In love with lamb

By Scott Marley

New research has revealed that the nation's ultimate meal choice, ahead of even fish and chips, curries or fry-ups, is the traditional Sunday roast complete with all the scrumptious trimmings. But when you're busy, no matter how much you might crave a mouth-watering roast, the last thing you feel like doing when you walk through the door is spending precious time slaving over a hot stove to produce your favourite evening meal. Well you don't have to thanks to some quick and easy lamb recipes from British Meat, inspired by the exotic dishes that we typically enjoy eating on a night out. Ranging from tangy citrus roast lamb with mashed potatoes, tasty slow roast lamb with tomato and red wine, and a taste of summers past with Mediterranean lamb chops, get set to spice up your kitchen with a selection of stunning culinary creations that really do take only moments to make. The research - carried out for British Meat - found that, whilst people enjoy eating foreign food such as curries and stir-fries when they go to a restaurant, they are less tempted to try to reproduce them at home because they think the dishes are too difficult or time-consuming. But these recipes turn preparing authentic dishes such as Oriental roast lamb into a complete breeze. There is no need to stick to conventional roast lamb with mint sauce - top chef Phil Vickery, of Ready Steady Cook and This Morning fame, recommends lamb as the ideal meat to add a fresh twist to, simply because it is so versatile. "Take a shoulder of lamb - the beauty of this is that if you overcook it for an hour or so then it still tastes really nice. Mix together a touch of English mustard powder, some redcurrant jelly, chopped rosemary and fresh kumquats and smear the mixture all over the lamb joint about half way through cooking. For about 2.5 lbs of lamb, roast for about three hours. The lamb will become caramelised and beautifully glazed, which takes away the greasiness of the meat, as well as making it taste amazing." Vickery also has a heavenly alternative to mint sauce up his sleeve, "I love making really spicy chutneys from dried cranberries and blueberries that are soaked in vinegar and white wine. It is really improved if you leave it in the fridge for a couple of days and becomes very potent." According to James Martin, a regular on BBC's Housecall and Read Steady Cook, lamb is the most malleable of all meats, "Make incisions in the lamb and then rub salt, garlic and chilli flakes over the top. Or else, why not add orange marmalade which creates a glaze similar to that of adding honey glaze to ham." Despite the fact that most celebrity chefs are male, the average man is still lagging behind in the kitchen, according to a British Meat survey. They think that cooking the evening meal is by far the hardest task to do at home, over and above even wiring plugs and sewing on buttons! So, for all those men out there who dread setting foot in the kitchen for fear of being unfavourably compared to the likes of Jamie Oliver, the return of the Tim Nice But Dim 'Nice and Simple' advertising campaign on our screens strives to show you just how effortless it is to cook with lamb - and get the right results in no time. "Our advice is that if Tim can do it anyone can," says Claire Holland of British Lamb. And not only are lamb dishes easy and speedy to make, but late autumn is also the best time of year to buy and eat lamb: "There's no better time to be buying lamb, in terms of both quality and flavour," recommends Holland. When it comes to choosing the right cut of meat Martin advises: "There are a number of different lamb cuts you can use to produce fantastic roasts. A shoulder of lamb works just as well as a leg and is frequently favoured by chefs. You can either ask your butcher to bone and roll it, or else cook it with the bone left in." For more ideas for lamb roasts with a twist visit the British Meat website at www.meatmatters.com.

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