Leftover Lamb Pie

Right. So the Easter weekend is officially over. Everybody in the household is feeling shitty from eating way too much rich food and chocolate over the weekend - and a significant amount of liquor. What better way to cure everybody than to feed them MORE fatty lamb?

As usual the recipe comes from taste.com.au, but when it came to actually cooking it I found that the quantities of leftovers I had didn't at all match what the recipe said, so its pretty ad-libbed. I've posted my version below.

Once again, my cooking shenanigans have progressed to the next level of mastery - I used pastry! Granted, I didn't make the pastry, it was a roll of store-bought puff pastry. But to me pastry was another one of those mental blocks - looks complicated and technical and a little bit too organized for the king of ad-hoc cookery. I do, of course, feel like a little bit of a silly twat now that I've tried it and seen how simple it is to use. But that's why Life is a Journey, if we started off knowing everything then the whole trip would be a whole lot less trippy.

Stop talking crap Murray!

Leftover Roast lamb and veggie pie

Ingredients

Left over meat from 3 legs of lamb - chopped into bite-sized bits

Big bowl of left over roast pumkin

Big bowl of left over roast potatoes

Smaller bowl of left over green beans

Some leftover mint sauce

Just under a litre of beef stock

About 3 tablespoons Bisto

An Onion - chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

Oil for frying

A packet of puff pastry

Method

Preheat oven to 200

Fry onion and garlic for a few mintues, till onion is transparent and squishy, but not brown

Add lamb and veggies.

Fry for a few more minutes to slightly brown/crisp everything.

Stir in stock and bisto.

Stir in some mint sauce (add sauce, stir, taste, repeat until awesomeness is achieved)

Bring to the boil, and then let simmer for 10 or 15 minutes.

Taste the stew. Awesomeness.

Spoon stew into a casserole dish (I think that's what they're called), till its about 5cm deep.

Roll out a piece of puff pastry and lay over the top of the stew. (I'm going to assume you know how to do this because I don't feel like writing it all out. Wifey had to teach me last night.)

If you happen to get 2 pies out of this mission (like I did), then you now is the time to clingwrap one of them and stick it in the freezer for one day in the future when you're no longer sick of roast lamb.

Poke holes in the pastry to it doesn't explode (the pie you're baking, not the one you're freezing). Brush with egg.

Bake for a few minutes until golden brown and delectably crispy.

Decide that I'm too tired to eat supper tonight, put pie in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.

Sleep like the dead trying to recover from whatever it is that's making me feel like this.

Successful Easter - Roast Lamb et al.

So despite my expectations, it turns out Easter lunch was actually really good, with lots of relaxing fun and good conversations had by all, and I managed to not be stuck in the kitchen the whole time, as everybody else pitched in to help.

For snacks (because I don't think I can spell Hors'd'ouvres) we bought a platter of Vietnamese spring rolls from our favourite Thai restaurant, Thaifoon. Granny-in-law brought fois gras on melba toast. Such a pity that the toast was stale, but no-one else seemed to notice.

We sat down to eat a palm-heart and smoked salmon starter from Wifey's aunt Maryvonne. Despite my oft-stated belief that palm-hearts are more like chopped up bits of wood than a supposed delicacy, on this occassion at least I was proved wrong.

Wifey sorted out the vegetables for the main course (roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, and green beans) which were simple and really good. Mother-in-law bailed me out of having to make gravy. I roasted (on the braai, of course) a few legs of lamb, and actually successfully made a mint sauce (first attempt for me, and I made it just before the guests arrived on the day - no opportunity to stuff up and try it again.)

France brought a collection of different desserts, and cake and such for after lunch.

Everybody thanked us for being such fantastic hosts, they all buggered off home, and I flopped into the sea to let my aching bones recover slightly.

Lots of beer, wine, champagne, wine, and a little coffee, were enjoyed by all.

We succeeded. Now I'm exhausted.

Anyway, the recipe ...

Herbed Roast Leg of Lamb (recipe from Epicurious.com, go look for it there)

Per leg of lamb, mix together ...

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced, and mashed to a paste with 1/4 tspn salt

A lot of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus some for garnish

A lot of finely chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus some for garnish

1 1/2 tbspn soy sauce

1/4 cup white wine

salt and pepper.

