Oliver’s Taranga cooking series – Episode 3

This month’s recipe for Oliver’s Taranga’s cooking series is Rosemary Crusted Lamb Rack with Freekeh, Pumpkin & Beetroot Salad.  Just in time for cooler Autumn temperatures, this dish is absolutely delicious but is equally enjoyed alfresco on a sunny day outdoors with friends.

We’ve matched this dish with our 2017 HJ Reserve Shiraz,  one of our flagship wines which is listed in the Langton’s Wine Excellent classification and was awarded 98 points in the latest James Halliday Wine Companion 2021.

As you are preparing the dish, pop open your HJ shiraz for decanting.

 

So who is HJ?

Herbert John Oliver (HJ)  1922 – 2001:

Herbert or ‘HJ’ as he was known, was the man who turned Oliver’s Taranga into a grapes only business. He loved vineyards and decided it would be the sole focus for Oliver’s Taranga.

HJ was quite the bachelor in the early 1940’s, wooing his love Marjorie at dance after dance in McLaren Vale and Adelaide. Marjorie’s ‘dance journal’ revealed details of these soirees. ‘I had an extra dance with Bert (HJ) tonight’ she wrote. She goes onto write of the day HJ was called up to be a fighter pilot in WWII, wishing it weren’t so.

In 1948 on his return from WWII, the ‘old’ Shiraz block was planted and in just a few years later, HJ and Marjorie welcomed their son Donald John, a brother for Robyn and Morris who would take Oliver’s Taranga into the new millennium.

The fruit for the HJ Shiraz is kept as a single vineyard Shiraz – all from the old block.  Often the other half of the fruit goes into Penfolds Grange.

Buy 2017 HJ Shiraz here

Recipe

Rosemary Crusted Lamb Rack with Freekeh, Pumpkin & Beetroot Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed, roughly chopped
• ½ cup of breadcrumbs
• Salt & pepper
• Lamb rack
• 1 cup Freekeh, uncooked
• 700g Jap Pumpkin, cut into large chunks
• 6 x Beetroots, quartered
• Preserved lemon
• ½ cup Parsley, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place beetroot on the tray, drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 20-25 mins.
2. Add the pumpkin to the beetroot and continue to roast for 20-25mins
3. Meanwhile, score the lamb. Combine rosemary, breadcrumbs & salt and pepper then press firmly onto the lamb. Cover the bone with alfoil. Drizzle with oil and place in a roasting tray in the oven for approx. 25mins, depending on how you like your lamb done.
4. Meanwhile, cook freekeh as per instructions on the package (we like to cook it with chicken stock but you can also use water)
5. Combine freekeh, pumpkin, beetroot then top with lamb, preserved lemon and parsley.

Be brave and give the recipe a try (glass in hand of course) and be sure to take a picture and share with hashtag #oliverstarangacookingseries