Releasing My Inner Foodie Communist: Food For The People By The People #6

Hello hello! Entry #6 is here! Deets can be found here so get reading and submitting!

This entry was actually submitted to me a while ago by the awesome My_Left_Foot over at Kudocities but because I don't have a barbecue in the flat I couldn't make it... that is until I realised that the boyfriend has one at his place! And hey, it aint really a BBQ if there isn't a manly-man to burn... er, I mean cook the meat on the fire for you.

For some reason men love barbecues. I think it's part of the primal instinct. Y'know. Man make fire, man cook meat, woman bring beer and make salad, grr, arr. In our case it was more like woman bring rather pleasant sweet red German wine for man to sip at delicately whilst making fire cook meat, and then tell man that man should've made salad since woman brought ingredients, but hey, who's counting.



The recipe MLF supplied were "addictively good" summer lamb chops. In truth they are pretty darn good, both slightly sweet and spicy. The meat was also ridiculously tender (which, I believe, was down to the quality of meat I purchased and the marinade time) which was a definite plus in my book. As you can tell from the above photo we barbecued the lamb chops along with a whole mound of other meat:

Sausages (from good ol' M&S, dontchaknow)...


And both minted and spicy lamb kebabs (from the local butcher)...

I mean, this recipe was so, so simple to make. SO simple. And it tastes just delicious. I think a definite quality is added by barbecuing it, but you could totally grill these in the oven if you needed to. The blend of spices is just perfect and they are addictive. Lucky we had so much other food or I would've polished off all eight cutlets by myself...

So. Now some gratuitous barbecue photos because I was being totally snap-happy that day. Enjoy.


Man use man tongs to cook meat...


Man pour marinade on top of meat for extra flavour...


MAN MAKE MORE FIRE!


Man in action...

Beautiful. Our finished result was accompanied by potato salad (made by the boyfriend, sans bacon), tuna pasta salad (made by me, recipe to come soon) and a green salad (eventually made by me after a brief discussion about whose job it was to make sundries to accompany BBQ).



Dessert was grilled caramelised peaches with honey, strawberries and Ben & Jerry's cookie-dough ice-cream. Yum. No real recipe for that one, just halve the peaches, de-pit, brush/drizzle with honey, place on grill/barbecue for a few minutes each side until caramelised and awesome, serve with strawberries and ice-cream. Done. We actually did ours in the oven for about 10 mins because the fire had gone out. Doh. But they still tasted awesome.



Anyway, you should try out MLF's recipe because it is SUPER AWESOME TASTY and such a good Summer 'un. Especially if you've got the old BBQ out! Make lots and invite friends. Thanks MLF!




MLF'S FINGER LICKIN' LAMB CUTLETS

Ingredients
8 lamb cutlets
1 tbsp soy sauce (pref. light, like Kikkoman, but I actually used a dark, sweet soy sauce - couldn't find the light! - and it was beautifully sweet and delicious)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Pinch sea salt

Method
1. Combine all the marinade ingredients (except for the oil) in a suitable container (preferably with a lid) and then cover the lamb cutlets with the marinade. If you're using a light soy sauce this will be easy. If you're using a dark soy sauce use your fingers to smear and coat the cutlets completely. If you're using the dark soy sauce you can add the vegetable oil now, too.

2. Cover, give a good shake and leave to marinade for about 4 hrs in the fridge (at least 2). Overnight is a good idea, too. Give it a mix halfway through marinating, if possible.

3. Half an hour before cooking, take the cutlets out of the fridge and leave at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, and mix in the 1 tbsp of oil. Grill on a medium-hot barbecue for about 3-5 mins on each side, depending on thickness of cutlets and how you like them done. Pour over some of the leftover marinade whilst cooking and stand back - those flames will rise, baby cakes.

4. Use man tongs to remove from the barbecue and try to stop shoving them in your mouth, alternating bites with a cold beer or, for the more sophisticated amongst you, some kind of wine. Sweet wine goes particularly well with these.


There you go. Meat cooked in a manly way by a manly man. The boyfriend's verdict was that they were yummy, by the way. Yummy and spicy, but mostly yummy. The only thing that I would ask is that you please buy good quality meat - it makes all the difference.

Until next time, peace and love.

Jax x

PS: There were three of us eating that mound of food, by the way, and there were lots of leftovers. We're not that much of massive fatties...