Za'atar-crusted rack of lamb, with bitter chickpea mash

One of my favourite new cookbooks is Jennifer McLagan's Bitter (Amazon link is to the yet-to-be-released UK edition, but given Jennifer is Australian, the US version which I own is perfectly comprehensible to a UK reader). It's a fantastic mix of academia (both science and anthropology) and recipes showing how to introduce more flavours into your food. I used to think I liked bitter foods and drinks: now I realise how much more I could love them.

Lamb is a very sweet meat, and so it quite naturally demands something contrasting. A tart fruity sauce is traditional, but I fancied trying to match it with some more bitter flavours. A chickpea mash, seasoned with tahini and mixed with rocket leaves, seemed like a good idea; adding another Middle Eastern flavouring like za'atar seemed even better.

I'm not going to pretend that this was in any way a cheap meal, but a small rack of lamb will only set you back about the same amount as a decent steak would. And it's been a tough week at work.


Za'atar-crusted rack of lamb, with bitter chickpea mash


For the lamb:

A small French-trimmed (i.e. no fat) rack of lamb, around the 200g-250g mark
4 tbs za'atar

For the chickpeas:

1 tin chickpeas
1 (or 2) cloves of garlic (depending on taste and how many important work meetings you have tomorrow morning)
The juice of one average lemon - mine made about three tbs juice
2 tbs tahini
50g rocket (the size of the bags M&S sell; if yours is slightly bigger, just add the lot. You'll never use up the leftovers, so you may as well get the vitamins in your system now.)


Pre-heat the oven to 200 celsius.

Rub the lamb with a tiny amount of oil, just enough to moisten it, then roll the rack in the za'atar, patting it down to make a thick coat. Leave to sit for 10 minutes or so.

Tip the chickpeas and their water into a saucepan, cover, and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. I tend to find most tins of chickpeas a little undercooked, and therefore requiring this treatment, but brands do vary. Be sensible; if they're falling apart, stop simmering.

Meanwhile, heat a small oven-proof frying pan with a little oil in it, and when the oil is shimmering, carefully lay in the rack of lamb. After a few minutes, a dark brown crust should have formed; when it has, turn the lamb over to crust on its other side, too. When both sides are done, pop the lamb in the oven for five minutes. This assumes you like your lamb pink, and it's what I would recommend; if you like it very well-done (Hi Dad!) then it will need ten minutes in the oven.

Whilst the lamb is in the oven, remove the chickpeas from the heat, crush in the garlic, squeeze in the lemon, and ladle in the tahini. Then use a potato masher to roughly squidge everything together; with the remaining liquid from the chickpeas you should end up with a chunky, but not dry, mash. Stir in the rocket and pop the saucepan lid back on, so that the leaves wilt in the remaining heat.

Remove the lamb from the oven and leave to rest for five minutes. Pour wine, get cutlery out, etc. Now is a good time to check facebook.

Slice the lamb between each rib, so you get a series of lollipops on sticks. Heap the chickpeas onto a plate, top with the lamb, and finish with a little drizzle of olive oil and a scattering more of za'atar. Eat on sofa, watching TV, with a fork for the chickpeas and fingers for the lamb.

Tarragon- and walnut-stuffed mushrooms

I am going to go vegan for Lent. That seems like quite a big undertaking; I've been vegetarian for the last three Lent periods and that was getting too easy, but even so I feel veganism is quite a big step. With that in mind, I've been eyeing up some of my regular meals to see how easily they might be converted into vegan recipes. The answer is not at all: there really is quite a lot of cheese in there.

This is one recipe which I would, normally, have dumped a couple of handfuls of grated parmesan into, perhaps also using butter instead of olive oil. The good news is that it didn't need either of these: it was delicious just as it was.

You want to get hold of quite deep mushrooms, despite the name - you need them to form a cup to hold the stuffing. Although it certainly wouldn't hurt if a little of the stuffing falls out and goes extra-crisp in the oven.

I've called for the garlic to be sliced as I like having little hits of garlic in different bites, rather than a smooth flavour throughout, but for those interested in the intersection between vegan cookery and garlic processing options, this article may be of interest (garlic apparently becomes more pungent when cooked in vegetable fat vs animal fat).


Tarragon- and walnut-stuffed mushrooms

2 large flat mushrooms
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
10g/four stems' worth/half a supermarket pack of tarragon leaves
50g walnuts
handful breadcrumbs

Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.

Finely chop the onion and gently fry in a generous glug of olive oil, seasoning with salt, until softened and starting to get golden. Slice the garlic, add to the pan, and fry for a further couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, drizzle the mushrooms with a little more oil, pop into a small roasting dish, and pop them in the oven for 15 minutes.

Chop the tarragon and walnuts, then stir into the onions and garlic, together with a large handful of breadcrumbs. What do you mean, you don't have a handful of breadcrumbs? All single people have stale bread issues: whizz it up in a food processor, freeze, and then grab handfuls out when they're needed.

Remove the mushrooms from the oven and stuff them with your herby nutty mixture, pressing it in firmly. Return them to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until nicely crunchy on top. Fine on their own, but you could serve a little green salad alongside if you fancied it.