Showing posts with label Nigel Slater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigel Slater. Show all posts
I learned to love two things over the 20 + years that I spent in the UK. One of them was lamb, and the other was the cooking of Nigel Slater.
Lamb was not something I had ever really had when I was growing up. My mother did buy lamb chops once, but they smelled like burning mittens when she was cooking them so nobody would eat them.
It was probably not good lamb. I only came to love and appreciate lamb after moving over to the UK. Our wedding supper was held at a restaurant and we were allowed to pick whatever we wanted from the menu.
I decided to be brave and picked Saddle of Lamb. It was delicious. I fell in love at first bite and have been cooking lamb ever since. They had beautiful lamb in the UK.
I know you are all familiar with what lamb is, but you may not be so familiar with who Nigel Slater is. Nigel Slater is a cook who writes. He is not a classically trained Chef, but he is every bit as popular as any celebrity chef.
He's been writing a food column for the Observer every weekend for 27 years, and is the author of multiple cookbooks. He has also had several very popular series on the television, and a movie made about him called simply "Toast."
He is a man who loves to cook and who loves to eat and who loves to write about it. He cooks the way I love to cook and to eat. Its that simple.
I have a few of his cookery books. Not as many as I used to have because I am having to replace the ones I left behind, but I am starting off with his best (in my honest opinion), The Kitchen Diaries. There are three volumes and they are exactly what the title says. Kitchen Diaries.
Taken from Diaries he kept throughout the year of his adventures in the garden, kitchen, etc. Recipe journal, kitchen chronical. I find them fascinating and filled with loads of inspiration and great recipes.
What I love most about his recipes is that they are great jumping off points for doing my own thing. I have replaced all three of the kitchen diaries (one at a time) and have just gifted myself with the two Volumes of Tender (again one at a time.)
The recipe which inspired what I am sharing with you today comes from the first volume of The Kitchen Diaries, which is something which he cooked on the 7th of May. I am cooking it a tiny bit later in the year.
When my sister and I were at the Super Store the other day I spied some lamb chops. I have not had lamb since I arrived back in Canada last November and I was so tempted by them that I picked up a small package.
They were a bit pricey at over $8 for three chops, but sometimes you just have to fill your yearnings for what you love and enjoy, especially food wise. I have only me to please now, so why not
They were nice thick chops as well, with abundant tenderloin bits on the sides. Loin chips are like the T-bones of the lamb kingdom, with a nice little chunk of meat on one side of the T-bone and a little nugget of tender lamb on the other. (No surprise that is my favorite part!)
Of course I wanted to cook them perfectly. I didn't want to be wasting these prime cuts of meat. I looked to Nigel for inspiration and found this recipe, amongst a few others.
This felt and read like what I wanted to cook today and I happened to have some new potatoes in my cupboard. I did improvise on the recipe quite a bit, but most good cooks do.
He starts off by boiling some new potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water. I did that as well. His chops were simply seasoned with salt and black pepper.
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to be exact.
He heated some olive oil in a heavy based skillet along with the finely grated zest of one fresh lemon and some fresh mint. I did not have fresh mint, so used dried and it worked fine.
I took the liberty of adding two fat cloves of garlic that I peeled, bashed and split open. These helped to flavor the oil that the chops were going to be fried in.
Simply fried, just until golden brown, seared really so that the lamb inside stays nice and pink and tender. But the juices of the lamb mingle with the olive oil, mint, lemon and garlic to make a lush pan juice.
He had merely crushed the potatoes into the pan juices at the end. I decided that I would fry them in the pan juices and brown them off a bit, before adding the lemon juice at the end.
The potatoes are boiled until tender. I lightly crushed them before adding them to the pan. Cracked them more or less, that way there were lots of craggy bits to brown and get a bit crisp. (I removed the lamb to a plate, keeping it warm and tented.)
That afforded me the time to really get the potatoes a bit crispy. And then I added the lamb back to the pan and squeezed over the lemon juice.
Leaving the skin on the potatoes and cracking them open rather than slicing or mashing them, gave them added interest I thought.
Well, the picture speaks for itself. Nothing there but the pan juices and golden crispy edged potatoes, lightly flavored with the lemon at the end.
And then I threw them into the pan with the potatoes and the lamb, coating them with some of those lush pan juices as well.
This was a beautiful combination. Tender moist pieces of lamb . . . crispy tender potatoes . . . lemon, mint and garlic pan juices.
Crispy tender beans . . .
You can see how perfectly cooked the lamb was. Just pink. Succulent. Delicious.
This combination made for a really wonderful dinner for myself. Cooking for one or two doesn't have to be boring. In fact if it is, then you're doing something wrong! (Now you know why I look the way I do.)
Many thanks to Nigel for the delicious inspiration!!
