Tuesday, October 16, 2012

More spring

Spring might be pretty, but it is also fickle.  Last week  it rained, blew and hailed and we were back in the woollen jumpers and lighting the fire.  I so love the lilacs in the garden, the scent is heavenly...
We had a lot of fun in the school holidays.  There was the Melbourne Show,
some farm work,
friends to stay,
billy tea and marshmallows.

I love finding new ways to cook our lamb.  Last night I made a marinade that I used on some mini roasts that I rescued from the depths of the freezer.

Olive and almond paste for lamb
This amount made enough for 3 mini roasts, and would be enough for a small leg or 8-10 chops.

3 tblsp pitted olives (black, green or a mixture of the two)
2 heaped tblsp ground almonds
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 dessp of balsamic vinegar to taste
1 teasp rosemary leaves, chopped
salt and pepper.

Roughly chop the olives and put them in a container suitable for a stick blender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and whizz to form a paste.  You could do this in a food processor.  Taste the mix and adjust according to your preference, you may prefer more or less balsamic, and it does depend on how salty the olives are.  The almonds give it a good texture.
Spread the mixture over the lamb and refrigerate for a few hours if you can.  
Take the meat out of the fridge an hour before you want to cook it to get it back to room temperature.
Cook to your liking, either in the oven (start it off at 220c for 15 minutes then turn it down to 180c to finish) or on the BBQ.  It doesn't look much below, but it tasted great.


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