Month: June
In Season: Spring Lamb, Beetroot, Wild garlic (Ramsons)

Recipe: Galician Style Roast Rack of Lamb,
Beetroot Purée, New Baby Potatoes, & Ramsons Flowers


June is the right time for plenty of gorgeous fruits and vegetables, from gooseberries and raspberries to beetroot, wild garlic and peas. While June is, according to the calendar, the middle of the summer, in Ireland it is often July and August when we experience the good weather associated with June. However, we can live in hope! A lot of grass farming occurs in June, in order to start stock piling for the autumn and winter.

Lamb is a young sheep aged between four months and a year. While we traditionally call it spring lamb, it is often May or June before the new season lamb comes into the shops. Furthermore, the very first lambs cost a fair price, so it is often better waiting a few weeks for the lovely treat.

Beetroot is another story altogether and cooking from scratch is indeed difficult and arduous work. While you can go down to your local supermarket and purchase a pack of cooked and peeled fresh beetroot, this recipe will endeavour to teach you how to cook it. You can get fresh new season beetroot at the Galway market.

Ramsons is the name for a variety of wild garlic and can be obtained in many wooded areas around Galway. The first evidence of the human use of ramsons comes from the mesolithic settlement of Barkaer (Denmark) where an impression of a leaf was found.

The recipe below serves four as a main course. You can use 3 or 4 cutlet Racks of Lamb depending on how hungry you are. In Cava, we get our lamb from both Collerans Butchers, Galway and Castlemine Free-range farm, Roscommon. Get your butcher to give the rack a French trim, which just means trimming the excess fat off the rib bone and leaving them exposed. Also, if you want to use a cheaper cut of lamb, by all means do. Either ask for gigot chops (which come from the shoulder) or leg chops. Both are equally good when it comes to Spring lamb, and are as delicately tender as the centre lion which makes up the rack.

As for a little bit of history: During the Roman occupation of the British Isles, a large wool processing factory was established in Winchester, England in about 50 AD. By 1000 AD, England and Spain were recognized as the twin centres of sheep production in the Western world.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

  • 4 medium sized beetroots
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 4 Racks of lamb, French trimmed
  • Some wild rosemary, chopped fine
  • 30ml of Sherry vinegar
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 750g baby potatoes
  • 50g Sea Salt
  • 50g Cracked black pepper
  • 75g butter, cubed Handful of Ramsons flowers

Method

First you’ll need to roast the beetroot. Trim the stalks and place the beets on a roasting tray. Pour 200ml of water over the beets and place the 4 cloves of garlic in the water. Cover with foil and roast for an hour in a 200˚ oven.

Score the fat of the lamb. Mix the oil and vinegar and rub into the lamb. Season liberally with cracked black pepper, rosemary, sea salt and olive oil. Allow the lamb to stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. You can have your first glass of wine at this point!

Then place the four racks on a large roasting tray and cook for at least 20 minutes for medium rare, 25 minutes for medium.

Boil the potatoes in salted water until the top of a knife passes easily through one. This should take about 15 minutes.

When the beetroot is ready, remove from the oven. The skin should just slide off. Put the beetroot in a food processor and season with some of the black pepper and the sea salt.

Remove the lamb from the oven and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes. Strain the potatoes and place them back in the pot. Add the cubed butter, salt and pepper. Place a lid on the pot and wait until the butter melts.

Carve the lamb into four cutlets. It should be nice and pinky!

On four warm plates, spread some of the beetroot purée in the centre. Place the potatoes on top of the purée. Then place the four racks around the potatoes. Sprinkle a few of the flowers on each of the plates and you’re ready to serve.

Jp’s Tips

  • Lamb is best eaten medium rare, but if you can’t stomach that, then cook it medium. Anything beyond medium is just too much.
  • Lamb needs plenty of resting time; so don’t forget to allow the lamb to stand once you’ve taken it out of the oven.
  • For my money, Lamb can go well with either white or red wine, but for this dish, I’m recommending the Tilenus Joven (2007). It’s made in Bierzo (Northern Spain) with the Mencia grape. It is a flavoursome red in the burgundy style: about as close as Spain gets to a pinot noir. You can get it in Cases Wine Warehouse, on the Tuam Road, Galway.
  • Timing in this recipe is everything: so I would suggest putting on the lamb about 30mins after the beetroot has gone in; then put the potatoes on. Hopefully, you’ll have everything ready then at the same time.