Lamb with Lemon, Mint & Potatoes
Yield: 2
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 30 Min
I wanted to take advantage of the flavors of the new potatoes that are showing up in the shops and paired them with some tender lamb chops. Inspired by Nigel Slater.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound smallish new potatoes
- 4 lamb loin chops
- one medium fresh lemon, zest and juice
- 1/2 tsp dried mint
- two fat cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- light olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and bring back to the boil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until they test tender when prodded with the sharp end of a knife.
- While they are cooking, heat the olive oil, mint, mashed garlic cloves and lemon zest in a large heavy bottomed skillet. Add some seasoning.
- Season the lamb chops all over with some salt and pepper.
- Once the oil begins to sizzle, add the lamb chops. Cook for two minutes on one side until it begins to color, then flip over and cook the other side, again until brown. Remove from the heat and tent with some foil.
- Scoop out your cooked potatoes into the pan with the oil, mint, garlic, etc. Mash lightly with a fork. Allow them to brown before flipping them over to brown lightly on the underside. Add the chops back to the pan. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over top and heat everything through.
- Serve two chops each, along with some of the browned potatoes and pan juices.
- I like to eat mine with some mint sauce or jelly.
"Its so comforting to have a piece of cake, just one small slice" ~Mary Berry
I'm with Mary Berry on cake. A house without some cake in it is just a house. Comfort = Home. Cake in a house makes it a home! And this is a really, really LOVELY cake!
The recipe is adapted from one in the Nigel Slater cookbook entitled The Kitchen Diaries ll.
If you have been reading me for any length of time you will know I have a healthy respect for Nigel Slater and his cookery.
I've not really done much of his sweet baking however, mainly just his savoury cooking. I wanted to make some use of the thyme in our garden however, while it was still lovely and usably fresh.
It would have been really nice had I used it while it was flowering, but hindsight is always 20/20. I was a little bit nervous using a baking recipe from Nigel however . . .
Lemon and thyme are a marriage made in heaven. The two are just meant to be together, and when I was reading this cake recipe, I just thought . . . this is going to be a beautiful cake.
I trust Nigel and I was right to do so!!!
It is an incredible cake with beautiful flavours. There is a very subtle flavour of lemon and thyme in the cake itself.
This comes from the use of finely grated zest of a lemon and fresh thyme leaves.
I used Dorie Greenspan's trick of rubbing the lemon zest and thyme into
the sugar, to really help infuse the flavours into the cake, and I am
happy that I did because the flavours were really subtle.
I think they would have been hardly noticeable had I not done this, so I have added those instructions to the method.
Most of the flavour comes from the use of a delicious lemon and thyme syrup that you spoon over the hot cake as soon as it comes from the oven.
The cake itself is a lovely moist and buttery sponge, and that syrup soaking into the surface tips it over the edge into gorgeousness!
The hardest part was waiting long enough for it to cool so that we could slice into it!!
Nigel recommends serving it with a dollop of yogurt. I served it with some plain thick Greek yogurt.
We love Greek yogurt in this house.
I added a tiny drizzle of liquid honey on top for Todd. It was fabulous and added a really special touch that we both loved.
Altogether it was a lovely, lovely cake and one I can see myself baking again and again.
Thank you Nigel! You can bake!
Yield: 8
Thyme & Lemon Cake
prep time: 15 minscook time: 45 minstotal time: 60 mins
Lemon and Thyme are a marriage made in heaven. Adapted from a recipe in Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries ll.
ingredients:
200g butter (3/4 cup + 1 tsp)
200g caster sugar (1 cup plus 2 1/2 tsp fine sugar)
4 large free range eggs
4 large free range eggs
100g plain flour (3/4 cup plus 3 TBS)
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g ground almonds (1 cup plus 3 TBS)
the finely grated zest of one lemon
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
To glaze:
4 TBS caster sugar
the juice of 2 large lemons
2 TBS water
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leavesinstructions:
Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line an 8 X 4 inch loaf tin with baking paper. Butter the paper. Set aside.
Sift together the flour and baking powder and then stir in the ground almonds.
Cream
the butter with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Measure the
sugar into a bowl and rub together with the lemon zest and thyme
leaves. Beat into the butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time. If the
mixture begins to curdle add a TBS of the flour mixture. Once all of
the eggs have been beaten in, fold in the flour mixture. Spoon into the
prepared baking tin.
the butter with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Measure the
sugar into a bowl and rub together with the lemon zest and thyme
leaves. Beat into the butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time. If the
mixture begins to curdle add a TBS of the flour mixture. Once all of
the eggs have been beaten in, fold in the flour mixture. Spoon into the
prepared baking tin.
Bake for 45 minutes, until well risen and the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove and set on a wire rack.
Whisk
together the lemon juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan to
dissolve the sugar. Stir in the thyme leaves. Prick the surface of the
baked cake with a skewer and then spoon the syrup over top allowing it
to soak in.
together the lemon juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan to
dissolve the sugar. Stir in the thyme leaves. Prick the surface of the
baked cake with a skewer and then spoon the syrup over top allowing it
to soak in.
