The Husband got a bit carried away with the barbecue last night and cooked far too much meat so we had a quarter leg of butterflied lamb leftover. Since he is not big on left overs, it was up to me to try and create something that had no resemblance to last nights supper!
So I marinated the barbecued leg of lamb with a pomegranate dressing served with grilled aubergines and courgettes and tomato and basil salad all picked from the garden. It turned out to be quite a feast, and mostly home grown.
The aubergines and courgettes are sliced then pan grilled in a large, very hot frying pan (with no oil). When they have a good colour on either side, remove them from the pan and immediately add a clove of crushed garlic, the zest of a lemon and a generous drizzle of good quality olive oil. Finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and leave for an hour so that the flavours can infuse. Serve at room temperature.
No recipe need for this just chop up some tomatoes season well with sea salt and black pepper and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze and a handful of chopped basil.
Remove the cooked lamb from the fridge and leave for half an hour (if used directly from the fridge the flavour is not nearly so good as the meat is too cold). Make the dressing by mixing a dessert spoonful of pomegranate molasses with one tablespoon of mirin (a japanese rice wine), the juice of 1-2 limes (depending on taste) and one large splash of hazelnut oil or sesame oil.
Slice the meat thinly and place on a bed of rocket or mixed leaves, pour over the dressing and add a table spoon of chopped coriander and pine nuts.
This is a great refreshing salad and is a wonderful way to use up cucumbers, which is brilliant as I have enough to feed a small country at the moment. This dish goes very well with grilled meat and salmon.
Take one large cucumber or 3 small ones (my home grown ones tend to be rather short and fat!). Peel and cut into “fat chip” size pieces. Place the cucumber in a bowl and add a finely chopped chilli, two tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander, one tablespoon of poppy seeds and season with salt and pepper. Just before serving add a dessert spoon of caster sugar dissolved in a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and a splash of fish sauce to taste.
