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
Lately I have had a hankering for a lamb stew. Lamb was not something I had really eaten until I moved over here to the UK. My one and only experience with it had been one time when my mother cooked lamb chops.
They smelled like burning mittens when they were cooking. None of us liked them. My ex also was not fond of lamb, so it wasn't anything I had much experience in tasting or cooking.
For our wedding meal, the members of our church congregation took us out to a pub for supper and we could order anything we wanted from the menu.
There was Roasted Saddle of Lamb on the menu and so I decided to throw caution to the wind and I ordered it.
It could have gone so badly, but happily it didn't. I fell in love with lamb right then and there and I have been enjoying a loving relationship with it ever since!
This stew that I am showing you here today is a very simple one, but when you think about it, traditional Irish food is really very simple. There is a great history of poverty in Ireland for its people.
They would not have had meat very often, and in fact, the potato was their main form of sustenance through the years. They learned to cook simple foods and make them taste really good.
This is a simple stew that uses simple ingredients and I don't mind telling you, it is the most delicious stew I make. We both love it.
I used diced leg of lamb for this the other day. I picked it up at the local butchers and had them trim all of the fat from it that they could. This is then quite simply browned in a bit of oil. I put the lamb on to brown while I am prepping the vegetables.
That way I tend to forget about it, which means it gets nicely browned without me worrying it every few minutes and stirring it about. (One of the secrets to any good stew made with red meat, is in a good and proper browning. The meat won't brown nicely if you keep moving it about.)
The vegetables used are simple. Carrots. Celery. Onion. Potatoes. That's it. Nothing more and nothing less. I used lamb stock cubes to make the stock.
Lamb stock is not normally something I keep in the freezer. If you can't get lamb stock, feel free to use chicken stock.
You will want to brown the meat really well . . . so you get all of those caramelized lamb juices to flavour the stew with.
There is really no other flavourings, save salt and pepper. I add a couple of sprigs of thyme, but traditionally there would have been no herbs added.
Once you get the meat nicely browned, you add the chopped vegetables and you sweat them for a bit in the drippings from having cooked the lamb. More flavour.
Don't discard any of those drippings. They are what's going to give your stew it's flavour and colour.
Once you have sweated and lightly caramelized the vegetables, throw in the sprigs of thyme and return the lamb to the pot, along with its juices.
Again . . . flavour, and every little bit counts. This gets covered in stock.
At the last you cover the top of the stew with thick
slices of potato. You can keep the potato in rounds if they are small, or cut them into half moons if your potatoes are larger.
A light seasoning with salt and black pepper, and dotting with butter is all you have left to do. Just tightly cover it and then bake it in a slow oven.
Your oven will do the work, and you will be rewarded at the end with probably one of the tastiest stews you would ever want to eat! Crusty bread is a must to soak up all those lovely juices!
2 TBS light olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced into thick rounds
(cut into half moons if the potatoes are largish)
600ml lamb stock
Heat a medium, heavy bottomed flame proof casserole (with a lid) over medium heat. Add half of the oil and heat. Once the oil is heated, add the lamb and brown, over medium heat until well browned. Working in batches if necessary. Remove the lamb from the casserole and set aside. Add the vegetables and the remaining oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium low heat, until they have begun to soften a bit. Return the lamb to the pot along with any juices. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sprigs of thyme. Pour over the lamb stock. Lay the potatoes on top covering and pushing them down a bit into the stock. Dot with butter.
Cover tightly. Bake in the heated oven for 2 hours, until the meat is beautifully tender and all of the vegetables are cooked, uncovering the casserole for the last fifteen minutes to lightly brown the potatoes. Spoon out into heated bowls to serve. Sprinkle with parsley if desired. Crusty bread goes well.
Because there are only two of us we had plenty of leftovers to enjoy the day afterwards. There is a special magic that happens with soups and stews in that . . . after being left overnight in the refrigerator, they always taste even better.
Its a delicious alchemy that I don't comprehend, I only know is that it always happens. This would be the perfect dish for you to cook to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.
It would go down really well with some crusty soda bread for the main dish, and finishing off with a nice slice of my Irish Apple Cake along with some custard for dessert. That's Saint Paddy's well sorted! Ithe sásta!! Sláinte!!
