Slow Cooker Forelegs of Lamb

Mooching around the meat counter I came across something I had not seen before, foreleg shanks of lamb. Slimmer and less meaty than a hind shank but also a fraction on the cost - 5 for £5.  So home I went and dragged out the slow cooker for a take on this recipe

Slow Cooker Forelegs of Lamb in Red Wine & Chorizo

5 forelegs of lamb

1 onion chunky chopped

1 glass of rioja

200ml beef stock

20ml balsamic vinegar

1 can of chopped tomatoes

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

4 cloves garlic, peeled & halved

2 cooking chorizo, sliced

handful frozen peas

S&P

Chuck everything, except peas, into the slow cooker and mix about and whack on high for 7 hours.

Remove the shanks and place on a baking tray in the oven for 10mins at 180oc, to crisp up slightly.

Pour the sauce into a pan and reduce, whilst skimming off the fat.  Toss in the peas and season to taste, possibly add a drizzle of honey to sweeten if required.

Lay the lamb on a bed of mashed potato and liberally pour over the sauce.  Yum.

The meat was so tender it fell off the bone and in general was more satisfying than having cooked it in the oven.

Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder with Rioja & Chorizo

Whilst viewing my Twitter feed it was mentioned that one of the ladies I follow had tried this recipe from BBC Food website, it sounded delicious so I thought I would give it a go.

I could not find any lamb shanks so I substituted half a lamb shoulder, the twitterer said that next time she would reduce the amount of Balsamic vinegar used, so I took note and reduced it. 

The result was a wonderful unctuous sauce, not too strong but with punchy flavours of wine and garlic, softened with the sweetness of honey coating a soft and tender piece of lamb which melted off the bone.  Served with loads of fluffy mashed potato and cabbage a real autumnal treat on a cold Friday night with a glass of the remaining Rioja.

Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder with Rioja & Chorizo

Taken from Lorraine Pascale's Rioja Braised Lamb Shanks with Chorizo & Garlic

Serves 3-4

1/2 shoulder lamb

12 floz Rioja wine

6 floz Balsamic vinegar

1 bulb garlic, cut horizontally

2 bay leaves

2 tsp paprika

Small handful black peppercorns

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

10floz beef stock

4 oz chorizo

1 large red onion, cut into wedges

2 carrots, chopped

Dash honey to taste

Oil for frying

S&P

Heat oven to 150oc.  Season the lamb with S&P. Pour oil into heavy bottomed pan and set on high heat.  Brown the lamb all over, remove from pan and put to one side. 

In the same pan, pour off excess fat if too much.  Pour in the wine and balsamic vinegar and boil for 5 minutes.  Add the lamb, garlic, bay, paprika, peppercorns, half the rosemary and stock.  Cover and bring to the boil.

Once boiling, place the pan into the oven and cook for 2 hours, turning the meat after 1 hour.

Remove from oven and add the chorizo, onion, carrots and honey (I used about 1 tbsp) and the remaining rosemary, return to the oven and cook for a further hour or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Remove the meat and veg and keep warm.  Place the pan over a high heat and boil till thickened for 5-10 mins.  I did at this point drain off some of the fat from the lamb.

Serve with mash and greens of your choice.

Denver Cut of Beef

In a desperate attempt to make up for a previous evening meal of a very unsatisfactory Pumpkin & Mushroom Lasagna, with no cheese! (I won't even bother posting the recipe for that one, I am trying to expunge the memory of it, shudder) I decided that a nice juicy steak was called for, so a little trip to the meat counter brought to my attention a cut of beef I had never heard of before - Denver.

A little googling later and I found it is a cheaper cut from the shoulder, along the lines of braising steak, but in more of a hunk format. It has good marbling and although the muscle is quite course in texture it can be cooked to be very tender.  At £6.00 for a piece of 650g, approx 170mm long, 100mm wide and 60mm deep it did indeed seem pretty good value so in the basket it went.

Once home I decided to hand the cooking of the meat over to hubby-with-low-tolerance-levels as there was no way I was going to cook it and possible cock it up.  So he treated it thus:-

Denver Cut of Beef

Rest the meat at room temperature until ready to cook.

Set oven to 200oc

Get a  ovenproof griddle pan and place over a high heat, till smoking hot.

Season with pepper only and oil the meat well, to add salt at this point will only toughen the meat (or so hubby says)

Place meat onto the griddle pan and fry for 2-3 minutes each side, so the outer is dark and caramelised.

Pop the whole pan into the oven and continue to cook for 10mins, turning once.

Remove from the oven and transfer the meat to tin foil and pack a parcel, cover with tea towels to keep warm and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Remove from parcel and slice up, serve with vegetables of your choice and loads of creamy horseradish sauce and add your salt flakes at this point, really brings out the flavour.

Based on the weight and dimensions as noted above this was cooked perfectly rare and was so meltingly tender, packed full of taste and being greedy-guts we guzzled the lot!  Truly made up for my dismal effort the previous evening and Hubby has now found a new role in life - steak cooker supreme.

Chorizo & Chickpea Stew with Broadbean & Dill Dip

What a weekend we just had, I call it the lost motorsport weekend.  First up there was the Le Mans 24 Hour race, followed by the Silverstone Moto GP and rounded off with the epic 5 1/2 hour Canadian F1 GP, where Jenson Button clashed into two cars, had 6 pit stops, one drive through penalty and went from last to win it in the last half lap.  Phew heady stuff going on, so I had to take a little break and do something calmer in the kitchen.

I had just downloaded The Guardian News app and found a lovely quick and easy recipe from Nigel Slater for Broadbean and Dill Dip.
 

