Elly Swanson
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VIP Member
This one pot dish could easily be done whilst camping: over a campfire, in a dutch oven using traditional methods or any casserole type dish in a cooker that you can just turn on and leave. I used my charcoal Cobb oven/grill. Low and slow is the perfect method for lamb breast, strong, robust flavours just waiting to be released and complemented by other ingredients. So this could equally be started on the hobb and transferred to an electric slow cooker or a thermal (Mr D’s type) thermal pot.
Not so long ago the Guardian newspaper stated that lamb breast (sometimes called lamb belly) was “The cut of meat that chefs love but butchers throw away”. It seems now though that it’s having a bit of a resurgence (as things usually do when chefs start getting excited) and in Sainsbury’s this week lamb breast is £7.00 per kilo, making my 0.899 kg, pre boned and rolled, vacuum packed, joint £6.29.
Here’s what I did with it:
10 Australian heat beads started with 2 firelighters and accelerated with my kelly kettle. In the meantime the lamb was prepared. Unrolled and seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides. The the meaty side was sprinkled with oregano, chilly flakes, lemon zest and torn up anchovies. Then rolled tightly and tied up.
I decided to use my cast iron bottomed tagine as the dish would need basting and if you lift the Cobb lid you leak a lot of heat. The conical shape of the tagine lid traps steam at the top which condenses and drops back on to the food, so basting sorted.
I placed the pot in the Cobb directly over the charcoal and in olive oil (some from the anchovy tin) seared the lamb all round.
Then I removed the lamb to fry red onion, whole squashed garlic cloves And a small red chilli pepper.
I poured in dry white wine to deglaze the pan then after about 5 mins boiling added tinned tomatoes, black olives, capers, a little more lemon zest and some more oregano and chilli flakes. When it was bubbling nicely I added the lamb.
I lifter the pot on to a grill plate to braise gently over indirect heat. With the tagine and Cobb lid on I left it for two hours. As I’d completely forgotten about accompanying veg I chopped some carrots and put them in buttered foil parcels in the Cobb’s moat for the last half hour.
I cooked plain boiled rice on the hobb, but it could have been done in the Cobb as well if I’d have planned it in.
It was all very delicious. I think next time I’ll leave it braising for another hour to render the fat even more.
I strained the sauce and kept some of the liquid for soup next week.
If you’re a well prepared camping cook you could prepare the stuffed lamb at home in advance, even freezing it to let it defrost slowly in the fridge.
In the future I’ll use 2 less heat beads, but replenish with a couple of newly started beads at the 2 hr point.
Not so long ago the Guardian newspaper stated that lamb breast (sometimes called lamb belly) was “The cut of meat that chefs love but butchers throw away”. It seems now though that it’s having a bit of a resurgence (as things usually do when chefs start getting excited) and in Sainsbury’s this week lamb breast is £7.00 per kilo, making my 0.899 kg, pre boned and rolled, vacuum packed, joint £6.29.
Here’s what I did with it:
10 Australian heat beads started with 2 firelighters and accelerated with my kelly kettle. In the meantime the lamb was prepared. Unrolled and seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides. The the meaty side was sprinkled with oregano, chilly flakes, lemon zest and torn up anchovies. Then rolled tightly and tied up.
I decided to use my cast iron bottomed tagine as the dish would need basting and if you lift the Cobb lid you leak a lot of heat. The conical shape of the tagine lid traps steam at the top which condenses and drops back on to the food, so basting sorted.
I placed the pot in the Cobb directly over the charcoal and in olive oil (some from the anchovy tin) seared the lamb all round.
Then I removed the lamb to fry red onion, whole squashed garlic cloves And a small red chilli pepper.
I poured in dry white wine to deglaze the pan then after about 5 mins boiling added tinned tomatoes, black olives, capers, a little more lemon zest and some more oregano and chilli flakes. When it was bubbling nicely I added the lamb.
I lifter the pot on to a grill plate to braise gently over indirect heat. With the tagine and Cobb lid on I left it for two hours. As I’d completely forgotten about accompanying veg I chopped some carrots and put them in buttered foil parcels in the Cobb’s moat for the last half hour.
I cooked plain boiled rice on the hobb, but it could have been done in the Cobb as well if I’d have planned it in.
It was all very delicious. I think next time I’ll leave it braising for another hour to render the fat even more.
I strained the sauce and kept some of the liquid for soup next week.
If you’re a well prepared camping cook you could prepare the stuffed lamb at home in advance, even freezing it to let it defrost slowly in the fridge.
In the future I’ll use 2 less heat beads, but replenish with a couple of newly started beads at the 2 hr point.
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