It was beautiful having my food hero and good friend Lee Tiernan stay with me for a few days last summer. So many great memories of cooking up a storm with the BAM boss.
I know how much Lee loves ribs so I decided to go INTERGA-LAMB-TIC with some Snowdonia Mountain Lamb riblets. Perfect for low 'n' slow cooking and smoking, riblets are such an underrated cut of lamb - meaning they're also mega cheap - and they took our tastebuds to another dimension!!
I wanted to hit these riblets with a celebration of mountain and sea... Juniper (those mountain lambs fucking love juniper!) was the first plant to grow back on Snowdonia after the last ice age, frozen for years and - once thawed - came back to life. Awesome. As for the surf to my turf, I went for a laver seaweed infused glaze made with Welsh Barti Ddu rum. (We drank copious amounts of this rum over Lee’s stay too.) So here it is, my riblets recipe.
Ingredients
Fennel seeds
Mustard seeds
Coriander seeds
Garlic
Shiitake powder
Olive oil
Lamb riblets
Mustard
Dried juniper branches
Barti Ddu rum
Sugar
Apple cider vinegar
Sesame seeds
Coriander
Fresh Chilli
Method
For a sexy-rub mix, toast the spices (fennel seeds, mustard seeds, coriander seeds) and ground & pound with a pestle & mortar, then add garlic & shiitake powder to the toasted spices.
Oil up the riblets, add some mustard, and in with the spice mix (I love how the spices bind to the oil & mustard). Cover every nook ‘n’ cranny of the riblets.
In the smoker (or oven on 250*f) add dried juniper branches for subtle smokiness when smoking in the smoker. Should be ready in 5-6hrs. When the meat is pulling back from the bone, you know they’re ready!
Barti Ddu rum glaze: In a pan add the Barti Ddu rum, sugar and apple cider vinegar and reduce down, when it thickens, glaze the ribs.
Serve topped with toasted sesame seeds, coriander and fresh chilli.
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