Roast Leg of Irish Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce, Roasted Vegetables and Champ Potatoes

The smell of roasting Spring Lamb, with garlic and rosemary, creates one of those food memories that can take your mind back to your childhood and make your mouth water at the thought of it!




Easter Sunday was always a big occasion in our house when I was growing up as Lent was finally over and we hadn't eaten a sweet thing for the last 40 days!

The history of the Easter Sunday Roast Lamb goes back to the biblical Passover of the Jewish people. A sacrificial lamb was roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and herbs in the hope that the angel of God would "pass over" their home and bring no harm. Christians often refer to Jesus as The Lamb of God and as religions merged, lamb became a traditional meat for Easter Sunday.




Here's my recipe for a delicious Roast Leg of Irish Lamb with fresh homemade mint sauce, roasted vegetables and champ potatoes with real roast gravy. If you make all this for any Sunday dinner, you'll certainly impress your guests!



Roast Leg of Irish Lamb 

1 Leg of Lamb - on the bone is better because the bone will add even more flavour as it cooks.
(2kg (4lb) weight will feed around 8 people)
6 cloves of fresh Garlic
1 bunch of fresh Rosemary
50g Butter
Freshly ground black pepper & Sea Salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Place the Leg of Lamb on a roasting tray.

Score the leg of lamb with a sharp knife making 5mm deep incisions through the skin and push the garlic cloves and sprigs of rosemary into the cuts in the meat. Rub the butter all over the leg and sprinkle liberally with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

Cover in tin foil and cook the lamb for about 1 hour 20 minutes. Spoon the juices over the meat every half hour. 20 minutes per pound (½ kg) will give you a lovely pink medium-cooked meat - but adjust the timing to how you like your own meat cooked. Take the tin foil off for the last half hour to crisp up the skin.

When it's cooked, transfer the lamb to another tray and cover it with a clean dish cloth, to rest for about 10 minutes, before you cut it. This allows all the muscle to relax, keeps the juices from flowing out and the meat really juicy and tender.




Real Roast Gravy

To make the gravy, place the roasting tray on top of your stove over a moderate heat, use a scraper to lift all the tasty residues off the bottom of the tray and let the juices caramelise a little for about 1 minute. Add a pint of boiling water. Bring this back to the boil over the heat and let it reduce down by 30%. Sprinkle a little flour on to the tray and whisk it in to the juices. Let it bubble away for another minute and this will thicken up the gravy. You can add a drop of Browning, if you wish. Strain the gravy into a warm serving jug.







Fresh Mint Sauce

50g  finely chopped fresh Mint
2 tablespoons white Sugar
2 tablespoons Vinegar
75ml Water
3 tbsp freshly squeezed Lemon juice

Combine the water, sugar, vinegar & lemon juice in a small pot and bring back to the boil. Boil for 1 minute until the liquid thickens slightly and then add the chopped mint. Turn off the heat, let it sit for 10 minutes. Pour it into a serving jar and refrigerate until required.





Roasted Mixed Vegetables

400g each of carrots, parsnip, turnip, sweet potato - peeled and chopped into chunks
2 red onions, peeled and cut into eight
Olive oil
Honey
Sea Salt and freshly-ground black Pepper

Put the vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a little Honey. Season with sea salt and pepper and toss about to coat them. Transfer them to a roasting tin and spread out into a single layer. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until cooked. (You can use whatever vegetable you prefer!)







Irish Champ Potatoes

Simply add some chopped scallions, salt, a little white pepper and some real butter to well mashed potatoes, to make Champ Potatoes and serve it piping hot, with your Roast Lamb!


Enjoy & Have a Peaceful and Happy Easter!
Zack

5 ways to incorporate Guinness into your restaurant this St Patrick's Day

Guinness is considered to be perhaps Ireland's finest export, and it's easy to see why. It's delicious, easy to drink, plus it looks great too. But Guinness is also rich in iron as well as folate, fibre, and ferulic acid — especially compared to most other beers. So, having a pint of Guinness on St Patrick's day is a tradition worth keeping alive.



If you're looking to offer your customers something new this year as an alternative to the traditional pint, Alliance Online Ireland Catering & Hospitality Supplies, have put together five creative ways the hospitality industry can use Guinness this St Patrick's Day.


