Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
It was quite chilly and rainy the other day and so I decided to make us a nice pot of hot soup for our midday meal. You can't beat a bowl of soup on a cold and drizzly day!
After nosing around the refrigerator I found some ham that needed using as well as some cabbage. I do so love cabbage in a soup and cabbage goes very well with ham! I almost yelled Bingo!
I always keep a variety of chicken stock cubes/pots in my larder. They come in handy for all sorts. Chicken, beef, fish, vegetable, lamb, ham . . . I use them all. They are convenient and work well for all sorts of things.
For this soup I used ham and chicken stocks. You could also use just chicken stock, but I wanted a bit of a smokey flavour.
Cubes of ham are first glazed in a mix of brown sugar and a tiny bit of oil. Try not to overcook the ham, as it can dry out really quickly.
After that you saute leek and onion, and some garlic . . . slowly softened without browning and then simmered in a thickened stock until all are melting tender.
After that you add the some potato and let it simmer until the spuds are tender. Then you add the remaining stock, cabbage, return the ham to the pot and add a bit of white wine vinegar. Trust me on this. It's perfect. While that is simmering make the dumplings.
Who doesn't love dumplings??? Not me! We both adore them in this house. The sight of a dumpling has been known to make my husband jump up and down and rub his hands together in glee! Okay . . . a slight exaggeration, but he does love them a lot!
Cheesy dumplings . . . so good.
These are really tender and delicious. They are the perfect addition to a really tasty soup.
Altogether this is a really, really tasty pot of soup. Nourishing, delicious and filling.
You are going to love this soup. You really are!
Yield: 6
Cabbage & Ham Soup with Cheese Dumplings
prep time: 40 minscook time: 1 hour and 10 minstotal time: 1 hours and 50 mins
Be judicious when you add salt as ham can be quite salty. This is a delicious soup!
ingredients:
For the soup:
60ml vegetable oil (1/4 cup)
350g smoked ham, cut into cubes (11 ounces)
2 tsp soft light brown sugar
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 TBS plain flour
1 litre ham stock (6 cups)
480ml chicken stock (2 cups)
black pepper to taste, coarsely ground
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 savoy cabbage, finely shredded
1 TBS white wine vinegar
For the dumplings:
30g cold butter, cut into small bits (1 ounce)
280g self raising flour (2 cups)
60g finely grated cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
2 tsp finely chopped thyme
120ml water (1/2 cup)instructions:
Heat 1 TBS of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the ham and sugar.
Saute over high heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes, or
until just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels. Add the remaining oil along with the leek, garlic and onion.
Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
to make sure they don't catch, without browning. Stir in the flour and
cook for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the ham stock
gradually. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring, then
reduce and cover. Cook for about half an hour. Add the potato to the
pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, ham,
cabbage and vinegar. Season with black pepper. Cook for a further 10
minutes while you make the dumplings.
Saute over high heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes, or
until just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels. Add the remaining oil along with the leek, garlic and onion.
Reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
to make sure they don't catch, without browning. Stir in the flour and
cook for one minute. Remove from the heat and add the ham stock
gradually. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring, then
reduce and cover. Cook for about half an hour. Add the potato to the
pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock, ham,
cabbage and vinegar. Season with black pepper. Cook for a further 10
minutes while you make the dumplings.
Sift the
flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips
until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the cheese and
thyme. Stir in the water to bind the mixture together. Drop by heaped
TBS into the hot soup. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the
dumplings are cooked through, plump and look dry on top.
flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips
until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the cheese and
thyme. Stir in the water to bind the mixture together. Drop by heaped
TBS into the hot soup. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the
dumplings are cooked through, plump and look dry on top.
Created using The Recipes Generator
The leftovers were even tastier. The dumplings were a bit soggy as they had sat in the soup overnight, but that didn't bother us one bit! We will take dumplings any way we can get them! Bon Appetit!
If there is anything I like more than a roast on the first day, it is the wonderful things you can do with the leftovers. Be it chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or pork, I am a master at making the leftovers taste fresh and new and delicious! Nobody in my house has ever said, Leftovers? YUCK! In fact they have always loved them, and I say that not to brag, but as a fact.
This recipe I am sharing today is a simple and easy version of Roast Beef Hash, with the exception being that there is no frying involved. None at all.
Chopped onion, potato and beef are simply combined with some tinned evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and parsley flakes, poured into a buttered dish, and topped with some buttered cracker crumbs prior to baking.
That is it in its very basic rendition . . . of course you can amp it up a bit with the addition of some garlic powder and herbs. I would suggest thyme and marjoram and maybe some rosemary. You won't need a lot, just a smidgen of each.
