Lamb Flap Roulade

Making this roulade takes a lot of steps and time, and if you are into thinking about things a little romantically, you could say that the long process makes it taste even better... just to be clear though, it doesn't make it taste any better.

Start with two lamb flaps, or one, I went with two because why would you only make one roulade? 

Separate the skin from the rest of the flap. Start at one corner and work your blade between the skin and the fat, you do not want to mess up the skin, so if you are worried just stay away from the skin and slice through more of the fat and meat, it's going to get shredded later.

After getting the two separated, place everything into a pot and add just enough water to cover. Bring the pot to a boil, cover and turn down the flame as low as you can so that the pot stays below a simmer with the lid on. Let it go for 2.5 hour, and then check to see if the meat on the flap pulls apart easily. You want it to be soft and supple.

Pour everything into a pan, or large bowl so that it can cool down . Once everything is warm, not hot or room temperature, place it into the fridge for a few hours. This is what it should look like.

Separate the top layer of fat from the liquid below and all of the animal parts.  Reserve the fat that has solidified on top of the lamb broth, that is basically lard.  It is flavorful stuff and will keep a long time refrigerated, so you don't even have to use it right away.Then pick the meat out of the fat and the skin/meat/fat from each other. You are going to have five piles(rendered fat from the top of the liquid, the liquid, lamb skin, lamb meat, boiled lamb fat). Scrape off any fat below the skin, so that the skin is just that, only skin.

O.K. almost halfway done!

The filling:

130g onion

2 tbsp oilve oil

1 clove pickled garlic (naturally lacto-fermented at home)

200g lamb meat

150g maitake mushroom

Reduced braising liquid from cooking the flap

5g Parsely

2 tbsp Apple Cider Vin (natural mother stuff)

Finely dice the onion and add to a warm pan with the oil and some salt. In a separate pot, boil the braising liquid until it is almost dry, but still pour-able, you will yield only a few tablespoons. While that is reducing, cook the onion until it is translucent, soft, and slightly starting to brown. Add the finely chopped maitake and a little more salt.Cook over medium heat until quite brown, then add the chopped parsley, the vinegar, the garlic, the lamb meat, the braising liquid, and salt/pepper to taste.

Place the skin onto a sheet of plastic wrap, 1 inch from the edge nearest you, and fill it with as much filling as you think you can roll the skin around with a few millimeters of overlap.

Roll the skin around the filling and secure the middle with a piece of twine, tie a slip knot, but don't pull too tight or you will deform the skin too much, you want it to be securely round.

Continue to tie knots out from the middle on both ends until the whole of the skin is well sealed. On the very ends, when you pull the slip knot tight, this time you want to deform the roll so that it pinches off the sides, just be careful not to rip the skin or tear the whole roulade. Roll up the plastic wrap around your new roulade and tie the ends tight, I do this so it keeps it shape and doesn't dry out while it sits in the fridge waiting for me to cook it. Freezing it at this point will also work very well, it is self-contained when rolled in plastic tightly.

When you are ready to serve the roulade, take it out of the plastic and get a saute pan warm. Add two tablespoons of butter and one tablespoon of lamb fat to the pan and then the roulade. Fry the roulade on each side, if the pan isn't making a frying sound you should turn up the heat. You want the skin to sizzle and start to brown, along with the butter. The entire time you are frying the lamb, take a spoon and pour the extra fat in the pan over the top of the roulade. You want to keep a constant coating of butter and oil over the top of the roulade as you are frying the bottom.

Here is what it looks like when you cut into it. Lamb flap stuffed with lamb flap. You separate the parts, make them tasty, and then recombine them.

I served this with brown-butter-apple puree, homemade castagnaccio with golden raisins and pine nuts, a little olive oil and buckwheat sprouts. A lot of work for one bite?

Plate it up!

I had a lot of fun making this roulade, send me a picture if you make a meat roulade.

Be well,

Adam