Grilled lamb steaks with lemon, honey and mint

Grilled lamb steaks with lemon, honey and mint from Meat and Two Veg from Fiona Beckett

What did I make? Almost nothing actually, because I was so upset and p$%*ed off after leaving my LighterLife meeting that I just couldn't be bothered to cook any dinner. After some super losses (9lbs (week 1), 3lbs (week 2), 5lbs (week 3)), this week I lost a measly 2lbs! It just seems so unfair when I haven't cheated *at all* over Easter. Worse still, my LighterLife counsellor first blamed it on the *full moon* (sigh) and then the fact that I was stressed (I was only stressed *after* my weigh-in actually). Okay, I know that *any* loss is better than nothing and one person in my group only lost 1lb this week, but it is hard not to feel down about it, especially because the whole LighterLife process can be very hard, and often my motivation for the whole week comes from the positive reinforcement I receive from my weigh in. It is the Easter holidays though for my school, and so I suppose it could be to do with the fact that I'm not as mobile as usual. Unless you call watching Jeremy Kyle on the sofa for 2 hours straight good exercise (and if you do, I want to come to your exercise class!). To combat the potentially deleterious effects of the holiday, I'm planning on doing the exercise DVD which we were all given at our meeting. The thing was though, that I had already marinated the lamb chops before I left and weighed out the potatoes etc, so I did think that it would be a real shame to let them go to waste.

Chris had a really bad experience with lamb a few months ago. He was sick after eating some lamb and then - as a Pavlov's dog - associated the lamb with the illness; lovely! I am determined to "cure" him of this aversion though, not least because I love lamb and am really looking forward to eating it once again when I have reached my target weight (which, at this rate will be in 2009 and I will have forgotton what conventional food tastes like!). Not only that, but Chris really likes the marinade ingredients (and so do I for that matter!). Lamb steaks marinated in honey, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and fresh mint; what could be nicer?

Fiona says that "pan roast potatoes (p116) and a dark leafy green salad go well with this" and so I am being a dedicated scholar and making both. Well, I went a bit free-form with the salad and included yummy things like cherry tomatoes and red and yellow peppers - well, I can eat vicariously can't I?

The original recipe serves 4 people, so I am quartering quantities to feed just Chris, except for the potatoes where I am halving quantities.

Where did I get the ingredients from? I brought most of the ingredients from Sainsburys (honey, lemon and mint), apart from the lamb which I brought from the butcher. I couldn't get any lamb steaks of 150g, so I brought two smaller ones to add up to 150g together. I don't suppose it matters, because you are instructed to slice the steaks anyway.

(The lamb steaks marinated in olive oil, honey, lemon juice, garlic and fresh mint)

How easy was it to make? Really easy actually. You only need to marinate the lamb for 30-45 minutes, but because I had my LighterLife meeting from 19:00-21:00 and then had to pick Chris up from work, I had to marinate mine much earlier. They probably had about 3 hours worth of marinating in all, but I hardly think that that matters much. The marinade by the way, smells absolutely fabulous. My God; it was lemony, minty and just so fresh and alive. I could have eaten the marinade on its own! (oh dear!).

Cooking the lamb is so easy. You basically heat a ridged griddle pan until almost smoking and then flash fry the lamb for 2-3 minutes per side. Logic prevailed and of course, the tender lamb steaks smelled and looked great. Because the grill pan was so hot, they had these great crispy, crusty black grill lines on each side. I just love food that looks like that - where the cooking method really imprints itself (quite literally!) on the quality of the food.

The potatoes were bloody irritating. I don't know about you, but I have never actually cooked potatoes in this way before. Heat up some olive oil in a casserole dish and then add the baby new potatoes, clamp the lid down and leave for 25minutes-40 minutes, constantly shaking the pan. Well, firstly mine made the most God awful sizzling and popping and sounded as if the pan was going to explode for the first 10 minutes (yes, I did prick the potatoes and yes, the pan was on a moderate heat as instructed). When they finally calmed down, I found it really hard to cook the potatoes beyond any more than hard little rocks. Forget the 40 minutes (and certainly the 25 minutes!), our baby potatoes took nearly an hour before they were tender enough to eat. Plus, I had to keep adding water as the olive oil melted away very quickly, so that when the potatoes were finally done, they were practically swimming in pan-juices.

Right at the last minute I sliced and served the lamb, piled on the pan-fried potatoes and arranged the salad. I also chucked the marinade into the pan, let it bubble up for a while and poured all that gloriously scented liquid over the meal. Bliss!

(Frying the lamb steaks on the ridged griddle pan)

What did Chris think? Chris absolutely loved it! He loved the lamb especially. He said that when you first taste it, you are hit by the fresh breath of the mint (okay, he didn't say it quite like that!) and then the lemon and garlic. The texture of the lamb was perfect. Pink, but not rare and the outside of the lamb was almost caremalised by the sweet honey in the marinade.

Chris liked the potatoes, but I think we reached the unanimous decision that they just weren't worth it. He also liked the salad, but that isn't as rare as it may sound - he generally likes salad (bless him!).

He, very graciously!, said that I can make lamb for him again. Geee...thanks.

(The pan-roast potatoes....finally cooked in the olive oil and pan juices)

Was I tempted to cheat and eat some? I was NOT tempted by the potatoes! They were lucky I didn't throw them out of the window! The salad....yawn! I am so not craving salad at the moment. I was tempted to try a lickle piece of the lamb because it did smell lovely but if I only loose 2lbs when I'm being good, I can only imagine that a piece of lamb may cause me to gain 2 lbs (seeing as my weight is so mercurial!)

Did I cheat? No....and fingers crossed for a better weigh-in next week.

(YUM YUM!)