Chef ANDREW PERN, of The Star Inn, Harome, rustles up some lamb recipes.

WHILE Valentine’s Day is looming (and with it Louis Pern’s 10th birthday), I thought I would avoid the obvious for once and celebrate the start of the Chinese year of the sheep instead.

With our vicinity to the moors, lamb, in its various guises, should be something we enjoy all through the year and it also gives me the opportunity to trot out one of my favourite puns about “baa” food (sorry), so win-win situation.

My two recipes show the versatility of this meat and are hopefully a lot more sophisticated than my jokes.

The first is a quite light dish which even works well for our summer marquee weddings when asparagus is substituted for baby leeks, while the second is good, old-fashioned comfort food to keep out the cold brought up to date and given a little style by the Paloise sauce, which we make with Penny Royal, a type of mint traditionally used in black pudding.

The second recipe can also be made using neck of mutton, but the cooking time would have to be increased a little.

Roast loin of lamb with baby leeks, Lowna dairy goats cheese and garden rosemary vinaigrette

Ingredients
4, 115g lamb loins from the saddle
2 tsp Pommery mustard
2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
2 goats cheeses (any fresh soft variety) each weighing approx 100g
1tsp black peppercorns, cracked
1tsp finely chopped chives
Olive oil for frying
200g wild rocket leaves and soft garden herbs such as oregano or flat leaf parsley
8 baby leeks (or asparagus spears)

For the garlic croutons
2 slices wholemeal bread
115g butter, softened
½ clove garlic, crushed

For the vinaigrette
3tbsp each of Pommery mustard, extra virgin olive oil and cider vinegar.
1tsp chopped rosemary
1tsp runny honey

Method

Trim the lamb loins, roll in the grain mustard and then in the chopped rosemary. Wrap tightly in cling film and chill until ready to cook.

For the croutons, preheat the oven to 190°C Gas Mark 5. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into 1cm cubes. Melt the butter in a small pan with the garlic – do not let it boil. Add the bread cubes and stir until thoroughly coated with butter. Place on a small baking sheet and bake in the pre-heated oven for eight minutes until crisp and golden. Leave to cool.

For the mustard and honey vinaigrette, simply whisk all the ingredients together. Cream the goats cheese in a blender for two to three minutes. Add a touch of cream, if required, to slacken – the mixture should stand in peaks. Season with cracked black peppercorns and chives.

Blanch the baby leeks in boiling water for two minutes and refresh.

Unwrap the lamb.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the meat for two to three minutes on each side until an even crust forms. Lift out of the pan and rest.

Pipe or spoon three pyramids of goats cheese at triangular points on four plates. Arrange the wild rocket, garden herbs and croutons in the centre of the plate and between each pyramid.

Cut each lamb loin into five slices and arrange on top of the salad with the baby leeks on top. Drizzle some vinaigrette around the plate and over the lamb to give it a little shine and serve immediately.

 

Braised neck of lamb with pearl barley “risotto”, “Choux Farci”, Penny Royal Paloise (serves four)

Ingredients
4, 275g lean-trimmed neck of lamb, taken from the middle neck part of the shoulder joint
Root vegetables for mirepoix
4 Savoy cabbage leaves, destalked and blanched
80g lamb “sausagemeat”
2 ltrs lamb stock
200g pearl barley, cooked and rinsed
50ml whipping cream
50g Spenwood ewe’s milk cheese
4 lamb kidneys
Olive oil
Pinch rosemary, chopped
10g unsalted butter, chilled

Method

In a roasting tray, seal the neck of lamb in a little olive oil, brown gently, add the mirepoix, and brown lightly. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then cover with a lid or foil and braise on 160°C/Gas Mark 3 for one-and-a-half to two hours until tender. Next, seal off the lamb kidneys in a little oil very quickly so as not to cook, only colour. Mix the sausagemeat and rosemary together, check the seasoning, then mould them around the kidneys, so they are about 4cm in diameter, wrap them in the blanched and seasoned Savoy cabbage, then wrap again in clingfilm and twist into a tight ball, tying the clingfilm into a knot. Refrigerate.

Check the necks of lamb are cooked, then remove from the stock and keep warm. Reduce the stock by three-quarters until only one quarter of the amount is left; it should be of a syrupy consistency. Keep warm.

Warm together the cooked pearl barley, Spenwood cheese, a dash of cream, seasoning and a pinch of chopped garden rosemary. This needs to be fairly stiff to sit on top of the neck of lamb, but not too dry, just giving a little.

To finish the dish, place the warm neck of lamb into the reduced sauce, place the cabbage ball into a pan of boiling water for three-and-a-half minutes or until hot, spoon the pearl barley onto a warm dinner plate in a “line”, place the neck of lamb on top, check the seasoning of the sauce, add a little chilled butter, remove the clingfilm from the cabbage, place next to the lamb, spoon the sauce and a little of the “Paloise” sauce over, or serve in a sauceboat separately.

For the Penny Royal Paloise
10g Penny Royal (mint) leaves and 2 stalks
3 egg yolks
5ml white wine vinegar
250g clarified unsalted butter
2-3 peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Method

Reduce peppercorns, vinegar, bay leaf and stalks until only a teaspoon remains. Cook egg yolks lightly over a bain marie, whisking in the melted, clarified butter, add this bit by bit until thick. Add the mint leaves and check seasoning.