Fire and Spice.

I really felt like some lamb tonight, but the only lamb recipe I’ve still got to go is lamb shanks, which I’m saving for a winter weekend in 2010. So I thought I’d do my own thing with lamb, but add some Jamie vegetables into the mix.

Superb Sweet & Sour Squash

Simple Sautéed Courgettes with Chilli & Lemon

I marinated a mini rack of lamb with some Moroccan spice seasoning and fired up the barbie.

The sweet and sour squash began with dried chilli and crushed coriander seeds being thrown into hot oil, which threw up a pretty intense and eye watering fragrance. I then added the butternut pumpkin, red onion and some water, covered with a lid and popped it into the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile I put the lamb onto the BBQ with the hood down, leaving it to grill away.

I sliced the zucchini and tossed it into a frying pan with some garlic and dried chilli. Once brown, I added a squeeze of lemon juice and a small knob of butter. Simple.

It was at about this time, that I noticed how smoky the kitchen was getting and realising that the smoke was coming in from outside, I ran out to the BBQ and lifted the hood only to discover a rather large fire and a very charcoaled lamb rack. I’m lucky I’ve got any eyebrows left I tell you – it was one hell of a blaze. I huffed and puffed a bit, turned everything off and left the rack to sit and sizzle while I headed back inside.

I took the pumpkin out of the oven and placing it on a medium heat on the stove, I added pine nuts, raisins, garlic, thyme, balsamic & white wine vinegar, a spoonful of sugar and some S&P and left to simmer.

By this stage, I was suffering quite a bit of watery eye action, both a combo of all the chilli used and the smoky haze, but it didn’t cover up the fact that charcoal as it might have been on the outside, once I sliced into the lamb, the inside was not just pink, it was blue. So into a hot frying pan, for a quick fix and finally I served up my spicy lamb and veg dinner.

As far as a fiery dinner goes, all the chilli and spices were delicious, but I can live without the blaze on my balcony, that’s for sure.

Xx