Ingredients
| MINT OIL | |
| 1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed tightly | |
| 1 cup neutral oil (grapeseed or sunflower) | |
| SOUSED SPRING ONION OR ONION WEED | |
| ½ cup mint oil (see recipe) | |
| ¼ cup white wine vinegar | |
| a pinch sugar | |
| a pinch salt | |
| 1 clove garlic, microplaned or crushed and finely chopped | |
| oil | |
| 1 bunch spring onions or a handful onion weed | |
| SEAWEED SAUCE | |
| 1 litre salt-reduced chicken stock | |
| 4 nori sheets | |
| LAMB RUMP | |
| ½ cup dried mint | |
| 2 x lamb rumps (about 400g each), silverskin removed, trimmed of sinew | |
| oil | |
| TO SERVE | |
| 200g sheep’s yoghurt, or use regular yoghurt |
Lamb and mint is a classic combination of flavours, but I also think lamb and seaweed is great, too. The umami of the seaweed really complements lamb’s gaminess and the added addition of sheep’s yoghurt and spring onion brings acidity and freshness. Here I have used onion weed, a very easy foraged ingredient at this time, but you can just as easily use spring onion.
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Instructions
| 1. | MINT OIL |
| 2. | Blanch the mint in boiling water for about 30 seconds or until it looks bright green. |
| 3. | Quickly transfer to a bowl of iced water. |
| 4. | Once cool, squeeze out as much water as possible. |
| 5. | Put into a blender with the oil and blitz on high until smooth and you don’t see any chunks of mint. |
| 6. | Line a sieve with cheesecloth or a thin tea towel and strain the oil into a bowl. |
| 7. | SOUSED SPRING ONION OR ONION WEED |
| 8. | To make the vinaigrette, whisk the mint oil with the white wine vinegar, sugar, salt and garlic. |
| 9. | Bring a pan to a high heat, add a splash of oil and cook the spring onions – I like to get them a bit charred and blackened in parts. |
| 10. | Once charred, put the spring onions into the vinaigrette while hot, which helps them to absorb the vinaigrette. |
| 11. | SEAWEED SAUCE |
| 12. | Pour the chicken stock into a pot on a medium-high heat and reduce it to about 200ml. |
| 13. | Crumble the nori sheets by hand and blitz in a food processor or blender until broken up into small pieces. |
| 14. | Add to the chicken stock. |
| 15. | LAMB RUMP |
| 16. | Rub the dried mint over the lamb rump and set aside at room temperature until ready to cook. |
| 17. | Heat the oven to 200°C fan bake. |
| 18. | Put an ovenproof pan on a medium heat. |
| 19. | Rub some oil and salt into the lamb, then put it in the pan, fat-side down, to start rendering the fat (about 10 minutes). |
| 20. | Rotate the meat around, getting a nice colour on all sides, then put it in the oven to finish cooking. |
| 21. | Check the temperature after 2 minutes. If you have a thermometer, the centre of the meat should read 52°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, pierce the flesh with a skewer, then touch the skewer above your lip and if it feels hot the meat is done. |
| 22. | If it’s not quite ready, pop it back in the oven for another 2 minutes. |
| 23. | Rest the meat for about 5 minutes. |
| 24. | TO SERVE |
| 25. | Spoon some sheep’s yoghurt on the plate, slice the lamb in half and add some salt. |
| 26. | Place the lamb on the plate next to the yoghurt, spoon over some warmed seaweed sauce and lay the spring onions over the top. |
Photography Jason Creaghan