Moroccan Lamb with Giant Couscous
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Moroccan Lamb Loin with Giant Couscous, Lamb Neck Bonbon and Apricot Rosé Purée
Gareth dedicates his dish to his fiancée Catherine: "The dish is for my Beyonce, Catherine. There isn't anyone else I could possibly think of that I love or admire more. It's a Moroccan inspired dish using lamb. Lamb's a favourite. When we first met, she cooked me a lamb tajine. We stayed up and drank rosé wine and were chatting, and then we sort of officially started seeing each other. We're getting married later this year. This dish isn't my dish. It's for Catherine. She's amazing. She's given me two beautiful children, and she's literally the best thing about me." {Judge}: "Gareth has got a lamb dish of flavours of Morocco running through it. We've got the lamb loin, which has got quite a lot of fat on top of it. He's got to make sure that's really well rendered." Gareth adds: "I've got rosé wine running through the whole dish in reference to the evening Catherine cooked for me. So I'm making a rosé wine and apricot purée. It brings sweetness and fruitiness to the dish that you get in a lot of Moroccan style cooking. And then the sauce I'm making with rose wine with lots of spices." {Judge}: "Gareth's got the giant couscous, so it's got a little bit more texture to it. He's cooking that with a lamb stock and I like that. Bringing more flavour. All about the lamb." Heading into the final stages, Gareth notes: "Yeah, I'm in a good place. Just wanted to have this time to really concentrate on that lamb." The completed dish: lamb loin with a roasted pepper, tomato and mint couscous, lamb fat carrot rolled in dukkah, a lamb neck bonbon, and an apricot and rosé purée, served with a spiced lamb rosé wine jus.
{Judge}: "The cooking of the lamb, it's beautiful. It's nice and pink, and I'm enjoying that. The apricot purée with the rosé wine has almost a slightly floral note to it. The sauce bringing it together with those Moroccan spices running through it. Delightful." {Judge}: "I love the bonbon in particular. It's packed full of flavour. It's really beautifully put together. I love the way you poached the carrots and then rolled them in that nice dukkah. It's a very good plate of food." {Judge}: "Your large couscous. I'm enjoying the mint flavours running through there and the spice as well. Beautiful presentation. Really, really well thought out. I think this is one of the best plates you've served in the MasterChef kitchen so far. I think your fiancée would be very proud." Gareth responds: "Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm so relieved that they enjoyed it. It means so much to me, that dish. I really wanted to nail it." In deliberation: {Judge}: "Gareth gave us a dish inspired by his fiancée's Moroccan lamb. The saddle of lamb was beautifully cooked. I love the couscous. That, for me, is one of Gareth's best dishes. I thought it was absolutely brilliant."
