Raspberry Marinated Grilled Lamb Skewers in a Mint Sauce Recipe
Around a month ago I made a raspberry-marinated chicken dish, grilled with rosemary and lemon and a host of other such spices. It had been quite fantastic, doubtless aided by the superb raspberry vinaigrette which I had used in it ; it had been technically beyond its best by date, but vinegar doesn't really go bad and the result was excellent, with a delicious combination of sweet fruitiness and a deep herb flavor. But what if this was applied to lamb, and with an emphasis on mint instead of on rosemary? The result is a savory-sweet combination of tender and richly flavored with a long marinade, grilled over flames, and then accompanied with a sweet yet vinegary lemon-onion-mint-vinegar sauce that completes it. Although it is not obligatory I would heavily recommend serving with some sort of grilled vegetable, such as onions, leeks, or peppers, which can be prepared simultaneously on the barbecue.
Although I drew some inspiration for this recipe from Rose Water and Orange Blossoms by Maureen Abood, I consider mine to be dramatically different, so much that using the term "adaption" is inaccurate. Other than the idea of grilling lamb and applying a mint sauce, everything else is different ; the recipe provided for in her book does not include a marinade for the lamb, and it has a different mint sauce. While I would still recommend getting her superb cookbook, since it has a brilliant variety of recipes, this recipe I have is very far removed from her proposition.
Ingredients
- 2 lb lamb
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 20 grams mint leaves, (1 package)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup raspberry vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 + 1/2 small onions
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 1/2 lemon, juice of
Instructions
- Cut the lamb into kebab-sized segments to skewer. Prepare the marinade a substantial amount of time before grilling the meat, at least 4 hours. Combine together the dried mint, raspberry vinaigrette, 1/2 of the fresh mint leaves, the salt, garlic, pepper, olive oil, and peeled and diced 1 onion. Allow to marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for the above period of time.
- Prepare the coals for the barbecue. Place the lamb chunks onto skewers ; peppers, leeks, and onions, all make for excellent accompanying vegetables and can be skewered alongside the lamb chunks. Grill for 6 minutes on each side.
- Make the mint sauce by combining a chopped onion, the remaining mint leaves, the vinegar, the sugar, and the 1/2 lemon's juice, in a bowl. Blend to make a reasonably fine sauce. After having allowed the meat to rest for 10 minutes after having been removed from the grill, serve all and pass the mint sauce around in a bowl to accompany the lamb.
© 2018 Ryan Thomas
