Lavender and Rosemary Lamb Neck Fillet with Seven Bean Salad

Fillets from the neck were not a traditional British butcher’s cut but in these days of nose to tail eating finding these more and more often cheaper than steask and better value I think than chops , they are delicious cut of meat that think it benefits from the ternderising of a slow marindade , I had left these in the fridge in red wine for 2 days

They have a decent amount of fat to give flavour so no oil is needed the rosemary and lavender grow on a lot of the landscaping around the city centre the lavendar is in full flower so a bit of free seasoning

Rosemary and Lavender Lamb Neck Fillet

Lamb Neck Fillet – one per person
1 cup of red wine per fillet to marinada
Several large sprigs of rosemary and lavender per fillet , roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper to season

1. Marinade the neck fillet for a least 24 hours in red wine
2. Remove from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper
3. Roll the fillets in a mixture of roughly chopped rosemary and lavedenr
4. Place in a preheated oven at 200degC for 30 minutes
5. Remove the fillets from the oven cover with foil and allow the lamb to rest for 20 minutes
6. Serve by slicing thickly and pouring over any juice and herbs from the roasting tin

I think Lamb goes really well with pulses and I hade a lot of mixed bean salad for BBQ at my mums using a mix of 7 dried beans ( that I also use for a fantastic camping chilli) . This bean salad will last a week even improving in taste after a few days in the fridge and is one of my summer staples, I am happy eating it from a bowl with a heel of bread, but it goes well with fish lamb and chicken

Seven Bean Salad

100g of dried beans ( Dried Black Eyed Beans, Alubia Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Dutch Brown Beans, Baby Lima Beans, Butter Beans and Haricot Beans )
10ml of balsamic vineger
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp of wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp of oil
Handful of fresh herbs , chives, tarragon , mint and thyme all work well , finely chopped

1. Soak the Dried Beans for at least 12 hours
2. Drain , place in a pan , cover with water and bring to the boil
3. Simmer for 40 minutes
4. Drain, mix together the vinegar ,oil ,garlic, honey and mustard to form a dressing
5. Whilst the beans are still warm pour over the dressing .
6. Leave to cool for a few hours before serviing mix in the chopped herbs.