Life on a table recipe #10 – Dalene’s leg of lamb

Dalene’s Leg of Lamb

Extract from Life on a Table by Antoinette de Chavonnes Vrugt

D alene Meyer is an old school friend of mine. She was born in the Outjo District and grew up on a farm. She can truly work magic with our local ingredients. Give her any piece of meat, and she’ll transform it into a meal for a king.

” I simply enjoy preparing food and socializing – I can cook for a hundred people as long as they’re around, enjoying good wine and conversation. As a child I never wanted to be in the house but when I was in Standard 6 my mother was recovering from a foot operation during the June holidays, and my sister and I had to take turns to work out menus and cater for the many friends and hunting guests who came to visit. I was not impressed with being housebound for the entire holiday and for two years after that I refused to have anything to do with food (other than I eat it!). Only when I’d finished school I became interested in food again and started to enjoy cooking, as I still do today.

My grandmother’s oven-baked lamb rib, spinach and sweet potato dishes… My mom’s venison schnitzels with pan sauce (we didn’t have the convenience of buying ready-made sauces back then. And my Grandmother on my dad’s side made great meatballs and green beans.” Dalene Cilliers (Meyer)

1 leg of lamb on the bone

50 g bacon, cut into short strips

6 cloves of garlic, quartered

Salt and pepper

1 sprig of thyme

2 onions, quartered

4 cloves of garlic, extra

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