You could add a squirt of ketchup and mustard to the milk mixture as well if you like. Both work very well . . . or even a squirt of either BBQ sauce or HP sauce.
You could also add some mixed vegetables if you liked, about a cup of frozen mixed vegetables would be nice, but I wouldn't do any more to it than that. Really, in all truth, it is very delicious even in it's most basic form!
The quantities are for two people, which is a very generous amount. You can easily double it to serve more if you want. Just make sure you have the same amount of potato as beef, and then half again as much of onion. You can precook the onion if you want, but its really not necessary.
I had plenty of leftover veg from Sunday and so I warmed them up and served them on the side and the casserole would easily have served at least three people generously.
We had mashed Swede (rutabaga/turnips) and a mix of peas, corn and carrots, all leftover as well. When I do my Swede, I simply boil it until tender in lightly salted water, drain well and then mash well with a potato masher, stirring in a small knob of butter and a touch of brown sugar, salt and pepper. The Brown sugar really enhances the natural sweetness of the Swede. Trust me on this.
I like to season my carrots with a pinch of sugar and some freshly grated nutmeg. There is something about nutmeg that goes very well with carrots and I know you will love it. I usually don't add any butter, but you can if you want, and some salt and pepper also.
Yield: 2
Oven Hash
prep time: 15 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 45 mins
A delicious casserole for two to make with the leftovers from your Sunday Roast!
ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped roast beef
1 cup finely chopped cooked potato
150g evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper to taste
a handful of crushed rich round crackers
1 TBS butter, melted
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Combine the beef, potato,
milk, onion, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Turn into a
buttered 1 litre/1 QT casserole dish. Toss the cracker crumbs with the
melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake in the preheated oven for half
an hour, until heated through, bubbling and golden brown.
milk, onion, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Turn into a
buttered 1 litre/1 QT casserole dish. Toss the cracker crumbs with the
melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake in the preheated oven for half
an hour, until heated through, bubbling and golden brown.
Created using The Recipes Generator
Todd enjoyed his with some warmed up leftover gravy and mash on the side. Me, I enjoyed mine with a splash of tomato sauce. Yes, I am one of those North Americans who enjoys her ketchup! And we still have some roast beef leftover, which I have even more plans for. Watch this space and Bon Appetit!
My Todd is very fond of a curry, so every now and then I make one for him. I have a few Indian cookery books that I like to use if I am making one from scratch. Yes, I confess, often I will just use a good jarred sauce (Lloyd Grossman makes lovely sauces) but the other day I decided to make him a Lamb Curry from scratch and Lamb Rogan Josh is one of his favourites.
Curry's are not all that difficult to make. They are like stews really, but with completely different spices and aromatics than what you normally use in a stew.
This one uses cubed lamb. Neck fillet if you can get it, or leg of lamb. I find it most annoying that in the shops you can normally only get New Zealand lamb when we raise beautiful lamb right on our own doorsteps. I adore British/Welsh lamb. It is beautiful. For this curry I used New Zealand leg of lamb, cubed.
To begin you will need to make a curry paste. This is as simple as bunging a few ingredients into a blender/food processor and blitzing them until smooth . . . coriander stems (cilantro), red chili, cumin and coriander seeds, paprika, turmeric and tomato puree. Its very simple.
To start the curry off whole spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom, bay leaf and cloves) are fried in a bit of oil until quite fragrant, which
only takes a few minutes. Then you add the onion and the lamb, quickly browning it off, and then adding some garlic and grated fresh ginger root.
Next, you stir in the curry paste that you have made, making sure that the lamb is well coated in it and then a quantity of water is added. The lamb is then simmered until the juices reduce and thicken and the lamb becomes very tender . . . this takes about 45 minutes or so.
Finally you stir in some thick yogurt which makes the sauce somewhat creamy. Oh, but it is quite delicious. Its not as mild as most of the curries I make, but its not blast your head off hot either. Todd really likes it.
I like to serve it with Pilau Rice and poppadoms. Have you discovered poppadoms? They are like Indian potato chips, or thin crisp tortillas, except they are made from ground lentils and fried until very crisp. I buy them ready made and heat them in the oven. You can buy them plain or with flavours added, the most common being garlic and coriander. That is that crisp bread you see on the side there. Oh but they are some good!
*Lamb Rogan Josh*
Serves 4
A
moderately spiced curry from Kashmir in the North of India. This is an
area which is famous for its aromatic and sumptuous curries!
