The barbecue season has started!
It’s that time of year when foodie Chris Winstanley is again writing his series of barbecue recipes to tempt our readers’ taste buds. Using only local ingredients, Chris’ recipes are easy-to-make, delicious and perfect for al fresco dinner parties.
Here in the Algarve so many herbs, spices and fruit grow wild… And what’s better, they add so much flavour to the food we all eat and enjoy.
We are lucky to have rosemary and lemon growing in our garden. We do nothing to cultivate it but it just keeps growing! So we use both ingredients in quite a few recipes.
They go so well with lamb and this recipe combines the natural flavour of spring lamb with the smoking aroma of rosemary and the acidity of lemon. It is great to let these natural flavours do the talking. You can also use good beef steak as an alternative meat.
Ingredients (4 people):
500g lamb steak
50ml white wine
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary and rosemary sprigs
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
Method:
Cut the lamb into 3-4cm cubes. Mix the ingredients for the marinade and add the lamb for a minimum of 30 minutes. Better still, leave overnight.
Using oiled metal skewers or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water, thread on the lamb cubes and thick sprigs of rosemary.
You can cook over a hot barbecue griddle or grill for 5 to 6 minutes, turning and basting several times as this will give you rare lamb. If your preference is for medium lamb, continue cooking for a further 3 to 4 minutes and for well done 4 to 5 minutes. Squeeze the meat with tongs to check it is to your liking.
You are ready to serve. I suggest you serve this really simply with salad and potatoes and a nice bottle of light red wine such as Algarve grown Quinta da Penina from Alvor (about €4-€5 a bottle or in a 3-litre wine box at good supermarkets for under €10).
This recipe has been supplied by Chris Winstanley, owner of Moveison outdoor living and barbecue store, situated on the EN125, just east of Lagos.
