Cooking options with lamb are infinite. Whether you like the Mediterranean or the French-Belgian cuisine, the possibilities are endless. With the help of lambassador and chef Cédric Demey, the European Union would like to challenge people to put European lamb on the menu with the campaign ‘Lamb. Good. Easy. Fun.’ To provide some guidance, a platform has been created with information about the different cuts of lamb and a series of recipes of Cédric Demey. More information can be found on the website, on Facebook, Pinterest or YouTube.
Inspiration to cook with lamb
We too took on the challenge to create a lamb recipe. That is how we came up with ‘lamb in the grass’, a creative dish with rack of lamb, peas, shoots and herbs. More about that recipe can be found here. In search of a typical summer dish with lamb meat, we just thought about the most obvious activity when the weather is nice. Let’s barbecue!
Lamb shoulder on the BBQ
Armed with a huge piece of lamb shoulder and a good mood we went to Bert Viroux, a friend and chef of Restaurant Den Boom at Boom.
We challenged him to prepare a simple, tasteful meal with this impressive piece of meat. Before we reveal how to prepare the dish, we can already say that the result was truly amazing. Forget about sauces, French fries or croquettes, because this delicious piece of meat really deserves to be in the spotlight.
As said before, the star of the dish is a nice lamb shoulder marinated in beer for a subtle, bitter taste. For the marinade, chef Bert used Corsendonck Pater, mint, rosemary, thyme and mustard seeds. He inserted some cloves of garlic in the shoulder and allowed everything to rest in the fridge.
Before putting the meat on the barbecue, it is finished with a honey-based mixture with ketjap manis and sambal, which is like a kind of glazing. The sweet taste adds a nice balance in combination with the bitter flavor of the beer in the marinade. By covering the meat with some herbal oil you will add an aromatic and spicy element.
For starters, there are also artichokes on the grill. A marinade of chili oil adds some spiciness and flavor.
The barbecue does the rest of the work, with the help of fire herbs and Jack Daniels’ smoking chips. Thanks to these aromas, the flavor of the meat will get an extra dimension. The lamb meat needs about three hours to bake on the barbecue. It is very important that the meat is prepared on indirect fire and with a closed barbecue lid. When the leg feels like roast, it is done.
Side dishes for a perfect BBQ
With the meat we serve some simple side dishes and a glass of red wine. That’s the In Situ Gran Reserva Carmenere 2014, Valle de Aconcagua, Chili. Absolutely worth it!
To start with we serve a salad with dried beetroot and pine nuts.
Another side dish consists of Israeli couscous, feta cheese, sage, thyme, basil and rosemary. Just like classic couscous, pearl couscous (also called Israelian or Jerusalem couscous) is made of coarsely ground durum wheat. Contrary to the traditional and widely known variety, the grains of pearl couscous are a lot bigger, softer and richer in flavor. It’s a shame that the product is still quite unknown, as it is really good.
Our conclusion is that it is definitely worth to take some time to prepare lamb on the barbecue. It takes quite some time, but the flavor is so amazing that you barely need to add anything to the meat to make the meal a true success.