LIVEN UP YOUR CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR ENTERTAINING WITH A TRIO OF DELICIOUS NEW CONDIMENTS FROM MARY BERRY’S
Looking for some beautifully simple recipe inspiration for entertaining this Christmas and New Year? Then look no further. Mary Berry’s has created a range of delicious new condiments that promise to tickle taste buds throughout the festive season – and beyond.
First up, Mary Berry’s Redcurrant & Mint Jelly is the perfect accompaniment to seasonal lamb or venison, but so much more besides, including as a key ingredient in the following seasonally appropriate dishes:
Duck with redcurrant & mint sauce – pan fry duck breasts to brown and transfer to a small roasting tin. Mix redcurrant & mint jelly with a little water and pour over the duck, roast for 10-15 minutes and allow to rest before slicing and serving with pan fried pak choi, pouring over the baking juices to serve.
Gammon, kale & redcurrant stir fry – fry sliced red onion with sliced smoked gammon steak until golden. Add blanched shredded kale, a can of butter beans and some redcurrant & mint jelly and cook for a few minutes. Great served with mash or rice.
Hot smoked salmon pate with melba toast – in a food processor, blend kiln roasted salmon, some natural yogurt and horseradish sauce together to create a coarse paste. Serve with hot melba toast.
Smoked mackerel, potato & cannellini bean salad – mix chunks of smoked mackerel, cooked and sliced new potatoes and cannellini beans into some lamb’s lettuce and toss with a dressing made from mayonnaise, white wine vinegar and horseradish sauce.
Horseradish roast potatoes – parboil chunks of King Edward potatoes and toss in oil or melted goose fat, some horseradish sauce and seasoning and roast in a hot oven until golden. Great for Sunday roasts – or even Christmas dinner.
Last but not least, Mary Berry’s Hollandaise Sauce is made with free range eggs and is sure to get seasonal parties off to a devilishly good start if mixed with a little crème fraîche to make the base for Devilled Eggs. Finish by stirring in a few tablespoons of Mary Berry’s Apricot & Peach Chutney and a tablespoon of paprika, before seasoning well and generously spooning into halved boiled eggs.
Alternatively, this beautifully smooth and velvety hollandaise sauce is the perfect base for a host of delicious festive holiday breakfasts, including
Smoked salmon & hollandaise bagels – spread halved and toasted bagels with a little hollandaise sauce. Top with cucumber slices, smoked salmon and a spoonful of extra hollandaise sauce.
Or why not try stirring a tablespoon of Mary Berry’s Hollandaise sauce and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard through scrambled eggs just before serving?
All three new Mary Berry’s condiments are available in Tesco now (RSP: £1.50 per jar).
For more information about the Mary Berry’s range of sauces, dressings and chutneys, visit Mary Berry's Foods.
Next week, October 9th til the 15th is National Curry Week here in the UK! I was challenged by Tasty Easy Lamb to come up with an Indian Tapas kind of a dish, something quick and easy but also delicious! You know how much I love a challenge. As soon as I was asked, the wheels in my food-loving brain started turning. This is what I came up with!
Lamb is such a diverse meat and its really fun to take it beyond the traditional "roasted and served with mint box" that we tend to pigeon-hole it in. It wasn't really something that I had eaten much of prior to moving over here to the UK, but something which I have fallen totally in love with over the past seventeen odd years.
Curry was also something which I had a limited experience with. I had spent a number of years on an armed forces base in Western Canada, which happened to be the British Army Training Unit in Canada. I was introduced to Curry there by some friends we made which happened to be British and fell in love.
How amazing that I would get to combine these two great loves
in one unique challenge!
Meet Curried Lamb Tacos! I know that Tacos are traditionally a Mexican thing, but bear with me here . . . this is truly fusion cuisine! Indian flavours, with British Lamb . . . put together with a tex mex twist!
Quick, easy and delicious! I used leg of lamb steaks, well trimmed and thinly sliced and then chopped. The meat is lean and fabulous. This gets marinated for about 15 minutes in a fusion of Indian curry spices with splash of hot green pepper sauce (which I have just discovered and love, LOVE) . . . I chose to use a Madras Curry Powder because I wanted some heat . . . but if you are not fond of heat you can use a milder one.
