Lamb steaks with a rich, spicy plum sauce

Well, I tried a number of recipes yesterday and they all worked so it's a question of which one first.

This was really delicious although I guess I cheated by using leftovers from the Autumnal Spiced Plums recipe I shared a week ago.  Given that, the rest was easy and I thought the results worked well, especially if you likes sweet/spicy/savoury, which I do.

From now on, whenever I make the Autumnal Spiced Plum dessert, I will be having lamb soon afterwards.

Lamb on a rich spicy plum sauce

Ingredients:

a small lump of butter

2 shallots, peeled and very finely chopped

1 small garlic clove, ground to a paste with a little sea salt

A little grating of fresh ginger

A splash of red wine vinegar
A drizzle of olive oil

*Leftovers from the Autumnal spiced plums.  I guess about 300mls-worth judging by what was in the pot.

2 lamb leg steaks

a couple of small sprigs of rosemary

Method.

Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the onions and sauté them very gently, covered, for about ten minutes or so, until they are very soft, stirring occasionally.

Turn up the heat, remove the cover and add the garlic and ginger.  Stir and fry for about 1 minute or so to cook out the garlic and ginger.

Add the plums and squish down with a wooden spoon.

Add the red wine vinegar (not too much, just a splash), bring to a simmer and allow the mix to bubble for a minute or so.  Be careful it doesn't catch.

Pour the sauce into a small roasting dish.  Place the lamb steaks on top and lay a small sprig of rosemary on each steak.  

Next time I will cut off the fat before cooking and just lay it over the meat while it is in the oven, removing it (obviously) before serving.  the fat gives a lovely flavour but doesn't cook for long enough or in the right way to make it crispy.

Give the steaks a grating of pepper and a little drizzle of olive oil and cover the dish with foil

Bake in a moderate-ish oven (around 160C) until the lamb steaks are cooked and tender - I like lamb cooked through, not pink.  Remove the foil, take off the rosemary, give the sauce a stir, turn up the heat and place the uncovered dish in the oven for a short time to brown off the lamb a little bit (but not to dry it out) and to thicken the sauce a bit.

Serve with mash or rice and assorted veg.  I just had rice and it worked really well.  Filling too

*If you don’t have leftovers, try the following:  Amounts are really down to common sense and personal taste

Halve and stone some plums and place in a saucepan with some honey, some maple syrup and some water.  Add one star anise and a small bit of cinnamon stick.  Add a splash or balsamic vinegar, bring the lot to a simmer, cover and cook until the plums are soft.  Remove the spices before using.  it won't be quite the same but it should work.