Confit of Suffolk Lamb Loin with Fresh Milk Curd

Confit of Suffolk Lamb Loin with Fresh Milk Curd recipe, brought to you by MiNDFOOD.

Serves 8

Juice of ½ lemon

100ml white wine

120ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 litre water

½ onion, finely chopped

½ carrot, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs thyme

4 spring onions, peeled and finely diced

1 stick white celery, finely diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely diced

5 globe artichokes

500ml chicken stock

50g unsalted butter

sea salt

50g hazelnuts, shelled

50g sunflower seeds

50g pine nuts

20g puffed quinoa

300ml clarified butter

100ml brown butter

4 x 8-bone Suffolk lamb racks (cap on)

400ml fresh Jersey milk

10ml water

1ml rennet

16 spring onion bulbs

16 asparagus spears

16 young leeks

4 pods blanched broad beans

50g unsalted butter

200ml lamb jus (see basic recipes)

100ml cream, whipped

16 nasturtium leaves

16 pea flowers

16 okra shoots

16 rocket flowers

8 wild sorrel shoots

sea salt

1 For artichoke puree, place lemon juice, wine, 100ml olive oil and water in a medium saucepan. Add onion, carrot, bay leaves and thyme and bring to the boil. There are two ways you can cook the artichokes. You can peel them and strip back the leaves to expose the heart, cover with silicon paper then poach in the liquid for 10-15 minutes. Alternatively, produce this liquid using 250ml water. Place in a sous-vide bag with peeled artichokes and steam on high for 10-12 minutes. Once artichokes are tender, split in half and remove the choke. In a new saucepan, add remaining 20ml of olive oil and spring onions, celery and garlic. Sweat gently until vegetables are soft, but don’t allow to colour. Add artichokes and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes until almost all liquid has evaporated. Place into a blender and add 50g unsalted butter. Blend until smooth. Pass puree through a fine sieve. Season with sea salt and put aside.

2 For the lamb, remove fat cap, meat from the bone and sinew from the meat. Cut each piece in half to yield 8 portions. Place meat in refrigerator. Render down fat from the cap in a small saucepan on a low heat. When fat is melted, pass through a fine sieve and allow to cool slightly. Coat meat with fat, which should solidify on the cold meat. Place meat in sous-vide bags and seal. Refrigerate.

3 Peel asparagus and cut heads off at about 4 to 5cm in length. Reserve the rest. Pod broad beans, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds then refresh in iced water and remove outer shell to expose beans. Trim and peel spring onions and leeks. Put aside.

4 Remove husk from hazelnuts and cut each hazelnut in half. Boil sunflower seeds for 1 minute. Drain and rub on a tea towel to remove outer husks. In a frypan with clarified butter, roast nuts, seeds and puffed quinoa separately until golden brown. Combine and dress with the melted brown butter. Put aside.

5 Cook lamb by submerging into water bath at 68˚C. Cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness, until medium-rare.

6 To serve, heat Jersey milk to 40˚C in a saucepan. Mix 10ml of water and rennet.  

Stir milk to create a whirlpool; add rennet and water and then fill 8 dariole moulds. The milk will take a minute or two to set and should be kept stable and warm for 5-10 minutes.

7 Meanwhile, boil a pot of salted water. Blanch onions, followed by asparagus and leeks. The vegetables will need about 2 minutes. In the last 5 seconds, add broad beans. Drain and brush with melted butter. Season with sea salt. Place lamb on a silicon-lined ovenproof tray. Season with sea salt. Coat with jus and flash in a medium-hot oven for 1 minute. Reheat artichoke puree and fold through whipped cream. Place small amount of puree on each plate with lamb loin in the centre. Garnish with vegetables. Place milk curd on top of lamb. Sprinkle with nuts and seeds. Garnish with nasturtiums, pea flowers, okra shoots, rocket flowers and wild sorrel shoots.