Add 2 tbspn of olive oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk until it all becomes one.

Brush the sauce over the roast.

Marinate as such for the night.

I re-brushed the roast with sauce first thing in the morning and once during cooking.

Allow meat to return to room-temperature before cooking.

Cook on a medium to low braai, indirect heat, try not to open the braai lid too often, but also be careful not to burn at the beginning, or let the fire die at the end.

Drink beer while staring at the closed lid of the weber, and tell anyone who asks that you're busy, and can't help with the flowers right now.

I started the fire at 9. Put the meat on at 10 (although this might have been slightly too soon), and took it off the fire at about 12:30. Meat was cooked to well-done, but not overcooked. A meat thermometer would obviously be helpful in this regard, or next time I'll just cook for half an hour less.

Mint Sauce (from taste.com.au)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup castor sugar

Put in pot.

Stir over medium heat for about 5 min. until sugar dissolves.

Bring to boil.

Let simmer softly for about 10 min., letting the liquid reduce by half.

Stir in A Lot of finely chopped fresh mint.

Let sauce cool to room temperature before serving.

This tasted wicked. I'm stoked.

Next comes Easter

So we were sitting at the Yacht club late Sunday morning, having drinks with the out-laws, and discussing how we're going to set the place up for our wedding in August. Despite being pretty suspect to start with, I think we will manage to fit all the guests on the main veranda, which will actually make it a nice venue.

Anyway, as things were slowly starting to get a little tipsy, Vicki's mom kindly informs us that Easter lunch is at the beach cottage every year. (And Vix and I are living at the beach cottage over Easter). I can do a leg of lamb on the weber, and there'll be flagolet, and green beans, and cheesecake, and a starter of some sort. The Vix started to freak, but then we got our heads around it and we started to make sure that the rest of the family weren't going to stuff it up too much ("No, don't worry, we'll do the starters as well, why don't you do the flowers and bring the easter eggs."). There'll be about 20 - 25 people.

Events like this always (for me at least) start with a kind of gung-ho excitement; then later in the day you get this nagging doubt, bordering on absolute terror (picture everyone sitting around the table watching me trying to carve a completely burnt 4 kg block of charcoal that I'm going to try to feed then); then the cycle repeats itself, and I get kind of excited again.

Oh, and its two weekends away, and we've got to spend next weekend moving house. There is no prep time for this one. (hehehe, bring it on!)

So, ladies and gentlemen, the plan ...

(some time passes)...

We were served an absolutely wicked Roast Lamb Shoulder on our recent soiray back to the homelands in Africa. Gorgeously tasty meat, true Jamie Oliver style food, and good family company. Thanks Denzil.

However, this is Easter lunch with a massive contingent of my future spouses extended family - I feel that the presentation of the meat is going to be pretty critical, and the problem with the shoulder was that it fell apart when carved and served. A leg of lamb, or possibly even a crown roast, make for great presentation, and oo-ing and aa-ing when folk see it at the table. A leg also lends itself to the showmanship style of carving at the table which is undoubtedly going to be expected.

Maybe crusted with a mustard, breadcrumb, parmesan and herb crust. Maybe marinaded in onions, garlic, lots of herbs, some wine and olive oil. Maybe try something slightly different and coat it in a spicy mixture of lemon grass, ginger and garlic, lime leaves and lemon juice (although I think I'm trying more for a classic presentation of the banquet this time.)

Side dishes? I shouldn't have asked at the Yacht club. "Flagolet and green beans" - It's just how things are done here. "Can we please have roast potatoes with it?" - says the other expat at the table. I shouldn't have asked. I'm all for the roast potatoes. Maybe the flagolet and green beans can be mixed together in one dish, maybe even the same dish that holds minty peas that I'd like to see added. In any case, I'm sure that's not enough. There are a lot of people coming, and its nice for them to have a little variation.

And a prawn cocktail starter?!? Not again please. Even if they do taste nice, lets try something refreshing.

Then there's the problem of timing the thing. I'm going to have to go to church in the morning, then come home and start the braai. That means that lunch is going to be served really late. That means we have to spend a fair bit of time feeding people before hand (but carefully so that they still have space for the magnificent main course.)

...

I'm going for a walk. I'll keep you informed on progress.