We'll drink ourselves to sleep... and thank you lambies!

While I'm used to the old school 4th of July BBQ at my parents house and would've loved to partake in the eating of the newly discovered grass-fed beef, we really couldn't stomach the thought of driving 10 hours again with two dogs, one of which is prone to car sickness, in the heat and traffic. Especially since we did this 4 days prior. We decided to stick it out and spend our first married 4th of July at home by ourselves. Since I'm off for the summer, my cooking has been fairly ambitious and Ross, being the medical school overachiever he is, shares my views. Being devout Jamie Oliverians, Ross decided to try his barbecued lamb complete with homemade BBQ sauce marinade. After reading a similar Martha Stewart Living recipe for roast lamb, I decided to use her recommended side dish of a cherry tomato couscous. Paired with Barton and Guestier's Bistro Pinot Noir, it made for a fantastic celebratory dinner.

Of course, we took pictures of the meal.

Here's Ross preparing the marinade:

The lamb shoulder marinated before they go in the oven, marinated:

Then we put them into the oven so they would be extra tender before a brief grilling, check out all that juice!
The finished product, complete with couscous and wine!

And, because Jamie Oliver's recipes are not always available, what you need for the marinade:
For the marinade:
1 heaped teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
5 cloves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bunch fresh thyme or lemon thyme, leaves picked
Bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked, a few whole sprigs reserved
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 bulb garlic, broken into cloves and peeled
4 heaped teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup organic tomato ketchup
8 tablespoons olive oil
10 bay leaves

And for the couscous (I substituted whole wheat couscous for Israeli and it was excellent!):

• Coarse salt
• 1 cup Israeli couscous
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, small ones halved, large ones quartered
• 1/2 cup fresh small basil leaves, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper