Spicy Lamb Leg with Pumpkin & Couscous Salad

Lamb leg has everything I want in a piece of meat. It's tender, juicy, easy to cook, inexpensive and has an appropriate amount of fat. When you roast it, every part of it is delightful to eat. It's not fidgety like other cuts where you have to cook it in several pots and pans and you end up spending more time cleaning than eating. The fat renders off beautifully in the oven and it all melts in your mouth.

I love a roast with an intense spice rub. There's a lot of meat on that bone so you need a lot of flavour. This rub is so delicious and a great example of using spices for their flavour rather than heat. When it mixes in with the lamb juices, it's a marriage made in heaven.

A couscous salad is the perfect way to soak up those beautiful juices, not to mention it's dead simple to make. I also put in some roast pumpkin (tossed in those lovely spices) for colour and sweetness.

Spicy lamb leg

You'll need:

Lamb leg (mine was 1.5kg)
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
Birdseye chilis (to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt

Combine turmeric, paprika, cumin, garlic, ginger, chili, olive oil and lemon juice in a mixing bowl.

Wash and pat dry lamb leg with paper towels.

Rub the spice mixture onto the lamb.

Marinade in fridge for at least an hour. The lemon juice tenderises the meat so the longer the better.

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Roast lamb on a wire rack for 1 hour 20 minutes for every 1.5kg. (I know my oven is pretty slow so I left it in for an extra 10 minutes.)

Rest for at least half an hour.

It should be beautifully pink medium-rare, so juicy and tender it will hardly hold onto your fork.

Pumpkin & couscous salad

You'll need:

500g pumpkin, diced
1 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
Juice of one lemon
½ cup red onion, finely diced
½ cup raisins
Handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Toss the pumpkin in any left over marinade and roast with lamb for 1 hour on a baking tray in a single layer.

Combine couscous, olive oil, salt and water in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes.

Separate couscous with a fork and mix in pumpkin, lemon juice, onion, raisins and mint.

Enjoy!

DIY Barbeque

Lamb, lebanese eggplant, yoghurt and parsley

I am very into DIY lately. It started as a way of killing time while I was at home sick for a few days - I bought fabric and hand-sewed a dress. It was a great success, except for one little detail: I couldn't sit down in it. (Not a big deal, I've worn it to two parties, who needs to sit down anyway?) I have learnt my lesson though - don't make a short, tight-fitting dress with a non-stretchy fabric like silk.

I've since upgraded to my mum's old sewing machine and have made two more garments which I would proudly wear. I like to think I've mastered the skill of picking the right fabric for the desired style. So why not expand into bigger projects? Surely Dan and I could concoct an amateur DIY barbeque on our balcony. Guess what? It totally worked!

It's not difficult at all to make a small barbeque out of things you can find at home. We used:

Two bricks to prop it up...

A tray from our oven with a wire rack (incidentally, I also use this to cool baked goods on)...

Firelighters...

And firewood, chopped into small bits.

Place firewood and about four firelighters in the centre of the tray and carefully light. It will take a while for the firewood to set on fire, give it about 20 minutes. Spread the firewood out into an even layer.

You can cook with flames or wait until the flames go out and use the residual heat. We used the flames for a chargrilled taste.

Place the wire rack over the fire. You can prop it up with oven-proof dishes. We used two ramekins.

"Please, feed us..."

Meanwhile, prepare your food.

I tossed diced lamb and onion in a Masterfoods herb rub (it tastes good, shoot me) and olive oil and arranged them on wooden skewers (soaked in water for half an hour). I also cut some lebanese eggplants lengthways and rubbed the marinade on them.

Meat touching flame, caramelising, fat dripping off into the fire and cooking back into the meat...

It got dark pretty quickly so I had to take a crappy nighttime photo, but my god it tasted good. Slightly crunchy chargrilled crust, tender medium-rare meat inside, smokey-woody taste - need I say more? It was pure rustic heaven and a fucking delicious spread.

Of course, use your common sense and be very careful with fire. We brushed away anything flammable from the corner we put the barbeque in, brought out a jug of water with us and used oven mitts. You also need to think about the surfaces around the barbeque (i.e. I wouldn't do this on a wooden floor or next to a tree). Otherwise, happy barbequing!

Lunch Special @ Restaurant Balzac

141 Belmore Rd, Randwick
French and English restaurant
Book online or call 02 9399 9660
$35 pp for a set menu each Friday


My first impression of Restaurant Balzac (awarded 2 Chef's Hats since 2008) is that it's about the food. The restaurant is tucked away modestly on the busy Belmore Rd in Randwick. The decor is simple, French countryside, and during the day it's bathed in natural sunlight. The service is professional but not snooty. It is perfect for a quiet meal, maybe with a few friends, but there is nothing quiet or understated about the food.

This menu is from a few weeks ago. I thought it was an elegant combination that was perfect for the middle of Winter. The flavours were hearty and complex yet balanced and fresh. Everything was cooked to perfection, the textures were distinct and I cannot rave enough about how good it all tasted.

On top of that, the service was flawless. I had no complaints about this experience. For $35, this is a great way to try what Restaurant Balzac has to offer.

