Moroccan Roast Lamb

Mother's Day saw many of the family get together... well Noel's family as my mam lives in Queensland.  It was great to catch up with everyone again and enjoy not only each other's company but a feast (as we all love food). We decided to break away from the traditional roast dinner that we have most times and have a Moroccan taste adventure.  I was actually quite worried how this would be received as it was outside the norm for the Murray family. 

 

To my surprise it was enjoyed by everyone and there were lots of comments about the flavour on the lamb.  I have to say there is nothing more enjoyable than making your own marinade - knowing what is in it and especially as I picked some of these herbs from my own herb pots.  Moroccan flavours are just magical - they just make your tastebuds dance with every mouthful.  The fresh herb flavour envelope with heat from the chilli and spices mixed with the sourness of lemons combined to make perfect tastebud harmony.

 

My only disappointment was the actual way the lamb looked when it came out of the weber.  To be honest I think this dish would have been better cooked in the oven as the marinade may not of charred as much.  (So apologies about the finished product picture).

 

 

Moroccan Roast Lamb

(Recipe adapted from Taste.com)

Serves: 8

SmartPoints per Serve: 7

1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander

1/4 cup chopped fresh continental parsley

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 long fresh red chilli, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

juice of 1 lemon

salt

freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 kilogram leg of lamb, trimmed
 

Process the fresh coriander, chopped parsley, garlic, chilli, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, lemon, salt, pepper and oil in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Score the lamb crossways. Rub the coriander mixture over the lamb and into the cuts. Cover and place in fridge for 2 hours or overnight to marinate.

 

Bring to room temperature before cooking.

 

 

Light coals in Weber and when coals are ready cook lamb for 1 1/2 hours or until cooked to your liking.

 

 

Alternatively, heat oven to 220 Celsius.

 

Place lamb in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Drain fat.

 

Reduce oven to 180 Celsius. Add the water. Roast for 1 hour, adding more water if necessary, or until cooked to your liking.

 

Transfer the lamb to a platter, reserving the juices in the pan. Cover with foil. Set aside to rest.

 

Slice and serve.

 

 

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Portuguese Grilled Chicken

I know many of you visit us and are probably wondering what is happening with A Dash Of Flavour. We have been very very busy so once again I apologize for the lack of updates on this blog - please be assured we are not abandoning A Dash Of Flavour as this is a passion of ours we just need to work out how to become more time savvy.

Takeaway!! A downfall when one is time poor is the option of getting takeaway. Thankfully we enjoy food too much to resort to McDonalds or KFC, etc but when it comes to the choice of chinese, indian there is some temptation for at least they are "better" options than mass produced fast food. But another favourite of ours is Nandos - mainly just the chicken not the sides. So the chance to recreate this at home arrived this weekend and I must say this may be our answer to avoiding one temptation of take away.

We love cooking half chickens on the weber especially marinated and over the coals. They have such a flavour - the taste of the chargrill and then this marinade, which I must say kept the chicken moist and it was full of fresh flavour from the lemon juice and the fresh coriander.

Last night we used small chickens cut in half but I am sure this recipe would work well with chicken peices or even fillets. Propoints wise this is a high value dinner due to the skin being on the whole chicken which you could remove to reduce points.

Overall a delicious easy dish full of flavour and much cheaper than Nandos.

Portuguese Grilled Chicken

Serves: 4
ProPoints per serve: 14

2 small chickens, cut in half
8 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
2 bay leaves
1 - 2 tablespoon paprika (depending on taste)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Clean chicken halves and pat dry. Place in a large snap lock bag or deep casserole dish.

In a jug combine remaining ingredients and mix well.

Cover the chicken with marinade ensuring all chicken in coated. Seal bag or cover dish with plastic wrap. Allow to marinade for 1 hour or overnight if time permits.

Light weber or heat bbq grill. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes each side ensuring that chicken is cooked through.


(click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Roast Pork

Sunday is traditionally a "roast" day at our house - no matter how hot it is during summer. There is something about sitting down at the dining table, especially with family, and enjoying a full roast dinner with the trimmings - roast potatoes and pumpkin always loved side dishes.

