Piquant Butterflied Lamb Shoulder

[Paul Kribs]

When cooking I tend to try different things with regard to marinating meat etc. Generally most things turn out quite well, but now and then some things turn out very well indeed. This is one of those things.

Piquant Butterflied Lamb Shoulder

2� lbs Lamb (shoulder, boned and butterflied)
100 ml olive oil
2 tbs runny honey
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp tobasco sauce
1 medium onion, grated (about 3 ozs)
4 cloves of garlic, finely crushed
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fine rock salt
1 tbs sweet paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp cumin powder
3 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano.

Stab the meat all over both sides with a sharp, wide bladed knife.
Mix all remaining ingredients to form a runny paste.
In a polythene bag large enough to house the meat, spread half the paste inside the bag. Lay the meat on and spread the remaining paste over the flesh. Expel as much air as possible from the bag and then seal it. Now you can massage the paste into the meat. Put into the fridge for at least 4 hours to infuse the flavours.
I cooked it on a low heat on the BBQ. It had 20 minutes hot smoke (american white oak), then the smoke was removed and it was allowed to cook for a further 40 minutes on a low heat (gas BBQ).

Well worth the effort, with no overpowering flavours and just a hint of heat from the tabasco and chilli.





Regards, Paul Kribs

[sausagemaker]

Hi Paul

Cracking piece of lamb, Please send me a sandwich.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

Mmm. Looks and sounds yummy.

[Deer Man]

Paul,

Try it with venison, itwould be mega! Lamb looks excellent

[aris]

Did you use the indirect heat method to cook? I always find that with direct heat, I get too many flames.

[porker]

Pity we don't like lamb...it looks soo tasty!

Paul I will shortly be making some more bacon and was wondering if you have any marinate recipes that work well for bacon, that you use on a regular basis, cause they have proved them selves?

I used a honey, mustard marinate but found it was too mild in flavour, so went back to the treacle!

I was wondering if anyone had tried curing the bacon in the sealed bag and then adding a flavour for the required time? rather than doing both processes at the same time? My reason for thinking this is that the curing process is taking moisture out of the pork, and I'm trying to get flavour in!

On average how much pork is everyone eating? has your pork consumption gone up? I know mine has!

Best Regards,

[Paul Kribs]

aris

I cooked it thus. I filled an oven tray with oak planings/chippings and then damp it down with a water spray. Put the BBQ gas on lowest setting and put the tray of oak on. Once it starts to smoulder and produce smoke, I put the lamb on a rack above it and put the BBQ lid on. After about 20 minutes of smoke I remove the baking tray of oak and continue to cook directly above the low heat. I keep an eye on it all the way through and if any fat drips cause flames then I move the joint to another part of the grill. It's inevitable you will get some caramelisation due to the honey in the marinade. I left it to rest for about 20 minutes, covered in foil.. and, although the photo doesn't show very well, it was very juicy and succulent. We even re-heated some for our sunday lunch and it was still succulent.

porker

I like my bacon plain and simple, so don't add extra flavourings, but see no reason for not applying a marinade after curing. I think I would omit any salt from the marinade though.

The above recipe could be adjusted for use with pork. I would substitute the mint for chopped sage, and the oregano for chopped thyme, and maybe use orange juice instead of lemon juice. I find that finely chopped or grated orange zest compliments pork very well. It's all down to personal taste really.

Regards, Paul Kribs