January/February 2009
- 2 links Merguez sausage (lamb sausage)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- 1 8-ounce lamb loin
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 1/4 cup flour
Season lamb loin with salt and pepper. Coat a sauté pan with oil. Heat. Add lamb loin and sear approximately 1–2 minutes on each side. Loin should be golden on both sides but uncooked on the inside. Cool and reserve.
Cut casing on sausage, and squeeze contents into a stainless bowl. Add egg and bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly to combine. Set aside.
Dust lamb loin with a small amount of flour.
Using your hands, firmly pack sausage mixture around lamb loin. End result should look like a very thick and uniform link of sausage. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to cool and allow sausage wrap to firm up.
Add a little oil to a nonstick sauté pan and heat. Add sausage-wrapped lamb loin to pan and carefully sear, rolling lamb in order to sear all the way around. Sear until lamb is golden brown. Remove from pan.
Cook lamb loin in a 350-degree oven for approximately 15 minutes for medium rare.
Black Pepper and Romano Cheese Polenta
- 1 cup polenta
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
Bring stock to a boil. Add cream, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in polenta. Cook, stirring constantly (to avoid lumps) until polenta thickens and pulls away from sides of pan. Stir in cheese. Remove from heat and serve.
Red Wine Jus
- 4 cups red wine
- 2 cups port wine
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 orange, peeled and segmented
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 1 hour or until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Strain mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.
Assembly:
Remove lamb from oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then slice into 3/4-inch thick rounds. Spoon 1/4 cup of polenta into center of each of four plates. Place lamb loin atop polenta. Spoon red wine jus over lamb.