Jamie and the boys came for lunch today as Grandma is returning to Queensland tomorrow and it was the last chance that my mam would she all her grandchildren together. I know she had been eyeing off the pork roast sitting in the freezer and when I ask what she would like for her farewell luncheon I already knew she would say Pork!!

The piece of pork, all 3.4kgs of it, was boneless and the crackle covered the whole of it. MMMM!! That's another thing we fight over - the crackle.

Anyway there isn't much to this recipe as it's just cooked in the Weber and then eaten but I had to show you the photo's of just how yummy it looked!! Cooking in the Weber is much quicker than in the oven and to be perfectly honest since purchasing our Weber 8 years ago I haven't cooked a roast in the oven!

Roast Pork

Serving size: 100 grams cooked meat

Points per serve: 3

Crackle:

Serving size: 20 grams

Points per serve: 2.5

1 piece of pork

olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Prepare Weber as per normal.

Score pork skin if required. Rub pork with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place in Weber and cook basing the timing on 10 minutes for every centimetre in height (so if pork is 10 centimetre at the highest point cooking time would be 100 minutes or 1 hour and 4o minutes).

Noel checking the pork ~ the skewer test!! If the juices run clear it's cooked!!

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Roast Lamb

A roast of any meat is delicious and I am sure that everyone will agree. Oliver requested roast lamb outrightly claiming that we have not had one in quite a while.

This post is going to be a very small one as this recipe is too basic to make it any different. Basic or not the taste was magnificent and well worth waiting for while it cooks and fills the house with its scrumptious aroma.

There are many ways of preparing and cooking a leg of lamb. Some prefer to press rosemary sprigs into the meat along with garlic slivers, some like to marinade whereas we just prefer the minimal approach. For us it's just the basic of seasonings and then cooked in the Weber.

Roast Lamb

Serves: allow 150g per person
Points per serve: 5.5

1 leg of lamb
2 - 4 tablespoons olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Prepare Weber as per instructions or preheat oven to 180 deg celsius.

On a large plate or baking dish place lamb. Coat with enough oil to cover. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

If using Weber:

Measure the height of the piece of meat. Rule of thumb with the weber is to cook for 10 minutes per centimetre in height. (The leg of lamb we had tonight measured 15 cms and therefore should have cooked for 2 1/2 hours. However we like ours more on the rare side so only cooked it for 2 hours.) My advice would be to check after an hour or so - size dependent).

If using the oven:

Place lamb on a rack in a baking tray. Cook for 20 - 25 minutes per 500 grams for medium, less for rare dependent on size of leg.

Allow joint to stand for 20 minutes to allow for easier carving.

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)

Roast Beef

I remember as a little girl every Sunday was traditionally "roast dinner" day and without fail I think my Mam cooked a roast every week, not just for my family but for the whole family. At times there could be 18 or more people sat around the table, ranging from aunties and uncles to close family friends.

Now I am grown up and have a family of my own, Sunday's roast dinner is not a 100% regular occurance at our house mainly due to social commitments but it is a tradition that I too want to set up so my children understand family values and have happy memories to look back on.

However, I do have a confession regarding tradition..... we cook most of our meats in the Weber. I cannot remember the last time we cooked a joint of meat in the oven. The Weber gives it such a magnificient flavour.

Anyway (another brag) tonight, Noel spoiled me by cooking a yummy roast beef as I spent all day up at the football club. It was such a nice surprise to come home to and I enjoyed every mouthful.

Roast Beef

(recipe courtesy of Noel)

.

Serves: 12

Points per serve: 3

.

2kg beef silverside

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

Prepare Weber as per directions, ensuring that all heat beads are heated up (no black remaining).

On a tray, drizzle olive oil over the peice of beef, season generously with salt and pepper, rub in to ensure fully covered.

Place on Weber rack, cover and cook for 1 hour or until meat is cooked to your liking. Allow beef to rest before carving.

Alternatively preheat an oven to 180 degree Celcius. Season as above and place on a rack over an oven tray and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is cooked to your liking.

(click here for a printable version of this recipe)