece of exemplary cooking. I have endeavoured to recreate it since then and now have something of which I am proud. I have served it with different vegetables as we are later in the year.

Braised Neck Fillet of Lamb with puree of Cauliflower, Roast Beetroot and Thrice cooked chips.

1 large neck fillet of lamb
2 or 3 long shallots
Red wine
Lamb stock
2 carrots - diced
3 or 4 celery stalks - diced
1 medium onion  - diced
1 tbsp plain flour

Cauliflower puree
1/2 head of cauliflower
250 ml double cream
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic

Thrice cooked chips
2 large baking potatoes
Lard
Salt

Roast beetroot
1 large beetroot
Oil

In a large saucepan or stock pot heat a little oil and brown the meat until the surface is a little caramelised add in the celery, onions and carrots and fry them with the meat for a couple of minutes until they are just starting to take colour. add in the flour and stir into the mix. Then add half a bottle of wine and a similar amount of stock and stir in gently but thoroughly. Cover and allow to stew on the hob for a couple of hours till the meat is just starting to fall apart. 
In the mean time cut the potatoes into neat large chips wash them in cold water to remove excess starch and boil until they are becoming just tender. Dry them and allow them to cool then chill them in a fridge for an hour or so. Bring 1/3 of a large pan full of melted lard up to a temperature of about 160 centigrade. Fry the chips until they are soft but have not taken any colour. Again cool the chips. Just before serving fry the chips in the fat at 180 centigrade. 
Also while the lamb is cooking the beetroot should be cut into equal sized cubes and popped into the oven with the oil to roast (This takes about 45 mins to an hour.)
To make the cauliflower puree, break the cauliflower into small florets and put them in a pan with enough veg stock to just cover them boil until the cauliflower is very soft and then add the cream. Boil this to thicken a little and then blitz to a puree. This maybe to thin, in which case pop it back in the pan and continue to thicken. Incidentally, you probably wont use all of the puree but it makes a great base for a cream of cauliflower soup (I always thin it out a bit with cream and add crumbled Stilton)
About 20 minutes before serving peel the shallots and cut in half, keeping the root bit attached. Pop this with a little oil in the oven to roast down, caramelise and become all sticky. 
Meanwhile, back at the lamb. Remove the neck fillet from the stew and place somewhere warm; it should be falling apart like pulled lamb. Strain the liquid of the all the veg. They have done their job. Take about 200 to 250 ml of the liquid into a clean saucepan and reduce fast to create a shiny syrupy sauce, maybe add a little butter to add some gloss. Slice the neck fillet in half. Place a piece of neck fillet on half the roast shallot and plate up the rest as you see fit!

A word about presentation: My default position on presentation is "Bistro / Brasserie / Family" I have no aspiration to produce works of art on a plate. Though I always want my food to look like one would want to eat it. For this reason (and many others) it was never in my destiny to win Michelin Stars!
However, with this dish I did go a little to town and showed off, on our best china.

The finished article.