College Cuisine: Chilli and Cumin Marinated BBQ Lamb

SERC staff and students are keeping their cookery and baking skills as sharp as their kitchen knives with weekly food recipes designed to tantalise the taste buds.

This week’s recipe shows you how to make your own Chilli and Cumin Marinated BBQ Lamb. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients (Marinade, makes about 175ml) 

• 70g red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped 
• 5-6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 
• 3 Tbsp mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine)  
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 Tsp sea salt 
• 1 heaped Tsp toasted cumin seeds
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 60ml light olive oil

Method (Marinade) 

• Put all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend to a smooth, wet paste suitable for coating meat and fish. Use immediately or chill for up to a week in a clean, sealed jar.  

Ingredients (Lamb, serves 4) 

• 600g lamb fillet  
• 6 Tbsp chilli and cumin marinade 
• 400g tinned palm hearts, drained 
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method (Lamb) 

1. Trim off any tough outer membranes from the lamb, then cut each fillet into evenly sized cubes, about 4cm each. Place in a bowl and toss with 4 Tbsp of the chilli and cumin marinade. Cover with clingfilm and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight. 
2. Light the BBQ and let the flames die down before starting to cook. If cooking indoors, preheat the grill to medium and place the grill rack at the highest level. Cut each palm heart in half and thread them on to metal skewers, alternating with the marinated lamb pieces. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then cook for 8-10 minutes, turning the skewers a few times, until evenly browned. The lamb is best cooked medium rare.  
3. Remove the skewers and brush with the remaining marinade. Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

These recipes would not be possible without the hard work of SERC’s catering staff, who strive to create excellent meals as well as maintaining a Microsoft Teams page for these recipes to be shared between staff and students. If you are interested in cooking at a professional level, please click here to view our full time Hospitality and Catering courses.  

Join the Earth Day Taste Your Waste event on the 22nd of April for a fun and interactive online cook-along to get your taste buds awakened, your creative juices flowing and your food bin less over-flowing!

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