1. Bake with it

Why not add a black stuff twist to your dessert menu? Incorporating Guinness into the batter can add a lovely depth and richness to chocolate cakes or puddings. But, if it's a savoury aspect you'd like to add to your menu, try Guinness bread! Beer already contains yeast, so you don't need to add any of your own, just a bit of baking powder. And, if you add a good amount of sharp cheddar too, you'll end up with a deliciously beery cheesy loaf. Perfect for dunking in hearty stews or elevating your sandwich offering.


2. Make a sauce with it

Guinness' unique flavour means it can be used to make amazing sauces for all kinds of meals. Steak and Guinness stews, for example, will be richer and have a darker taste than if you used a lighter ale. But the stout can also add a wonderful, caramelised flavour to BBQ sauce that would be perfect for sticky ribs, burgers, hunters' chicken, and countless other dishes. The best part? You only need to add about one cup of Guinness (or around half a can) to your favourite BBQ sauce recipe, so it's a cost-effective way to add that extra bit of flavour.


3. Roast your potatoes in it

Crisp, perfectly roasted potatoes are arguably the most delicious component of any roast dinner. But you can take your spuds to the next level and impress your diners and give them a St Patrick's Day twist by cooking them in Guinness! Use Guinness and vegetable stock instead of water to parboil your choice of potatoes, we recommend Maris Piper, and roast in hot vegetable oil for the ultimate comfort food. Serve with your usual carvery and lashings of homemade gravy to treat your guests. 




4. Infuse your 'mac and cheese' with it

Elevate your standard mac and cheese recipe with a generous splash of Guinness in the cheese sauce. Whether as a main meal or a side dish, the hint of bitter earthiness from the Guinness adds to the complexity of flavours and allows the dish to feel altogether more grown up. Combine with a mature cheddar and Dijon mustard for a kick!


5. Use it to clean with

Don't worry if your Guinness is out of date due to the numerous lockdowns, you can easily repurpose the waste to help with the cleaning up! The acidity of Guinness means that it can be a great cleaner for pots and pans that may have been charred or used for stews — simply leave them to soak and the beer will do the rest. 


"The countdown to St Patrick's Day is on and after two years of restrictions we can officially celebrate in style this year and enjoy a Guinness or two! And, there's plenty more things you can do with this wonderful beer than just drink it, including infusing traditional dishes and cleaning tarnished pots!

The nutritious properties of the world's favourite stout mean that merely drinking it almost seems like a waste. So, if you wanted to raise the bar on your Guinness offering this year or you're just looking to try something new for your customers, give one of these alternative uses a go."

- John Girvan, Manager at Alliance Online

Irish Whiskey flavoured Coffee that assists US First Responders

It’s no secret that a lot of St. Paddy’s Day celebrations are centered around alcohol, from green beer, whiskies, stouts, Irish Coffee and a full range of weird concoctions made with Irish spirits! 

Well, a US-based coffee company, Fire Dept. Coffee, located in Illinois, has developed a way to directly infuse the coffee beans with whiskey before roasting, creating a a non-alcoholic alternative for making Irish Coffees! 



Launched in 2016, Fire Department Coffee is veteran-owned and run by firefighters with the mission to make great coffee and an even greater mission to support their nation's fire-fighting heroes in need. The Fire Dept. Coffee Foundation helps first responders who are injured on the job, mentally or physically, or who are facing other serious health challenges.



Their Irish Whiskey Infused Coffee is one of the most popular selections in Fire Dept. Coffee’s line of signature Spirit-Infused Coffee roasts. Each one features a rich, bold coffee accented by the distinct flavours of fine spirits. 

The company uses a signature infusion process to create the ideal blend of tasting notes, and although the alcohol content of the spirits is removed during the roasting process, but it spares the aroma and the flavour of the spirit.



Spirit-Infused Coffee goes through a process in which the green unroasted coffee is infused with the spirit. After the coffee is infused, they then roast the coffee. During this time, the alcohol roasts off, similar to cooking with alcohol.

I think this is a great idea if you don't drink or are no longer drinking alcohol as you can create the flavour of a traditional Irish Coffee without the kick! 

You can check out their website and  their Non-Alcoholic Irish Coffee Recipe here.



Happy St Paddy's Day (Not St Pattys Day!!!)

Zack