Baked tomato soup with feta arancini

Slow roasted leg of lamb with bean and lentil ragout

Poach quince and almond tart with Chantilly cream

African Food Safari: Kulwha

I hate humid and sticky days. I hate the sluggishness, the way ice creams melt in your hand before you can eat them, getting splashed incessantly at the pool because everyone's cooling off the frugal way. In fact, the only two things that thrived in the heat yesterday were my cats and the amazing fragrance of freshly ground spices in my kitchen. But if you could have smelt it, you'd agree that sweating over a stove isn't a bad way at all to start off a stinking hot Sunday morning.

Nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds and cardamom pods ground with a mortar and pestle

To make kulwha, you must first make niter kibbeh, a spice-infused clarified butter. 500g of unsalted butter is gently simmered for half an hour until it separates, at which point, you infuse the oil with spices and discard the milk fats. Allow to cool and you can use this as a wonderfully aromatic cooking oil.

Curdling butter

Niter kibbeh

The niter kibbeh is then cooked with olive oil, green chili, onion, tomato, an African spice mix called berbere and diced lamb over high heat to make the Eritrean stir-fry kulwha. Put this in the fridge for a few hours for the flavours to stew and then serve with injera or rice.

I love how quickly and simply this all comes together. It only needs 3 or 4 minutes in the pan so that the tomato and lamb retain their juiciness. The flavour is again surprisingly mild but delicious. It's spicy but not hot, the tomato and onion are sweet, the lamb is juicy and meaty and you can taste the distinct flavour of the niter kibbeh, which tastes as beautiful as it sounds. If you're a fan of earthy and understated spices, this is definitely worth a try.

Recipe by Rahel Ogbaghiorghis in the Food Safari cookbook.

Roasted Lamb Rack

This roasted lamb rack is cooked with Jamie Oliver's homemade barbecue sauce (from his Jamie At Home series) slowly in the oven and served with potato chips and guacamole.

I bought this beautiful rack of lamb from the butcher this morning (smaller racks, around 4 cutlets, are usually readily available at butchers). I love this cut for its tenderness and its outer layer of fat that seals in all the juices during cooking. Best served rare to medium rare, lamb cutlets are deliciously pink and juicy on the inside. With the barbecue sauce, the lamb is smoky and fragrant with a hint of sweet and hot. Homemade potato chips and a tangy guacamole dip make this a fantastic meal to share between 4 (or an epic meal between 2!).

Jamie Oliver's Homemade Barbecue Sauce

1 heaped teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
5 cloves
Salt and pepper
1 bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 bunch rosemary, leaves picked
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 bulb garlic, peeled
4 heaped teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ cup organic tomato ketchup
8 tablespoons olive oil
10 bay leaves

Grind cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle.

Chop thyme and rosemary leaves, orange zest and garlic together finely.

Combine with herbs in a large bowl and add all other ingredients.

Roasting the lamb rack

Using a large zip-lock bag, place in the lamb rack and half of the barbecue sauce. Rub the sauce into the meat.

Add jalapeño peppers for some heat.

Seal and marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Roast for 40 - 60 minutes, depending on how rare you want your lamb. Baste the rack with the remaining barbecue sauce halfway through.

Rest for at least 15 minutes so that the meat relaxes and retains maximum juiciness.

Carve and serve!

Homemade potato chips

1 potato
1 sweet potato (optional)
Oil for deep-frying
Salt to season

Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat.

Cut the potatoes into thin slices (about 2-3mm).

To find the perfect temperature for deep-frying, place a thick piece of potato in the oil. When it turns golden brown, the temperature of the oil is just right.

Drop potato slices carefully down the side of the wok. Cook the potato in batches to keep the oil at the right temperature.

When golden brown, remove from oil and dry on paper towels.

Salt lightly.

Guacamole

1 avocado
½ brown onion
6 - 8 yellow grape tomatoes
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped chives to serve

Blitz the avocado, onion, tomato, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor to your desired consistency.

If you can't find yellow grape tomatoes, finely dice 1 red tomato and mix in by hand.

Garnish with chives.

Enjoy!

African Food Safari: Mahindi Ya Naz

Translating to mean 'corn in coconut sauce', this Swahili Coast dish is made of up three parts: mahamri, a deep-fried coconut and cardamom bread; corn slowly cooked in coconut milk, onion, tomato puree and turmeric; and suqaar, a stir-fry of lamb, onion, capsicum and tomato puree.

The first thing I noticed while looking at this recipe is that it's easy on the spices and cooking time. Nonetheless, it took quite a bit of labour to make (around 2 hours).

The mahamri was the most fun to make. Making the dough was simple enough (combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients) but because of the coconut and cardamom, it instantly smelt like no bread I've ever tasted. I'm just a little disappointed that I used desiccated coconut instead of coconut milk powder and my mahamri didn't rise as much. In any case though, it turned out fragrant and delicious.

The corn and suqaar were surprisingly mild in taste. The corn and onion were juicy and sweet, complemented nicely with the smooth and creamy coconut sauce. The natural flavour of the lamb is the focus of the suqaar, slightly sweetened by the onion, capsicum and tomato. When combined with the corn and mahamri, each mouthful was strangely delightful - sweet, mildly spicy, meaty. In other words, exotic yum!

Recipe by Shukri Abdi in the Food Safari cookbook.