Food for Friends

We just had friends move back after a year living in Singapore and wanted to get them round for a good old fashioned roast. It was really a great night and it's so fantastic to have some of my best friends back in our everyday reach. 

After an amazing run home on PT getting every connection between my tram and two trains, successfully lugging my 2kg leg of lamb through peak hour commuters, I did manage to forget the beans!  This however was Thursday night's only hiccup. It was last minute decision to cook roast lamb, and being a weekday and not wanting my guests to be eating dinner at 11pm it was a challenge, but in all truth this roast probably ran smoother than any we have previously done. We have cooked this particular version 2 or 3 times now and since investing in an in-oven meat thermometer we are no longer playing guessing games with our gas oven. Dinner was all prepped, cooking and filling the house with beautiful smells well before the guys arrived and even allowed me enough time to leg it down the street to get the beans!

So here's what we did:

Leg of Lamb with Salsa Verde and Feta Beans

The Prep!

A cup of red wine
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
2-3 large sprigs of rosemary chopped
a good pinch of salt
5 or so grinds of black pepper

Throw  the above into a jar, seal and shake till mixed, then pour this over your meat. In an ideal world I'd let the meat marinate all day (over 5 hours) but in this case i had only 40 minutes before it had to be in the oven, so I popped the meat and the marinate in a plastic bag and massaged it thoroughly in (about 5 mins). This doesn't give a result as good as the long marinate time but it does help the process if you are pressed for time. I then transferred the meat and marinate to a bowl and let it sit covered in glad for my 40 mins. You can marinate the meat in the fridge overnight but be sure to take it out 4 hours before cooking. It's important that the meat is room temperature when you are ready to cook, it allows the meat to cook more evenly and means that the meat is relaxed and cooks for a shorter amount of time allowing the end result to be more tender and juicy.

In the mean time I made the Salsa Verde to be served with the meat. Now don't get discouraged by the ingredient this is AMAZING! and goes so well with the lamb. You just keep going back for more.

1 tbs of washed capers
1 tbs of chopped cornichons
2 anchovy fillets (you can leave these out, but don't)
1 crushed clove of garlic
1tbs of dijon
1/4 cup each of dill, basil, mint and parsley
zest and juice of a lemon,
1/4 cup of olive oil
A few grinds of black pepper

This is super simple, just put all these in a bowl and blend. And then put aside to serve later.

Potatoes wise i just love roasted Kipfler. They taste amazing and their slight waxy nature lets them hold their shape well, while being crunchy on the outside and fluffy and moist on the inside when done.

When the marinating time is done, sear the meat both sides on the stove (bbq is good for this too), before transferring it to a well headed oven at 200 degrees fan forced. The meat will go in for 20 mins on this high heat and then get turned down to 170/180 for the remainder of the time. We go by the meat thermometer for timing, medium rare was around an hour after the initial 20 mins. Before putting the meat in the oven tip the marinate in the roasting dish with 1/2 a cup of water.

The Cooking!

 
So with the meat in the hot oven and the time set for 20 mins, put your taters in a pot of cold water on the stove and bring to the boil. Let them cook till you can just get a fork in (15mins), then drain and let dry for a minute. Then (and this is the key to fantastic roast potatoes) shake them in the pan or a bowl to bruise the edges while adding a good drizzle of olive oil and salt. This means the fluffed up edges will go slightly crispy and yummy.

Pull the meat out of the oven when your timer goes off and add some more water (don't worry if the liquid has caramelized and blackened at the bottom when you add the extra cup now it'll be fine). Tip in your potatoes and return to the oven, now at 180, for about an hour.

We like to rest the meat for a good 15 - 20 mins. So once the timer goes off transfer the meat to foil, cover tightly and let it sit with a teatowl over. You can either turn the oven off and leave the potatoes in or leave them to cook the extra 20 mins depending on how they look. They should be nice and golden by now.

For the beans we like to cook them the same as asparagus. A large flat shallow pan allows the bean to not get crowded and to cook evenly. Place a pan on the heat and bring the water to boil. Then add salt (don't add salt before the water is boiled as it will take longer. Salt raises the boiling point of water). Add the beans and let them boil till their colour intensifies. About 2-5 minutes. They should be cooked but crunchy. Remove from heat and quickly plunge the beans into cold water. This stops them cooking further.

In a pan lightly toast some almond flakes, be careful not to burn. It'll look like nothing is happening for a long while then bang they colour really fast. Once browned tip the beans into the pan and lightly fry to heat back through (only a minute or so). Move the pan or stir constantly to avoid over-cooking the nuts. Serve with feta crumbled through.

Carve your meat and serve with a tiny bit of the meat juice poured over to keep the meat from drying out on the table. You don't need much.

And then just enjoy. It's a really yummy meal that cooks itself after the initial prep, so it allows for plenty of time with your guests. The last 20 mins is really the only time you need to be back in the kitchen. It's also a nice light roast not one you'll feel like you have eaten a whole animal after. The salsa verde and the feta beans keep the meal fresh.