Saddle Of Lam With Apricot & Cumin Stuffing.

Gordon Ramsay's family fare cook book challenge day 39:

*Saddle Of Lam With Apricot & Cumin Stuffing.

Similar recipe online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LedshmErp4U

Accompaniments: Spinach with Garlic, Chile & Pine Nuts And Balsamic Roasted Red Onions

Saddle of Lamb is also called chef's dream. This dream does not come cheap neither. It cost me $30 to get a small section of saddle, around 1.5 pounds. Saddle of lamb is not commonly used in Canada, it is the lower back of a lamb with bones removed, where the two lions resides. It is the most tender part of the lamb, and great for roasting. The nice butcher(Kurt (wooly mountain farms)) from our farm market went out of his way to do this cut for me, if you have a nice butcher like him too, cherish him.

The meat was indeed more tender then any other parts of meat, The cumin flavor went really well with the lamb which has always been a great traditional combination. The apricots stuffing gave the whole dish a fruity punch and more layered flavor. The best part to me though is the outer layer prosciutto and the thin layer of fat which is wrapped around the saddle, The prosciutto had been seared to crispy in pan before it went to oven. The fat around the saddle log cooked with the prosciutto while in the oven. Mmmm, so crunchy and flavorful.  This part makes the whole experience a interesting one and the saddle a real delicacy.

The spinach and roasted onions were great accompaniments for this lamb dish. Spinach absorbs the grease from the lamb, make the dinner easier to digest. The onion lifted the flavor and refresh the tasting buds for the next rich bites.

With all that said, unless for a fancy party with people likes exotic foods, I would not make this again. It did not seems to be more taster then any other lamb dish in this book which cost half of this one.

The most fun experience of this cooking process was tying the saddle of lamb to a log with kichen strings. The tied meat will not fall apart during roasting and the meat will  form creases looks like the ones we see from a ham. From the beginning to the ending, the string are not to be cut until the whole log had been tied. It was my first time tying and it was not perfect but was a great learning fun and it will make you feel almost  like a chef!