Out of the book: Marcus Wareing's Spicy Lamb Sticks

I've a shelf full of cookery books. And a kitchen corner crammed with cookery books. And a lounge table littered with library books. And, yes, some of them are cookery books.

Well, they're feeding no-one as they are. So each week I'm going to pluck out a recipe and give it a bash. In particular I'll be looking for those that feature ingredients and techniques that push me out of my culinary comfort zone. The ones that work really well will get copied over into my Little Black Recipe Book.

First up is a book out of the library, 'One Perfect Ingredient' by Marcus Wareing. He's the chef who shrugged off Gordon Ramsey's shadow and retained two Michelin stars at The Berkeley in London. I've never cooked one of his recipes before, so decided to go for Spicy Lamb Sticks with Raita.

The basic idea: make a raita from cucumber, toasted spice and yoghurt. Shape spiced lamb mince onto skewers and grill.

What was new to me: making the raita, cooking with sweet chili sauce, toasting spices.

What worked well: toasting the cumin seeds made a significant difference, taking away much of its bitterness and so adding a smooth underlying spiceness to the raita.

What I'd do next time: make more raita - the contrast of the mellow spiced cold raita against the warm lamb was fantastic.

Does it make the Little Black Recipe Book? Absolutely. I've even played around with the leftover lamb today, making small spicier sweet chili patties.

One Perfect Ingredient can be bought from Amazon.

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