Two Food Focused Companies team up to Extol the Virtues of Spring Lamb
To sing the praises of spring lamb- Black Box BBQ- a specialist Outdoor Cooking & BBQ shop just outside Greatham on the Selborne Rd teamed up with Simon Taylor from Surrey Hills Butchers, who has recently opened a new whole animal butchery at The Hogs Back Brewery, to extol the virtues of new season spring lamb.
It’s of course the season for it and perfectly timed to witness the nation uncovering their BBQs and dusting off the tongs!
George Orange, the owner of Black Box BBQ said ‘It was a fantastic day with great atmosphere of like-minded foodies, absorbing Simon’s knowledge and a great way to kick of the season. We are soon to launch a plethora of foodie classes to complement our extensive range of BBQs and Smokers, in the newly installed kitchen at The Timber Barn- ‘The Artisans Kitchen and Cookery School’. George added- “We have a great appetite for all things outdoor cooking but that’s underlined by a hunger for all things food, we have a really exciting line up of hands on, small group classes in the offing- from BBQ basics through to hands on butchery and Sausage making days, to sourdough and baking which is a passion of mine. With that we’ll also be doing Pizza dough and Pizza classes using the ovens we stock, plus much more! We’re really excited to get this going as this was the reason for expanding to The Timber Barn in Greatham. Watch this space!
Simon, who recently succeeded in joining the revered ranks of Institute of Meat accredited Master Butchers in a ceremony of recognition at the Institute of Meat Annual Prizegiving, held at Butchers Hall, London, skilfully demonstrated and imparted his award-winning knowledge to a sold-out group of local enthusiasts. Patiently breaking down a lamb into its traditional cuts before handing over the deboned leg to Adam from Black Box BBQ to grill it off ‘hot and fast’ on The Monolith Ceramic Grill, a kamado style BBQ that’s rapidly gaining notoriety in the UK market, using only a quick marinate of olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.
We learnt, let Lamb be the flavour!
Once perfectly cooked to 55 degrees C, after all BBQ is all about cooking to temperature rather than time, George the owner of Black Box made some quick flat breads to layer rocket, roasted red peppers, BBQ’d tenderstem broccoli dressed in a tahini and garlic sauce, then topped with the blushing lamb spiked with a fresh and vibrant chimichurri.
Whilst the deboned leg of lamb was being grilled off, Simon went on to show off his expert butchery skills preparing a fadi trim and then cutlets and of to finish off- Noisettes. A special cut of a small medallion made from the eye muscle of the lamb's loin stuffed with a perfectly prepared round of apricot, garlic, and chilli with asparagus before slicing it into steaks to be skilfully grilled by Adam.