Recipes From My Travels - Sumac and Honey Moroccan Lamb - The Redditch Standard

Recipes From My Travels - Sumac and Honey Moroccan Lamb

Redditch Editorial 15th May, 2021   0

CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.

THE FIRST time I visited the Algarve was about seven years ago with my youngest son Jay.

We stayed in Albufeira at the magnificent Real Bellavista Hotel.

Everything about the area was lively and vibrant, especially the strip – with its bars and clubs aplenty. Not far away on the other side of town was the quieter fisherman’s beach with plenty of stunning little restaurants.

Now you are probably thinking why I’m doing a Moroccan dish, well seven years ago when I was maybe a little braver, probably due to the fact that I had a bit of Dutch courage in me, my son jay, who was maybe 13 to 14 years old at the time wanted to do stupid things, like take his dad out to Sea.




His first suggestion was ‘paragliding’ – not a chance.

So we settled on a boat trip to see the caves – but not any peaceful boat trip – a trip in a ‘speed boat’.


After the beauty of the caves and the truly overwhelming experience of seeing dolphins playing around the boat, we were off!

And I mean off – heading straight in the direction of North Africa.

The coast of Portugal was getting smaller and smaller, but my heart was beating faster and faster as we bounced of the waves, to the sadistic smirking of the captain / pilot / driver / lunatic or whatever he called himself.

With my face being contorted with what seemed like G-force, I managed to turn to Jay, as I was fastening my life jacket even tighter and said: “The way we are going we will end up in Morocco by teatime if we don’t turn around.”

That was when I realised that maybe I shouldn’t have taken Jay away in school time,

When he replied ‘but that’s Ireland over there’ (geography still isn’t his strongest subject).

Eventually we did turn around and head back to dry land.

One day I would like to visit Morocco and it’s charming streets that are flowing with all types of traders selling spices and other amazing products.

But this time it will be by aeroplane.

And who knows, maybe I will look out of the window and see that same speed boat hurtling towards the North African coast.

Visit facebook.com/recipesfrommytravels for more on Paul’s blog.

Sumac and Honey Moroccan Lamb

Ingredients

Small joint of lamb shoulder

3tsp of sumac powder

2tsp of ground cinnamon

1tsp of ground cumin

1tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp of paprika

1tsp of turmeric

2tsp of sunflower oil

2tbsp of runny honey

1tbsp of lemon juice

1clove of garlic finely sliced

Method

1, With the lamb take a sharp knife and make eight little 1cm insertions spread out around the joint of meat. Add the finely sliced garlic into each of the cuts.

2. Then place all the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.

3. In a shallow baking tray, line the bottom with a sheet of greaseproof paper and place in the joint of lamb. Brush the lamb generously with the sumac and honey mixture. (Reserve any of the leftover mixture)

3. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight or for at least two hours.

4. Take the lamb out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for half an hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 200c.

6. Remove the foil and pour any of the reserved leftover mixture over the lamb.

7. Reduce the oven to 160c and slowly cook the joint for four to six hours.

8. Remove from the oven and rest uncovered for half-an-hour.

9. Slice and serve with some fresh mixed vegetables of your choice and some homemade mint sauce.

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