Roast Fillet of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables

Hmmm...January...not much of a theme to this month's cooking...anyone for haggis, tatties and neeps? The Scots celebrate Robbie Burns birthday with this traditional meal later this month....but I've got better ideas for those sheep...

Andrew and I had a great lamb fillet dish at an Italian restaurant here in Munich. It was cut into strips, bundled with thin slices of mixed vegetables and grilled...a light but luscious main course. A few days later, lamb fillets went on sale at our local butcher's. Thinking I might be able to replicate that great Italian meal, I bought them and popped them in the freezer. Well, nothing like that dish turned up on the web but how about this one? The intriguing mix of flavours and ease of preparation appealed somehow after weeks of traditional and over the top holiday cooking. The following recipes are from the BBC website I've been using over the past weeks..no disappointments yet. Let's see how this one goes. The lamb is by Gina Tanner. Since you can't buy prune chutney here I'll make my own ahead of time. The vegetables are part of a recipe by Lesley Waters. I've never made a creme brulee, but have been making my own custards lately so thought this might be fun. They can be made ahead of time. If you don't have a mini blow torch, the custards can be put under the grill to brown. Since black current ale is likely not available here, I'll probably forgo the Black current Stout sauce ..Perhaps a mix of black current juice and beer would work? A drop of cassis?

Guten Appetit

Roast fillet of lamb

Ingredients (Four small servings)

• 300g/10½oz lamb fillet - best end

• small equal bunches of coriander, mint, thyme

• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 4 tsp olive oil

• 150ml/5fl oz Chianti wine vinegar

• 2 tbsp prune chutney

Preparation method

1. Place the lamb in a dish and cover with the herbs, garlic, olive oil and Chianti wine vinegar. Marinade for 1 hour. Discard marinade and herbs.
   

2. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

3. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, brown the lamb on both sides for 2-3 minutes and set the pan aside.

4. Place the lamb in a roasting dish and spoon over the chutney. Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove and stand for 5 minutes.

Roast Fillet of Lamb

Prune chutney

This storecupboard chutney can be made at any time of year to complement cold meats and cheeses.

Ingredients

• 75g/2¾oz golden caster sugar

• 50ml/1¾fl oz cider vinegar

• 50ml/1¾fl oz white wine

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

• 6 large dries prunes, roughly chopped

• 2 tsp ginger conserve

• salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation method

1. Dissolve the sugar in the cider vinegar and wine over a low heat.

2. Add the red onion and garlic and bring to the boil.

3. Add the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half. Serve.

Prune Chutney

Rosemary roasted vegetables

Ingredients (Serves One)

For the roasted vegetables

• 1 carrot, peeled, roughly chopped

• 1 parsnip, peeled, roughly chopped

• 85g/3oz new potatoes, halved

• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 orange, segmented, to garnish

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/400F/Gas 6.

2. For the roasted vegetables, place the chopped carrots, parsnips and new potatoes into a saucepan of boiling salted water and boil for 3-5 minutes, or until beginning to soften.

3. Drain the vegetables and transfer to a baking sheet. Sprinkle over the rosemary, drizzle over the oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then stir to mix.

4. Transfer to the oven to roast for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

5. To serve, place the roasted vegetables onto a plate, the orange wedges, to garnish.

Roasted Vegetables

Sticky toffee crème brûlée with blackcurrant stout sauce

Ingredients (Eight small servings)

For the custard base

• 125g/4½oz sugar

• 4 free-range eggs, yolks only

• 125ml/4½fl oz single cream

• 125ml/4½fl oz milk

For the sticky toffee crème brûlée

• 100ml/3½fl oz double cream

• 100g/3½oz muscovado sugar

• 4 stoneless dates

• 4 stoneless prunes

• 1 vanilla pod, seeds only

• 2 free-range eggs, yolks only

• 4 tsp plain flour

• 100ml/3½fl oz custard base

• caster sugar, for the topping

For the blackcurrant stout sauce

• 250ml/9fl oz blackcurrant ale

• 50ml/2fl oz crème de cassis

• 100ml/3½fl oz stout

• 50g/1¾oz sugar

• 50ml/2fl oz double cream

Preparation method

1. For the custard base, beat together the sugar and yolks until pale and thick. Simmer the cream and milk together in a saucepan, then pour the mixture over the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk to combine then transfer to a clean saucepan. Heat gently, stirring all the time, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2. For the crème brûlée, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Heat the cream and sugar over a medium heat, stirring continuously until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the dates, prunes and vanilla seeds and simmer until the dates have softened.

3. Add the egg yolks and flour to 100ml/3½fl oz of the custard base and whisk until smooth. Then mix in the rest of the custard base. Pour the toffee mixture onto the custard and whisk to combine.

4. Transfer to a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Divide the mixture between mini-ramekins, each 50ml/2fl oz in volume, and place in a roasting tin. Add hot water to the tray until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until set.

5. Leave to cool and then transfer to the fridge to chill. When completely chilled, sprinkle the top of each custard with caster sugar and glaze with a mini-blowtorch. (or glaze under a grill but watch them closely so they don't burn) Refrigerate until ready to serve.

6. For the blackcurrant stout sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil then simmer until reduced to 100ml/3½fl oz in volume. Keep warm and then transfer to a small jug just before serving.

Dessert