You soften some onion in a skiller and then add the meat and brown it all over. A bit of Indian beer gets poured on top and then the whole mixture is simmered until totally tender while you put together the cucumber raita topping and heat the folded flat breads. This takes literally minutes, no longer than fifteen.
Fill your warm flatbreads with some shredded lettuce and sliced cucumber and then pile on that delicious lamb curry mixture, a nice bit of cooling raitia and a dollop of good mango chutney and Sanjay is your Uncle! They are ready to be scarfed down and enjoyed with some more cold Indian beer! These are sooooo delicious! I have found a new love . . . and it is Curried Lamb Tacos!
*Curried Lamb Tacos*
Serves 4 - 6
1 TBS dried coriander flakes
1 TBS Madras curry powder (if you don't like heat, you can
I semi freeze my lamb steaks prior to cutting. Trim off any fat or sinew and cut them into very thin strips crosswise and then, cut the strips into small bits. Put the meat into a bowl. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander flakes, curry powder, chili powder, salt, black pepper and green pepper sauce. Let sit for about 15 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the seasoned lamb. Cook and stir over medium heat until browned. Pour in the beer. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly and simmer on low for about 15 minutes, or until the lamb is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
While the lamb is cooking make the raita. Peel, deseed and grate the
cucumber. Peel and grate the ginger. Stir the grated cucumber, ginger,
coriander, salt and cumin into the yogurt along with the chopped
coriander or mint. Set aside.
Heat your flatbreads or tortilla boats according to the package directions.
Place the heated breads/boats onto a serving platter. Place some shredded lettuce in each and top with the cooked lamb mixture. Garnish with a dollop of raita and some mango chutney and serve immediately.
I also tested some of these in those soft flour tortilla boats that you can buy in the shops now and they were equally as delicious!
Happy Curry Week and भोजन का आनंद लें बोन अप्पेतित! Namaste!
In the summer months when we want something that little bit heartier for our dinner, the slow cooker becomes my best friend. If I don't want to be heating up the kitchen, the slow cooker is the way to go! I have three slow cookers. One in a large size for making dishes large enough to feed over 4 people, and two smaller ones which are perfectly sized for two people, a round one and an oval one, because a small round one doesn't always cut the mustard when it comes to slow cooking. A small oval one is perfect for small roasts, hams, etc.
Slow cooking lends itself perfectly to creating delicious dishes like this Lamb Tagine I am showing you here today. A Tagine is traditionally a Moroccan dish. I love the flavours of Moroccan food.
Moroccan cuisine is a delicious mix of Arabic, Andalusian, Mediterranean and Berber cuisine with a dash of European and Subsaharian influence thrown in for good measure. Think what we traditionally see as warm baking spices . . . cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg and cloves . . . with some heat through in from cayenne and black pepper . . . and lemon. They love to use preserved lemons . . . leafy things like coriander . . . rose petals. And this is by no means a complete list, but merely a hint of the deliciousness involved.
They also love using tomatoes, dried apricots, dates, prunes . . . I love savoury dishes with dried fruit involved, and this one is just wonderful using both apricots and prunes . . . and zest of oranges . . .
The sauce is fragrant and delicious . . . sweet and savoury at the same time, with a tiny bit of heat, but not overpoweringly so . . .
The sauce/gravy is thickened with ground almonds or what you might know in American as almond meal, which lends a slight nuttiness into the mix . . . and then there is the sweetness of that oh so tender lamb . . .
Lamb was not something I had ever eaten a lot of before I moved over here to the UK. My only experience with it had been my mother cooking lamb chops once for us when I was a teenager. They smelled like burning wool when she was cooking them, and none of us would eat them. The thought of eating burning wool was not very appealing.
I can only think now that they were not very good lamb chops . . . because I have never had lamb over here that smelled like burning wool, or tasted like it for that matter. I truly love the taste . . . young tender lamb has a delicate almost sweet taste. Older lamb can taste a bit gamey, but its not bad either.
*Lamb Tagine*
Serves 2
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground sweet paprika
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp runny clear honey
I hope you will take advantage of your slow cooker this summer and make this delicious Moroccan stew! I think you will love it! Bon Appetit, or as they say in Morocco, بالصحة و العافية! Now that's what I would call a tongue twister, lol Serving it with peas and rice is so, so . . . well, English. In Morocco you would probably have it with couscous!
