Fusion Food: two words, when seen together, that strike fear into any decent, self-respecting food lover anywhere. If you want teriyaki with empanadas or tagine-cooked pierogi, you are welcome but please don't even think about inviting me for some because first, I'd rather cut off my nipples with a sharpened spoon; and second, I will never be able to be seen with you in public ever again.
Anyhow, there are some circumstances where this might work, so you are always free to suggest it... if you dare. And one of those circumstances took place in my kitchen this afternoon. I decided to combine my acquisitions from the greengrocer and butcher's shop in Sierck-Les-Bains with a great (acceptable) American culinary tradition and make a pot roast with French ingredients.
Ingredients (feeds between 4 and 6 hungry people):
One boneless shoulder of lamb, bound like a ball.
Enough potatoes for your dinner guests
One or two onions
Five cloves of garlic (crushed with a knife)
Several carrots (I chose orange and red ones)
Brussels sprouts, halved
Three or four sprigs of rosemary
A lot of olive oil
A glassful of red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Set the oven for 180°C. Cut, peel, slice the vegetables to your satisfaction; parboil the potatoes.
Take the lamb and sear it in a pan until the outside is sealed; cover it in salt, pepper and oil.
Take a large roasting pot with a lid and put the vegetables randomly in the bottom, giving them a stir in the oil. Add some salt.
Put the potatoes in with some more oil, and the lamb on top of that, with the rosemary and garlic spread around evenly. Cook for twenty minutes uncovered. Then add the red wine and put the lid on, reduce the temperature to 120°C for an hour, then take the lid off for a further 20 minutes.
Remove the lamb, cut into slices, and apportion the vegetables accordingly.
If you're feeling adventurous:
A good stuffing would round this meal off nicely. Here's one that would work:
Ingredients:
About two hands full of yesterday's bread, broken into very small pieces
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
Some fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and sage should be good)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A binding agent like lemon juice, milk or an egg
Instructions:
Put the stuffing ingredients (except the bread) into a mixer and give it a thorough blitzing.
Then add the bread and turn it into a pâté-like consistency. Roll balls out of the mixture and add to the pot at random. Alternatively, spread it out over the top of the lamb.
Cook with the other ingredients.
