My Saturday mornings are usually at my local grocer seeing their produce and chatting with local store owners about what’s seasonal. As I’ve got to know them and their passion for their produce, I trust them. I trust them to tell me what’s good and in season and why some varieties are better than others. What I cook is very much guided by what my local grocers tells me are in season. It’s handy and educational having that sort of relationship with your local stores. I learn something every week.
As we transition out of Winter and into Spring I am starting to see lots of new ingredients you can use to cook up new dishes at home or simply try by themselves. For example, my local grocer told me today there is a small window now where ‘easy peel’ oranges are available and they’re as the name suggests, easy to peel. You use your hands to peel the oranges easily without a knife and they are larger than normal oranges, juicier and sweeter too. Today what I cooked up for dinner is harissa lamb cutlets with my favourite bread, and I really do have a soft spot for this, Lebanese bread wholemeal with grilled tomatoes, feta, dill and basil served with a dash of hummus. One of the great pleasures of full flavoured fresh lamb meat is its ability to stand up to strong spicy robust flavours like harissa, a seasoning of North Africa common in Morocco and Tunisian cuisine. The harissa spice seasoning I used is Euro Spices available from my local grocer and one of the best Lebanese breads I like to get is from Baalbek Bakery Canterbury, also available from my local grocer.
I got 6 pieces of fresh lamb cutlets from my local butcher and marinated it with 2 tablespoons of Euro Spices harissa and there is a spicy kick so lessen the quantity if you think it is too hot for you. Add a tablespoon on olive oil. Blend the harissa seasoning with olive oil to make a paste. Coat the lamb cutlets with the harissa paste and allow to marinate for 30 minutes. Add vegetable oil to the pan and over medium heat fry the lamb cutlets until brown and tender. Serve with your favourite Lebanese bread with roasted tomatoes, basil, dill, fetta cheese and hummus. Depending on how hungry you are, this can be a dish for one or made for sharing with other plates. It’s pretty simple to do.
The matching wine for today’s dish was provided courtesy of Tyrells Wine, the Part & Parcel wine, the wine used in Season 4 premiere of The Bachelor Australia on Channel 10. It is a blended white wine that is bright, young, fresh wine with a gentle fragrance. It was a perfect match for my harissa lamb cutlets … The sweetness counterbalancing spicy heat.
Beautiful succulents are by Jackie’s Floral Gallery.
