Wow, things have been rather busy as of late. The show I'm working on premiered last week and the show I worked on before this one is finally premiering on Wednesday. Mark and I went out of town last week and all of this combined with the nightmarish heat we've been experiencing has made it almost impossible to get into the kitchen. I haven't really made anything worth mentioning since the 4th of July, which was just about three weeks ago. I did try making these Lebanese skewer things a while back but the results were less than satisfactory and as such I didn't feel the need to do a post about them (The recipe in question called for an ENTIRE can of tomato paste and it even though it claimed to make enough marinade for 6 chicken breasts, in reality you could have probably done 18 or 20 or them). It's funny, but it really got to the point where I was seriously missing the process of cooking. So this weekend I was determined that regardless of how hot the already hot kitchen would get, I was going to cook SOMEthing.
This dish sort of came about out of some research I was doing. You see, Mark and I, after years of talking about it, are finally going to take a trip to London in the fall, for two weeks. Mark used to live there for about 8 years back in the 80's and it's been quite a while since he's been back to see any of his old friends. And I've never been, so I've been pouring through various British food and design magazines looking for places to go and restaurants to try (if anyone has any suggestions, do let me know). One of the magazines I've collected a number of issues of is called Olive, and if you haven't ever seen it, it's worth tracking down. It's a great magazine full of beautifully styled pictures and great recipes.
This comes from the August 2005 issue. I remember being intrigued by this recipe and it may even have been a contributing factor to my buying the magazine, but I never ended up making it. One reason may be the harissa. If you don't know, harissa is a hot chili paste that is often used in North African cooking, typically Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian cuisine. When I came across a jar of this exotic condiment at Le Pain Quotidien I quickly bought some and squirled it away in my pantry. Of course you can make your own, which it probably what I should have done, but whatever.
INGREDIENTS
(For the marinade)
1 tablespoon corinader seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
3 tablespoons harissa
1 lemon juiced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
(For the lamb)
1 3 lb shoulder of lamb, boned and butterflied
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
(For the Moroccan yogurt sauce)
1 cup yogurt
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsley grated
1/4 cup mint, minced
3 tablespoons preserved lemon, minced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD
First make the marinade. In a spice grider, crush the coriander and the cumin.
In a small bowl, combine the harissa, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, coriander and cumin. You should wind up with a thick sort of paste.
The lamb shoulder I got came tied up tighly like a roast. I cut off the strings and unrolled the meat. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and then smear both sides of the meat with the harissa paste.
Cover and marinate for an hour or two.
While the lamb is marinating, make the yogurt sauce.
Combine in a medium bowl, the yogurt, cucumber, mint, and the preserved lemon. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Before cooking, let the meat come back to room temperature. I cut the meat into about four or five manageable pieces that could easily fit my grill pan.
Heat a grill pan over high heat for two minutes until very hot. Turn the heat down to medium high and grill each piece of meat for five minutes per side, until the lamb is charred with with grill marks.
Remove the meat to a plate to rest and continue with the other pieces of meat. The meat should still feel practically raw at it's thickest point, which is to say, it will feel very squishy. The harder the meat is, the more it's cooked through.
Place the grilled lamb on a rimmed baking sheet covered in foil and place in the oven and roast until the lamb is medium rare. It should feel less squishy than before, but if that's not specific enough for you, the internal temperature should be about 145 degrees F. Check it after about 10 minutes, but it will probably take between 15 and 30 minutes. Remove the meat from the over and let rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Cut the meat into very thin slices. I served the lamb topped with a dallop of the Moroccan yogurt sauce and accompanied by whole wheat couscous that I jazzed with with some minced mint, parsely and preserved lemon and some grilled little baby carrots. Red, yellow, and orange ones.
