Right, Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday 30th March and we’re giving you the opportunity to get a little bit ‘cheffy’ here, to show off and impress.
New season lamb is beginning to come in now which is delicate, sweet and tender, so we’re making that the star of the dish here - and leaving it fairly unadulterated.
But to compliment, we’ve opted for a fragrant yeasted cauliflower purée, fresh mint, zesty lemon, and tangy capers, to create a blend of savoury, bright, and aromatic notes. The cauliflower in fact goes through a couple of other processes and yes, we’re talking about delivering ‘textures’ here.
After going to all the effort and upon delivering to the table, your dear ol’ Mum will probably say something like - ‘Oh you shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble, darling.’
At which point you can say ‘Mum, nothing is too much trouble for you,’ and be in her good books forever more.
To up the ante further, why not take advantage of our Mother's Day Lamb Rump Bundle that includes a bottle of St John Claret to pair up. Youthful, fruity and vigorous, this wine goes very well with lamb.
Ingredients - serves 4
4 Boneless lamb rumps (240g each)
1 large cauliflower
100g unsalted butter
1 7g sachet of bread yeast
100ml milk
1 large bunch of mint
1 lemon
100ml olive oil
25g capers
Maldon sea salt and ground black pepper
Method
First, take your cauliflower and split it into two, and then take one half and split again, so that you have three pieces ahead of prep. Also take the lamb rumps out of the fridge to come up to room temperature.
Using a knife, break the half piece down into small chunks, including the stalk and place a wide pan onto the hob over a medium to high heat. Add 75g of butter and once melted, add the cauliflower pieces, along with a pinch of sea salt.
Fry the cauliflower off, quickly turning in the pan until it softens and begins to brown. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes, so be patient. Once it begins to break down, add the yeast and stir through for another 2 minutes or so.
Leave to cool a touch and then transfer to a blender. Whilst blitzing on a high speed, add the milk until a smooth, thick purée forms. Spoon back into a saucepan for reheating and check for seasoning.
Next, take one of the smaller pieces of the cauliflower, pick off the florets and slice them through the stem as thinly as you can - a mandolin is handy here.
Pour the oil into a saucepan and tear up most of the mint to bruise, saving some of the smaller leaves, and add to the oil. Using a peeler, take off a few strips of skin off the lemon, squeeze and add that to the pan too. Then place on the hob over a very gentle heat to warm up the oil, mint and lemon to infuse. After ten minutes, add the thin slices of cauliflower to gently poach.
Break up the remaining third of the cauliflower into small florets and add the leftover butter to a pan over a medium heat.. Add the florets to the foaming butter and gently fry until they begin to brown - but don’t go too far as you want the cauliflower to have some bite.
Now is the time to cook the lamb, so heat your oven to 180°C and season the rumps well with sea salt and ground black pepper before placing them skin side down into a large ovenproof frying pan. Place the pan over a high heat and after a couple of minutes, the fat will begin to render out and crisp the skin. Brown the remaining sides and then place into the oven for 7 minutes skin side up. This will cook the lamb to medium-rare.
Once done, take the lamb out and leave to rest whilst you finish everything off. It’s a good idea at this stage to heat your plates through in the oven.
Heat the purée through and add to the centre of the plate, using the back of the spoon to create a circle. Then dot some of the browned florets on the outside, followed by the poached cauliflower interspersed between. Pour off the poaching oil through a sieve into a small bowl and add a squeeze of juice from the lemon and the capers to make a warm vinaigrette.
Slice the rested lamb rumps and place on top of the cauliflower and finish with a good drizzle of the caper sauce all over and a scattering of the smaller mint leaves.
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