Leave to cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.
Created using The Recipes Generator
You really need to do yourself a favour and bake this lovely cake. Don't be afraid of using savoury herbs in a sweet bake, the thyme really works beautifully here. I think you are going to love this! Bon Appetit and Bon Weekend!
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As I was sitting here today trying to decide which recipe I wanted to end the year on, I have had a great time thinking over all of the wonderful things I have cooked over this past year. Of course I could do a rehash of my favourite recipes . . . or even a rehash of YOUR favourite recipes, but that is only showing you what I have already shown you and I didn't want to end the year in this way. Instead I wanted to end the year showing you something fantastically different. Hot Ice Cream Pudding was my choice.
I dug this recipe out of an old Nigel Slater book the other day. The book was called Real Food. They aren't so much recipes as they are delicious suggestions about what to do with things you find in your larder, fridge, garden, etc.
That is the way I always cook, and those are the sorts of dishes I love to cook the most. They are so open to interpretation and you can so easily make them your own.
And this one is such a simple dish. It's basically just layered raw potato, fried onions and chicken stock. You don't even need to peel the potatoes.
And you can adapt it up or down to serve as many or as few people as you like.
You just layer it all up in a baking dish and pop it into the oven. Well, you do fry the onions in some butter first.
I let them get just a bit golden, because I love those scrumptious golden bits, don't you?
The potatoes get all soft and soak up the chicken stock and the onions almost turn buttery . . . . in short, fabulous. This dish is utterly fabulous.
And if the potato is your favourite vegetable like it is mine, then you will be in nothing short of heavenly bliss.
I
adapted this from a recipe I found in an old Nigel Slater cookery book
called Real Food. I have adapted it to feed as many and as few as you
require.
For each serving you will need:
Not only is this delicious, but it is gorgeous to look at. Bon Appetit!
When I moved over here in the year 2000, I carried a 4 litre tin of Maple Syrup right onto the plane with me. I have always loved the flavours of maple and it wasn't something I thought I could live without. Of course you would never get a tin like that on an aircraft now, but this was pre 9/11. Flying was pretty much fear free . . .
I am awfully fond of tea breads or cakes as they are also known. Delicious small cakes baked in a loaf tin, perfectly sized to slice and enjoy at your leisure with whichever hot drink you enjoy. In my case it is lemon and ginger tea . . .
I think the British love sandwiches more than anyone else in the world. Walk into any shop, and I do mean any . . . and you are sure to find a variety of them, ready made, wrapped and for sale to anyone who feels in the need for some potable and portable sustenance of the this kind. AND, they come in varities which are suitable for any meal of the day . . . breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack!
I recently treated myself to Nigel Slater's latest cookbook, eat. You all know how I love Nigel and his way of cooking and eating. That man could make anything look and sound tasty and he is the master as creating delicious and fast food out of just about anything you can get your hands on. He has one whole chapter in this book devoted to sandwiches and the like. My kind of guy. My kind of cooking.
One in particular intrigued me and set my tastebuds to tingling. This was a sandwich he created using crusty bread, beef drippings and leftover roast from the sunday dinner. Reading about it . . . made me want one, and reading about it . . . inspired me to create my own version. I got to thinking hash . . . roast beef hash . . . in a bun.
And so that is what I did. I made some hash using chopped potatoes, chopped onions, chopped cabbage and some of the leftover roast from yesterday's pot roast. I seasoned it lightly with some salt and cracked black pepper . . .
Added a touch of herb . . . in the way of summer savoury, and a hint of snap by using some Worcestershire Sauce and a dash of brown sauce. (steak sauce to you North Americans) I cooked that all together until the potatoes and onions and cabbage were gilded with little caramelized edges, all golden brown and sweet . . . and the meat was falling apart once more . . .
And then I stogged it between two halves of a crisp warm ciabatta roll . . . the bottom spread with just a touch of creamed horseradish sauce . . . a slice of Leerdammer Toastie cheese layed on top of the hot hash, so it melted down into all those gilded crevices, and topped by that crisp roll-top . . . all that goodness tucked into a tasty and lightly crisped ciabatta suitcase and just waiting for me to tuck in . . .
Good things happen when Nigel inspires me. Tasty things. Things I want to indluge in again, and again . . . and again. I am never disappointed.
*Roast Beef Hash Buns*
Serves 4a handful of chopped cabbage
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and minced
2 TBS hot beef stock or water
an amount of leftover cooked roast, cubes (an equal to the amount of potatoes)
1 TBS vegetable oilTo serve, slice each ciabatta roll in half. Spread the bottoms with some horseradish sauce (if desired) and then pile an equal amount of the hot hash on top. Top each with a slice of toastie cheese and then the top of the rolls. Serve immediately. Pass the brown sauce or ketchup if desired.
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