Seriously, aren't those carrots cute? Mark and I were up in Santa Maria which, if you don't know, is a small town up the central California coast and is where the big Michael Jackson trail was held. It's also very close to where the movie Sideways was shot. It's serious farm country. Near Mark's mom's house, there is this great little farm stand that sort of specializes in super sweet, red to the core strawberries. Well, recently they expanded from a very temporary looking little hut to a full-scale building and now, not only do they sell the most gorgeous looking produce, fresh from the fields, but they also have WINE TASTING. Can you imagine? Sipping wine and picking out ears of corn and heads of cauliflower. If we'd had time, I could have easily lingered there for hours. And funny enough, while we were there, Mark and I ran into the guy who introduced us to each other at a gala 7 years ago. He and some friends had just stopped on their way up to Big Sur. How funny is that?
Oh, so anyway, the LAMB. The lamb was...it might be the best lamb I've ever cooked. It's at least in the top four (the other three being the braised lamb shanks I made for Easter, some rich and spicy lamb chops au poivre, and a recipe that I've made a number of times but is not on this website for lamb chops that I serve with a red wine and quince sauce) My experience with lamb, sadly, is a little hit or miss. For some reason, I tend to over or under cook it (as I've mentioned before I once made a very sullen, grey, rubbery leg of lamb for Easter two years ago and my attempt at lamb burgers were not so much rare in the middle as they were completely raw). But this lamb was just great.
The method of grilling it in the grill pan and then finishing it in the oven worked brilliantly. The outside was nice and almost charred while the inside was still a tender, rosy pink. The marinade/rub was also really interesting. Before it's cooked, the harissa is quite strong and spicy, but afterward it seems to mellow. There is just a hint of the garlic and all those fantastically aromatic spices, and of course lamb is always good with a cool, creamy yogurt sauce. It's great warm, room temperature and even cold, although I think I prefer it to be room temperature. Sliced thinly, it almost melts on the tongue.
Serves 6
Hi Grant - I found your website through the kitchen site at apartment therapy. In any event, I wrote the review on the olive oil you can found on the central coast. I wanted to let you know that you can also get the olive oil at the Thursday night Farmers' Market in San Luis Obispo. Let me know if you make the trip up and I'll let you in on other local secrets!
Posted by: Myleen | July 25, 2006 at 01:56 PM
Grant:
I was last in London in November of 2001, and the food was fantastic. There is a great cheap cafeteria-style place in the basement of St. Martin's-of-the-Field's Church right off of Trafalagar Square by the National Museum. The Indian food there is to die for. At any rate, from one fellow reality story-guy to another, thanks for a great site and enjoy Londontown!
Posted by: Jon | July 25, 2006 at 05:12 PM
Grant, I love your website. I'm just a lurker but had to comment re your London trip. Woohoo! You'll love it. I have to agree about the Indian food there, even the cheap takaway is great. I also love Wagamama, it's fun and not pricey.
Posted by: Moriah | July 26, 2006 at 06:22 AM
hi grant - I'm another lurker, used to live in london. gourmet mag did an entire issue on london last year - try to dig that up. my favorites food-wise: cru in hoxton for imaginative british food, belvedere restaurant in holland park for traditional british breakfast but semi-fancy, the food stands (esp the spanish one) at borough market fridays and sats. I've also heard st. john's, which specializes in offal is not to be missed. any of the conran-owned restaurants (includng the gastropub owned by his son near notting hill) are excellent. for cheap indian, skip brick lane - its overhyped and for tourists - you can find great indian all over the city. bermondsey kitchen is the type of restaurant I would want to own - small menu but changes daily. and for the views, go to oxo tower. the food is good but not great and very expensive. so just go for drinks and to enjoy the thames. have a great time!
Posted by: marissa | July 26, 2006 at 09:00 AM
your food looks delicious! i'm digging the grill charred marks on the lamb and the cucumber yogurt sauce that sounds deliciously similar to goin's cucumbers in cf. yum!
Posted by: yoony | July 26, 2006 at 09:17 AM
Oh, how fabulous. I am so hungry now.
Posted by: Rorie | July 28, 2006 at 11:05 AM
I would like some graphical icons (windows) for the "copy and paste"
funtion. animated ones would be especially appreciated. I need some
ideas for icons for a software program.
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