Sharing Lockdown Day 34

It was an office day for me and although I have swapped my office view of St Clair beach for the Clutha River, I count myself so lucky to work in such idyllic picturesque surroundings and… my only complaint is it gets too hot. Yesterday I even sat with my Royal Dornoch golf visor on – not that it’s had many outings out on a golf course. I think blinds might be necessary.

Supermarket trips take longer than my usual duck down to Countdown in Dunedin. It turns out to be a 2 hour affair and a little longer if I swing by Cluden Station to drop off our left overs to our friend Leslie. She trades eggs and yesterday a huge bowl of cherry tomatoes from her glass house and I dropped off my fresh grape jelly made from the left over Pinot Noir grapes at the vineyard and smoked fish crepes. It’s so useful having someone close who is by themselves and who can share the muffins, preserves, soups and the odd meal.

We haven’t had any one dish salads for along time and I bought some lovely little lamb rumps from the supermarket in Cromwell. So using ingredients I had on hand our dinner was a warm lamb salad with slow roasted tomatoes, grilled capsicums, labne, toasted croutons and roasted pine nuts.

Warm Lamb Salad

4 small lamb rump steaks – coated in Z’tar, 10 smallish tomatoes , 4 small long green capsicums – halved and deseeded, 1/3 cup pine nuts – roasted, 2-3 slices thick bread – cut into 1 cm cubes, 8 teaspoons labne – or cheese of your choice e.g blue cheese, green leafy lettuce leaves.

Making Z’atar is a 5 minute job. This versatile Middle Eastern spice blend can be used in a multitude of ways. Use this as a rub for chicken, beef, lamb or fish, sprinkle it over hummus, breads and vegetables.

Z’atar – 1 tablespoon each of : dried thyme, ground cumin, coriander, sesame seeds, sumac, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt , 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.

Dressing : 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (or white wine), 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon sugar , sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Combine ingredients in a jar and shake well .

Coat lamb rump steaks with Z’atar and a little olive oil. Leave to rest, out of the fridge. Cut tomatoes in half around their middles, place in a baking dish and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season. Place in an oven at 150 deg C for about an hour or until tomatoes are starting to dry out. Place bread cubes in another baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season – place in the oven at the same time, although they should be crisp in about 20-30 minutes. Pine nuts can also be roasted at the same time. When the tomatoes are done – turn oven up to 200 deg C and on grill. Oil and salt and pepper capsicum halves – place under the grill for 5 minutes or so or until starting to brown and bubble. Slice into 3-4 pieces. Heat a small frying pan and cook steaks for 3-4 minutes each side . Remove from the heat and leave to rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice lamb thinly. Arrange your salad on a flat platter starting with the lettuce and then follow with the remaining ingredients. Finish by drizzling over the dressing. Scatter over chopped fresh herbs if you have any – parsley , coriander, mint or basil.