Roast lamb and tequila

Roast lamb
Originally uploaded by framboise.

P cooked what will probably be our last lamb roast for a wee whiley. It was simply delish. Something about Scottish lamb just cannae be beat (although I'm sure the Kiwis will beg to differ). It may have something to do with the sheer difficulty of getting enough to eat in a typical Scottish spring/summer. But the flesh is tender and the flavour rich (but not smelly, Mom... you really need to try it). In fact, it's so good on its own, you don't need to marinate it or do anything else to it. Maybe a sprinkle of salt, pepper and your favourite spice (I like cumin and coriander, but P was trying to use up our stash of "Good with everything salt", which has rosemary and lavender). Set the oven to 220°C, roast the shoulder of lamb (nae bone) for 20 min, turn the temperature down to 200°C and continue to roast for 15 min for every 500g. Rest for 10 min before carving, or all the juices will piss out and leave you with dry meat. Easy peasy. (OK, after reading this, P has confessed to leaving the lamb in for an extra 10 min because we had guests, who may not have liked it too pink...)

Because of time constraints, there wasn't our usual mashed potato with nutmeg. But the cous-cous (also so easy to prepare) worked in a very Moroccan way. The veggies, while plain-looking, were pretty tasty: steamed, then sat in the oven for a bit with cracked coriander seeds. (You can tell I like my coriander, can't you...)

For dessert? I bought a bottle of Sauza Tequila Gold back... So K and M brought margarita mix. I'd never tried it with calvados before. But I can assure you it works. I was also relliably informed that a small shot of Cointreau or Grand Marnier or even Amaretto works well too. And my little tip for the evening: stick the bottle of margarita mix in the freezer while you're eating your tea... It chills it enough so you don't need to add ice (of which there was none since the main ice-maker, me, was away). Bliss.