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I have to say that I’m really picky about lamb. Sometimes I really love it (like in this lamb steak recipe) but other times it just tastes like hair grease. I think it all has to do with what else is in the recipe. I find that if there’s an astringent taste to counteract the lamb grease, I’m all good. This recipe coats the lamb steaks in rosemary (astringent), red wine (the tannins are astringent), and tangy sweet redcurrant jelly (also astringent!). So next time you’re thinking “I don’t like (insert any food here),” it might just be that you have yet to find the accompaniments that really make that dish something you’ll love. Keep experimenting!
There’s a marinade in this recipe, so it requires a bit of advance planning. However, once that’s done, cooking the lamb steaks only takes 15 to 20 minutes, tops. They’re a perfect weeknight dinner.
Lamb Steaks with Redcurrant Sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small onion, chopped
6 sprigs rosemary, divided (2 sprigs minced)
handful of peppercorns
4 lamb steaks, about 1 1/2″ thick
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons redcurrant jam
Heat the wine, 1 tablespoon oil, chopped onion, 4 rosemary sprigs and handful of peppercorns in a small saucepan until almost boiling. Set aside to cool completely. We want to marinate our steaks, not start cooking them! Place the lamb steaks in a shallow container (preferably one with a lid) and cover with the cooled marinade. Refrigerate lamb for at least 4 hours (up to 24), turning halfway through if you get the chance.
To cook the lamb, get it out of the refrigerator and strain the marinade into a separate container. Season lamb with salt and pepper and sprinkle minced rosemary on both sides. Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is nice and hot, add the lamb and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side.
Remove the lamb to a warming oven (or warmed plate tented with foil) and pour the fat out of the skillet. Return skillet to the heat and deglaze with the strained marinating liquid. Reduce as desired and season with salt and pepper. Remove sauce from the heat and whisk in redcurrant jelly. Serve over the lamb steaks.
P.S. In my house, there are only two of us, so I make all the marinade at once and store half of it in the fridge for later in the week.
Serves 4
Adapted from Favourite Dorset Recipes.
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Good advice about experimenting. We made Colne Chicken and Dorset Lemon Pork this week – really like them both. (I, of course, had to pick out some of the raisins!) Kitty gives a paw up for both recipes, too!
Yay! Glad you liked them!
I’ve found there’s lots of baad lamb in the grocery stores — that’s why I raise lamb. If you’ve never had lamb and get a bad one, you’ll never eat lamb again. If you don’t know where your lamb came from, look for smaller cuts (indicating a younger lamb) with little fat (younger lambs have less fat but fat can also be an indicator of stress). Lamb should be lean and delicate with a fine texture. Since raising my own lamb, I’ve become much more adventurous about how I prepare lamb, spending less time worrying about counter balancing the properties lamb fat sometimes has. I will have to try your recipe this weekend, though I don’t have redcurrant jam. I guess blackcurrant will have to do.
“Baad lamb” hehe. Great advice! Thanks for sharing it with me (and my other readers). I think knowing the source is SO important when buying any kind of meat. How the animal is raised makes an enormous difference.
Blackcurrant will absolutely work–I’ve tried it myself in this recipe when that was all I had. Let me know how it goes!
A FABULOUS recipe Lauren, and like you I am also very fussy about lamb – but I LOVE it with redcurrant sauce though! Karen
I’m the same way with beets and turnips–it’s all in how they’re made!
Sound delicious! The redcurrant sauce would make all the difference for me. I am wondering if you got your cookbook Favorite Dorset Recipes when you were traveling in England, and if it is an old cookbook. Love that you have featured so many recipes from it.
Favourite Dorset Recipes isn’t so romantic–it’s just a booklet I bought on Amazon! I’m working on getting all the counties.
I like mint jelly with lamb but redcurrant is a great idea too. Lovely recipe.
I’ve actually never had mint jelly. It’s going on the to-try list!
You’re photographs and recipes get me so excited, they look so delicious and home-ly! This sounds delicious, too. I’m not very adventurous with meat (or cooking!) but I’m sure once I have to fend for myself I will branching out to new recipes and foods to try 🙂
Hannah xo | hannatalks
I found finally getting to cook for myself to be really exciting. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions, be sure to ask!