I love all of the baby new potatoes at the markets at the moment. The Jersey Royals are in the shops now, and I know that not all of you have those available to you, but there are also other tasty new potatoes out there to be had. They are not so good for mashing ( I had a bad experience with that when I was younger, DUH! Live and learn!) but are great boiled until tender and served with herb butter, or for use in potato salads.
They are also great boiled and then roasted like this. These little babies get all crispy on the outsides . . . and stay moreishly fluffy on the insides.
A few flakes of sea salt . . . a good grinding of black pepper . . . and some fresh rosemary leaves . . . and you have tasty little bits fit for a king.
We love 'em just as they are. Great with beef, fish, chicken, pork or lamb.
*Smashed Roasted New Potatoes*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
This is a great way to cook baby new potatoes. Crisp on the outsides and soft and fluffy inside.
16 small new potatoes, unpeeled
2 TBS light olive oil
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 8. Place a baking tray into the oven to heat.
Toss the potatoes together with 1 TBS of the oil to coat. Spread them out onto the hot baking tray. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Flip the potatoes over and then gently squash them down with the back of a large metal spoon. Strip the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle over top along with some sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with the remainder of the oil.
Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown.
I really love Jersey Royals. They are a tad bit sweeter than normal potatoes and have a very unique flavour due to the provenance of them and the way they are grown! Mmm . . . I wish everyone could try them. In any case this recipe will still be tasty with any new potato. Bon Appetit!
*Perfect Deviled Eggs*
Makes 12 servings
Makes 12 servings
Printable Recipe
I
wish I had a pound for every one of these I have cooked in my
lifetime. I'd be sitting real pretty on a huge pile of dosh right now!
These are excellent. Always the first things to disappear on the
buffet table.
Tips for Creating Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:
1. Older eggs are a lot easier to peel than newer eggs. I always use eggs that at least one week old, if not older. If you have eggs that are close to their expiration date, so much the better. It's true!
2. Boiled Eggs, should actually NEVER be boiled! Keeping them at a steady simmer is much better. Boiling toughens the yolk. Also, never add salt to the water. I do add a tiny bit of vinegar, which helps them to peel easier.
3. Always bring your eggs to room temperature before boiling. They are less likely to crack if you do this.
4. Don't stack your eggs in the pot. Have them laid out in one layer. If you have too many eggs to do this with, you need a larger pot! You only need about 1 inch of water over the top of the eggs. More than that and it takes too long to boil. Less than that and your eggs won't stay covered.
5. As soon as your water comes to the boil, remove your pot from the heat, pop a lid on and let them set in the boiling water for (17 minutes) large eggs, (20 minutes) jumbo eggs. At the end of that time, drain and then run cold water over them until they are cooled down. Let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes and then drain. For ease of peeling roll them around and allow the shells to crack while they are still in the water. Let sit for a few minutes.
For ease in peeling these things help alot . . . using older eggs, beginning at the large end of the egg, peeling under running cold water. I usually tap the large end on the counter until it cracks, then give the egg a gentle roll all over before peeling them under a slow running tap. You will get perfect results almost 100% of the time.
And now for a giggle. Here's a few things I baked over the past few days for Easter that never made the cut for the blog for aesthetic reasons. In other words, they didn't photograph well.
This is my Easter Lamb Cake. I had always wanted to do an Easter Lamb Cake, but did not have the proper pan. I decided to use a Scottie Dog Shortbread tin, which kinda worked, lol. But I laughed and laughed when I saw it done. Here is the recipe I used for the cake itself, which is a excellent recipe.
*Kentucky Butter Cake*
Makes 12 servings
The other cake I baked was this Easter Basket Cake, which was a recipe I have had in my Big Blue Binder. It was clipped from a magazine and was supposed to be in aid of Sunmaid Raisins and Pet Evaporated Milk. It's a lovely cake. For some odd reason however, this time my cake stuck to the sides of my pan. You win some and you lose some! Its a cake I made quite frequently when my children were growing up.
*Easter Basket Cake*
Makes 15 servingsI don't think I will ever be able to find work as a Cake Decorator, lol. Happy Easter!
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