Lamb Steak with Port Mushrooms

I have recently discovered my love of lamb. I think it may even be my favourite meat, or at least a close second to beef. Lamb steaks are great because they give me the same satisfaction as beef steaks, but for a fraction of the price. You could even sub lamb steaks here for beef, but you'd have to keep a close eye on the temperature of the steaks to avoid overcooking them. 

Although this recipe appears to have lots of steps, it is really quite simple. It follows my typical formula for cooking meat: brown, make a sauce, finish cooking the meat in the sauce. I really like this method because all the juices from the meat get incorporated into the sauce. Because the lamb mainly cooks in a sauce, you could easily scale it up for a bigger crowd transferring everything to a roasting dish and leaving the sauce to reduce in the oven. Plus, the dish plays on the classic combination of rosemary and lamb so it will always be a crowd pleaser.

Serves 3

• 3 lamb steaks
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup flour (I used rice flour)
• 1 onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 3/4 cup lamb stock (I just dissolved a stock cube into 3/4 cup of water)
• a big handful mushrooms (~125g)
• salt
• pepper

1. Heat the oil over high in a large frying pan that will easily fit all three lamb steaks.
2. As the oil heats (keep an eye on it), measure the flour out onto a plate and season with salt and pepper.
3. Drag the lamb steaks through the flour until they are throughly covered.
4. Brown the lamb steaks on both sides in the hot oil. Make sure the oil is hot as you don't want to cook the steaks through at this point.
5. Set the browned lamb steaks aside on a plate to catch any juices that may come out.
6. Turn the heat down to low.
7. As the oil cools, dice the onion and garlic and slice the mushrooms.
8. Fry the onion and garlic in the frying pan until the onion is almost cooked through. I usually end up turning the heat up to medium low for this stage, but it depends on how hot you pan still is from the browning.
9. Add the sliced mushrooms along with the extra butter and rosemary.
10. Toss everything together and allow to cook until the mushrooms are soft.
11. As the mushrooms are cooking, prepare the lamb stock.
12. Turn the heat back up to high as the next step will be to de glaze the frying pan.
13. Pour the port unto the frying pan while stirring. Scrape up as much of the bits that got stuck to the bottom of the pan while browning the lamb as you can.
14. Return the lamb to the pan along with any juices that have come out.
15. Pour the stock over the lamb.
16. Let bubble away until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.
17. Serve with sauteed potatoes and enjoy :)