The flavours of crispy grilled lamb cutlets are never too far from my all time favourite foods.
Found in most Thai dishes, lemongrass adds freshness and citrus notes to dishes and gives us a sense of coolness when combined with chillies and ginger. Buying lemongrass is pretty easy these days with major supermarkets holding a few bunches in the fresh herb section. Lemongrass looks like firm grass stalk-like sticks, light green on the upper stalks and a soft yellow on the base root area. Grab a few bunches and choose one with a distinctive and fresh citrusy aroma.
For the lamb
These tiny cutlets with their juicy tails of the all-important fat marry beautifully with lemongrass. In this weeks recipe we throw in a few fiery chillies and shavings of fresh ginger. I like to look for lamb cutlets that are thinly sliced for this recipe. This not only reduces the cooking time, but also allows us to cook the cutlets to a crisp crackling on the surface. Ask your butcher to slice them thinly to avoid any nasty accidents in the kitchen.
We are also going to make a marinade, which is rubbed over the cutlets and rested to allow the flavours to marry with the lamb. In this method we use a mortar to pound the ingredients together. A mortar is well worth investing. They can be found in most Asian food import shops or online. Once you get started making your own marinades you won’t stop!
So lets get cracking on this week’s recipe. Happy cooking and enjoy!
