Spring Lamb Fillets & Tomato Salad on Line Hart’s Crackerbread

Lamb fillets pan-fried until they have rose pink juicy meat with a golden crust are small bites of pure joy.
Makes 20 pieces.

 

INGREDIENTS

Strained yoghurt
400g natural, unsweetened yoghurt
1 clove new season's garlic, peeled and crushed
sea salt
1 tablespoon chopped dill
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Tomato salad
250g mixed coloured cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
a small handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
a few fresh chives, snipped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt

Spring lamb
2 spring lamb fillets, trimmed of silver skin, at room temperature
olive oil for rubbing
sea salt

To serve 
10 pieces of store-bought crackerbread, broken in half, or homemade crackerbread (see recipe below)
a few fresh chives
1 lemon

 

METHOD

Strained yoghurt 
Line a non-metallic sieve with cheesecloth (muslin) and set over a bowl. Mix together the yoghurt, garlic and a good pinch of salt and place in the cheesecloth. Fold over the edges to enclose the yoghurt, cover with a clean tea towel and place in the fridge overnight or for up to 24 hours. Place the thickened yoghurt in a small bowl and mix through the chopped dill and lemon zest. Cover and return to the fridge until ready to use.

Tomato salad 
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and season with salt. Cover and set aside to allow the flavours to mingle.

Spring lamb 
Rub the lamb fillets with olive oil. Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and when hot, place in the lamb fillets. Cook for 5 minutes, turning during cooking to brown all sides. Remove to a warmed plate and season lightly with salt. Cover loosely with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

To serve 
Slice the lamb fillets across the grain of the meat. You should get 10 slices from each fillet. Spread a little of the strained yoghurt mixture on each piece of crackerbread, top with the tomato salad and finish with a slice of lamb. Arrange on a serving plate and snip over some fresh chives. Finely grate over the lemon zest.

 

Note 
You will need to start the yoghurt straining the day before. The whey that collects in the bottom of the bowl from straining the yoghurt can be used as part of the liquid in bread making or can be added to soups.

 

Line Hart's Crackerbread 

Line Hart makes and sells her delicious hand-rolled crackerbread throughout the country and has kindly developed this recipe for home cooks. The secret is to roll the crackerbread mixture very thinly and bake until well-coloured. You can roll the mixture in two batches, but for the first time you make it I suggest doing it in three batches to ensure you roll thinly and evenly. Line uses a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the uncooked crackerbread mixture before baking, to ensure even-sized pieces. For extra saltiness sprinkle crackerbread with a little sea salt before baking.
Makes 50-60 pieces

 

INGREDIENTS

40g (½ cup) rolled oats
50g (½ cup) sesame seeds
50g (½ cup) whole flaxseed (linseed)
50g (½ cup) sunflower seeds
50g (½ cup) pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, preferably toasted (optional)
150g (1½ cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
180ml (¾ cup) cold water
125ml (½ cup) olive oil sea salt (optional)

 

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water and oil and mix. The mixture will be wet, have an oily coating and will come together into a large ball.

Divide the mixture into 2 or 3 even-sized pieces. Place 1 piece of the mixture on the baking paper-lined tray and cover with another piece of baking paper. Flatten the mixture using your hands, then with a rolling pin to form a large rectangle. Roll until you get the mixture as thin as possible.

Remove the top layer of paper and set it aside for the next piece of mixture. Sprinkle over a little sea salt, if desired, for extra flavour.

Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the crackerbread is golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Break the crackerbread into rustic pieces before it cools and hardens further.

Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Store the crackerbread in an airtight container for up to 1 week.