For the Lamb:
1 TBS peanut oil
1 (2 inch) cinnamon stick
5 whole cardamom pods slightly bruised
3 dried bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 onion, peeled and chopped
600g lamb neck fillet, trimmed and cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger-root, peeled and grated
100g fat free natural yogurt (scant half cup)
For the curry paste:
1 bunch fresh coriander, leaves and stems separated
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 TBS tomato puree (tomato paste)
400ml water (14 fluid ounces)
First make the paste. Put the coriander stalks, tomato puree, red
chili, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, paprika, turmeric and
garam masala into a small food processor. Blitz to smooth.
A curry is a funny thing . . . you crave them, you make one and then you are happy not to have another one for a month or so until you start craving one again. Over here they are quite traditional fare on Saturday nights or for eating after a pub crawl. My pub crawling days are long since over, but every now and then I do enjoy a good curry for our tea. This one makes a change from Chicken curry, and is moderately spiced. Its very good. Adapted from a recipe found on BBC Good Food. Bon Appetit!
Ham, Gruyere & Spring Onion Crepes. If you have ever had the opportunity to go to a French market over on the Continent, you will most likely have seen Crepe Vendors.
Baking crepes in the open air and filling them with whatever your heart desires. Folded into quarters, and wrapped in paper, they are very easy to eat while you walk around browsing through the market.
You can get them filled with fruit fillings, nutella, cream and even with savoury fillings. My favourites are always the ones filled with ham and cheese.
Kind of like a Croque Monsieur, but in a crepe, not bread.
They also make for a quick, easy and light supper during the summer months when you are looking for something to make that isn't going to keep you standing over a hot stove for ages and ages.
I'm all for that. I can be lazy from time to time when it comes to cooking. No, I'm not kidding. Its true.
These are delicious. I like to use Gruyere cheese, which is a lovely melty Swiss type of cheese, but you could use cheddar, or Colby, or even Jack cheese if you wanted to.
You could even use a combination of cheeses. I like cheeses with a lot of flavour and so I choose Gruyere because it has a sweet and nutty taste, and goes really well with ham.
I like to pair it with a good ham . . . thinly sliced honey ham is good, or a thinly sliced dry cured oak smoked.
You are going to tear it into pieces, so just pick a nice ham, and one that you enjoy. The nicer the flavour of the ham you use, the less you will need of it. Fact.
People can find making crepes a little bit intimidating, but they really aren't hard to make at all.
I put the batter through a sieve to make for a smooth batter. Just use a good non-stick frying pan, lightly oiled and well heated.
You don't want them frying so much as you want the to bake in the skillet. Just pour a very thin layer and tilt the hot pan a bit to spread the batter out into evenly.
Let it cook until golden brown and then using a flexible spatula, flip them over to brown the other side. Easy peasy.
Once you have browned one side and flipped them over you can start filling them. They cook in literally about a minute if you pan is heated properly.
Not too hot, not too cold. Sprinkle the cheese on half of the crepe . . .
Let it cook for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese, then scatter over some torn ham and some chopped spring onion.
Fold in half again so that you have a triangle and put into a warm oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Again, such a simple thing.
Like an omelet, but with a flour batter instead of an omelet batter.
These go together really quickly and are so delicious! You don't need to limit yourself to what I have used. Use your imagination and whatever is in the refrigerator to fill them with whatever appeals.
You could go completely vegetarian and fill them with sauteed vegetables and cheese, or maybe you have some leftover curried chicken or lamb. That would also be nice. A salad on the side makes for a complete meal!
*Ham, Gruyere & Spring Onion Crepes*
serves 4
Delicious
savoury pancake wrapped around torn sliced ham, Gruyere (Swiss) cheese and
chopped spring onions, to make a delicious quick supper. Serve a salad
on the side.
150g plain flour (1 cup + 1 1/2 TBS) sifted
3 large free range eggs, beaten
450ml whole milk (1 3/4 cup)
generous pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper
240g grated Gruyere Cheese (can use cheddar if you wish) (2 cups)
4 slices baked ham, torn
4 spring onions, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced
oil for frying
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the salt and pepper. Make a
well in the centre. Add the egg and milk and whisk all together until
smooth. If necessary put through a sieve to take out any lumps.
Have
ready a large non-stick skillet. Lightly grease with oil and heat.
Pour 1/8th of the batter into the hot skillet, tilting to cover the
bottom with the batter evenly. Cook until golden brown. Carefully flip
over, and brown on the other side. Sprinkle a portion of cheese on half
the crepe, top with some chopped onion and torn ham. Fold half the
crepe over to cover, and then fold in half again until you have a
triangle. Keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining crepes.
You should have at least 8, maybe a couple more.
My husband is not a man who enjoys eating with his hands. He even eats his burgers with a knife and a fork. To each their own!
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Bon Appetit!
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