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A gourmet twist on the traditional Aussie barbecue this Australia Day

smoked lamb rack on a stone oval plate, surrounded by gold cutlery, salt bowl and blue glass of water on a mint green and yellow background.Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oui, Oui, Oui. This Australia Day, forget chucking a snag (or shrimp) on the barbie. Impress your family and friends with Le Cordon Bleu Australia’s recipe for smoked lamb rack with a tangy lemon myrtle rub. It'll be sure to bring the wow factor to your Australia Day barbecue this summer.

“There’s nothing better than a shared lamb dish on Australia Day, supporting our farmers and giving friends and family a flavoursome feed using lemon myrtle which is a native, Australian shrub,” Le Cordon Bleu Australia chef and lecturer Ross Eckersley says.

Chef Ross, who teaches the art of smoking meat at Le Cordon Bleu’s Sydney campus, says the best way to prepare this dish is by using a charcoal barbecue to slowly smoke the lamb. Paired with a fresh, summer salad, this recipe is ideal for beginners right through to seasoned home cooks, offering a gourmet twist on the traditional Aussie barbecue.

Smoked rack of lamb with lemon myrtle rub recipe

Serves: 9-10
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the lamb rack
  • 3 x 6 bone lamb racks (ask your butcher to French trim the bones)
  • 30g ground lemon myrtle powder
  • Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
For the summer vegetable salad
  • 3 bunches heirloom Dutch carrots
  • 400g peas
  • 10 zucchini flowers, fruit attached
  • 500g zucchini
  • 3 bunches rocket
  • 1 bunch mint
  • 200g feta cheese
  • 150g macadamia nuts, chopped roughly

Method

For the lamb

1. Remove trimmed lamb from the refrigerator, lightly season with sea salt, pepper and generously sprinkle over the lemon myrtle powder. Leave to hydrate the lemon myrtle at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
2. If you have access to a charcoal barbecue, it’s great to smoke on the barbecue, otherwise the lamb can be cooked on any normal gas barbecue without direct heat underneath. Depending on your barbecue, turn the centre burners off. Leaving the outside burners on will replicate a normal oven which can also be used. Cook slowly at 150°C until the internal temperature reaches 68°C. Once cooked, rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

For the summer vegetable salad

3. Peel the Dutch carrots and blanch in salted simmering water for 4-5 minutes until just cooked.
4. Boil peas for 1 minute in salted water.
5. Slice the zucchinis ½ cm thick and grill on the barbecue with a drizzle of olive oil.
6. Simmer zucchini flowers for 1 minute in salted water.
7. Combine rocket, mint, carrots, peas, zucchini and zucchini flowers on a flat plate. Garnish with crumbled feta and roasted macadamia nuts.
8. Slice the lamb and present on top of salad. Enjoy!

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