Stephen King, head chef at Uisge restaurant in Murthly, tells us why we should be buying local when it comes to lamb and a recipe for enjoying it this September.
Here at Uisge restaruant we are fortunate that our local butcher has his own family-run farm which produces some of the best lamb I’ve tasted, so it will be appearing on the menu or regularly on the specials board very soon.
Everyone has their favourite cut – whether it is cutlets, rack, rump, shank or diced for stew, they are all fantastic, but I encourage people to try lamb neck.
The neck is a cut that won’t be for everyone as it can have quite a strong flavour, however if you like all other cuts then give it a try, the bone and the fat give it a delicious full and rich flavour when braised.
Braising slowly in red wine, root vegetables and hearty herbs like garlic and thyme is probably the most common way of preparing lamb neck.
Here is my take on a roast neck of lamb, it’s easy, quicker than most roasts, and tastes delicious.
Roast neck of lamb
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2-3 lamb neck fillets depending on size
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 stalk of rosemary stripped
- 5 sprigs of thyme stripped
- 1 tsp pink peppercorn
- 1 tsp mustard seed
- 1 tsp rock salt
- Drizzle of olive oil
Method
- Take the lamb out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for about an hour.
- In a pestle and mortar grind all the other ingredients to form a paste.
- Pat the lamb dry with kitchen roll and rub the paste over all of the fillets and allow to sit for 20 minutes.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan or skillet on a medium high heat with a touch of oil, once the pan is almost smoking carefully add the lamb and seal of the outsides allowing it to colour for two to three minutes before turning. Make sure the fillets have a nice colour on all sides.
- Transfer to a roasting tray and place in a preheated oven at 170C
- Fan/190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 for 10-15 minutes depending on size.
- Don’t worry about checking it regularly. You are looking for a good bit of give in the meat when you press it, unless you prefer your roasts well done then leave it in longer.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
- Serve with your favourite roast dinner accompaniments, for me this would be roast potatoes, some nice buttery mash, roast carrot and parsnip with a nice rich gravy.
- This lamb is versatile and will go with most veg and even some mint through your gravy.