Thursday, November 29, 2012

Southwest Style Canterbury Lamb: My Twist On a New Zealand Tradition

My mother in-law bought a leg of lamb that was on manager's special because it was such a good deal; unfortunately, my father in-law doesn't like lamb, so we wound up getting half of it. I was going to make traditional Canterbury lamb with honey, but I lacked two ingredients to do so and thus put my own spin on it.
First, cut up your two pound leg of  lamb into pieces; in a Ziploc bag, combine two Tablespoons flour, salt and pepper to taste and three minced cloves of garlic. Add the lamb to the bag and shake the bag to combine it all.
Melt two Tablespoons of butter in a large cast iron skillet or an oven proof pan; add the lamb and brown on all sides, turning frequently. Once they are browned, add two and a half cups water, four Tablespoons of agave nectar, fourteen and a half ounces of cherry tomatoes, three handfuls of baby carrots, and one diced onion. Bring this to a boil and remove it from the heat once it does.
Cover the skillet, preferably with a lid, and place it into a 350 degree oven for forty-five minutes or until the lamb in tender. I served this with mashed potatoes because it lacked starch; I was so happy when the recipe didn't call for adding potatoes to the lamb; I don't like the texture of potatoes when they're roasted like that. If you're trying to go dairy free, though, roasting the potatoes would be the way to do it.
I was apprehensive about substituting agave nectar for honey and fresh cherry tomatoes for a can of stewed, but it worked, surprisingly. Will and I both enjoyed it, but I think I could do better. Perhaps if I do this again, I will stray a little further from the original recipe.

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