Not much time to prepare lead to a trio of starters and lamb two ways
A friend of mine and myself have been talking for a long time that he should come over for dinner whilst in London, for years actually and somehow it just never happened. We finally found a date and then of course the first thing I did was to start thinking about what to cook. He is a bit of a cook so I had to have a proper think short, a challenge.
My friend on the other side had another challenge, he was in charge of the wine and as I did not have a clear menu all I could do was give some vague hints! Clearly this worked as the wine with the starter was a chilled Malbec Rose. I had never had this before and it was delicious. If I come across this I will get it again!
In the end I decided to cook things I had cooked before, this was not the time to start experimenting. I stopped at the veg monger to pick up the veg, I went to the store to get some dairy products and some veg I did not find at the veg mongers and my last stop was at Robsons’s Butchers where I had a brief discussion about what part of the lamb to buy. I had planned to make stuffed pork tenderloin but has a request for lamb. With the limited time I had to prepare I decided to buy rump of lamb, when that was prepared I also saw some lamb cutlets so I got some of those as well. I got some cheese and after that I could not carry anything more so I stopped my quick shopping spree and headed home to get cooking.
The zucchini rolls I did last weekend was quick and easy to make and I just added asparagus tips as I had them and they are so delicious. See recipe here.
I did my asparagus and fresh green peppercorn soup, see recipe here. To tie to soup and the rolls together I served them with soft boiled quails eggs, so delicious on their own that I just gave them a sprinkle of sea salt to bring out the flavour.
After the starter we switched to a Pinot Noir, an Aloxe-Corton 2009, a smooth but full of flavour Burgundy wine, delicious.
I did the lamb two ways.
Flakey rump of lamb, serves 3 on it’s own, oven 160C
- 2 rumps of lamb
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- salt & cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- 1/2 ts smoked paprika powder
Mix the spices and run the rump of lamb all around. Place in an oven proof tray and roast for at least 2 hours. When it is done wrap the rump of lamb in tin foil and let rest for 30 minutes.
Use the same spice rub for the lamb cutlets but they only need a short time in the frying pan so I did this last.
I used some of the feta cheese crème I made for the zucchini rolls to stuff chestnut mushrooms before baking them.
I baked baby new potatoes and filled them with the last of the feta cheese crème before serving and I also gave them a sprinkle with spring onions and chopped parsley before serving.
I love cauliflower mash and on my way home I wanted cheesy cauliflower mash, said and done I boiled the cauliflower until soft and the made a mash with a little cream and grated Jarlsberg cheese, homey but lighter than potato mash.
I served it with a mix of the zucchini and sweet corn salad
and wild garlic pesto.
I didn’t have time to prepare a dessert but I had some Varlhorna chocolate at home so I bought strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and a rhubarb stalk. I put it all in an oven proof dish, sprinkled over some chocolate and placed under the grill for just over 5 minutes. I wanted the chocolate to melt and the berries to get warmed through and it was super quick! The dinner was ready in just over two hours, I can’t believe I pulled it off but it was a great evening, thank you for the beautiful wine!
Food Eat Love 