1kg Broadbeans - once podded you are left with a measly 300g and once you have boiled them for 8 mins and then taken off their tough grey skins, you are left with about 200g.  Nigel's recipe calls for 400g.

3 tbs Olive Oil

Juice of half a lemon

Fresh dill, torn into fairly chunky fronds

S&P

With my de-podded, boiled and de-skinned broadbeans safely popped into the food processor, I blitzed them to a paste.  Then with the blender still going added the oil and the lemon juice, swiftly followed by a little seasoning.  Stir in the dill and serve with a drizzle of oil and some lightly toasted pitta breads.

A lovely fresh little dip.  It would probably have been a bit more punchy if I had used EVOO but I had none in the cupboard.  The 200g of beans were enough as a prelude to the main course.

Chorizo & Chickpea Stew

Serves 2-3 easily increased

Lovely Louise's signature dish for guests, a simple yet spectacular and very warming & hearty dish perfect on a cold, wet Sunday afternoon in front of the TV watching motorsport!

Half a ring of Chorizo no idea on weight but approx 14cm, cut in half length ways and chop in to 1cm chunks.

1 large onion, roughly chopped

400g tin Chopped tomatoes

400g tin of chickpeas

Tomato puree

Chilli flakes or fresh chilli's if you have them to taste.

Cumin

300ml chicken stock

Pop the chorizo and onion into a pan and fry, soften the onions and crisp up the chorizo, around 5 mins. Add the tomatoes and puree, a good squirt along with the chilli flakes approx 1 tsp and cumin approx 1tsp. Pour over the stock and simmer away till reduced slightly around 20mins.  Add the chickpeas and heat through.  Serve with chopped coriander (if you have it - I did not) and warmed flatbreads to mop up all the lovely juices.

Lamb in a Pan

Whilst flicking through some of Mother's magazines I spied this receipe and it ticked all my boxes - easy, one pot dish, yummy looking - so I pinched it.  It came from the April 2011 issue of House Beautiful, but I have changed a few bits to suit 2 greedy people.

Roast Lamb with Summer Vegetables & Mint Pesto

500g Jersey new potatoes

500g lamb neck fillet, cut into chunky cubes

3 cloves garlic - chopped finely

1 small aubergine, cut into chunks

1 red pepper, deseeded and chunked

1 onion, chunky chopped

2 tbsp Olive Oil

S&P

For the Pesto

6 tbsp toasted roasted flaked almonds

Big bunch of fresh mint leaves

2 tsp Dijon mustard

4 tbsp Olive Oil

S&P

Place the potatoes, lamb, garlic, aubergine, red pepper and onion into a roasting pan, drizzle over the oil, season well and toss around to get everything coated.

Pop into an oven at 190oc/170oc fan and roast away for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, take your almonds, mint leaves and mustard and blitz in a blender, when a rough paste is achieved dribble in the oil whilst the machine is still whirring away, season to taste.  Plate up and serve the dollop of pesto over the top.

This really was easy and it looked special and was extremely tasty.  The mint pesto was so fresh and cut through the fatty lamb.  Next time I may add a few herbs to the roasting tin with the lamb, a sprig of fresh rosemary probably, just something to give it a little lift or may be even spike to pesto with something a little sharper, lemon maybe, just to give it a little zing.

Apologies for the piccys, only had my phone to hand!

Slow Cooked Jerk Pulled Pork

I love Becky at Girl Interrupted Eating she always cooks recipes I want to try and has a passion for slow cooked hearty meal like I do.  So when I spied this recipe for Jerk Pulled Pork on her blog I knew I was going to try it straight away!

I have not changed much from her recipe, but will add my own observations.

I used a 1.5Kg boneless rolled shoulder of pork skin on.  I used Shwartz Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, approx 4 tsp and to this I added the juice and zest of one lemon, 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp dried oregano and a few bit of grated nutmeg.

This mixed together and rubbed all over the joint gave it a wonderful fragrance which really permeated throughout the entire joint.  Like Becky, I will probably try to make my own blend of seasonings and spices next time. I think a lot of fun can be had changing/amending/playing with this simple recipe.

The meat was kept extremely moist during the 3 hours cooking time and once transferred to the roasting tin and the temp heated up, we did find that the sugars in the meat caramelised and became very sticky and blackened.  The skin did not go crispy, but it did render down until very soft, melting rather than chewy.

I served this with flat tortilla wraps and I made up a few components for salad accompaniments.  Grated carrot with finely minced garlic and Greek yogurt was fantastic. 

I also made cucumber with yogurt and mint, some de-seeded diced tomatoes and diced cooked beetroot with crumbled feta. any or all of these added to the wrap with some sweet chili sauce drizzled over the top and plenty of the delicious pulled pork wrapped up, total heaven. 

A really fun meal to have and so utterly yummy, I have not had such a tasty meal in quite a while, the meat was a total star!  There was plenty of leftovers for round two the next day.

Berenjenas Rellenas - Stuffed Aubergine

Here is another delish dish from the Spanish World Kitchen cook book and probably one of the nicest aubergine dishes I have ever cooked.

Berenjenas Rellenas - Stuffed Aubergine

Serves 4 with sides or 2 by themselves!

2 aubergines

60ml olive oil

200g minced lamb

2 cloves garlic

1 tomato chopped

1 onion chopped (book states red, but I did not have one)

1 egg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 slice bread, crust off and soaked in milk

2 tblsp chopped parsley

Cut the aubergines in half, lengthways and score in a cross hatch pattern to about 1cm of the edge, sprinkle with with salt and leave for 20 mins.

Heat the oven to 200oc. Line a baking tray with foil and place the aubergines face down on it and brush over some of the oil. Pop into the oven fro 20 min or until soft.

Cool slightly and the scoop out the pulp, leaving a border of 1cm all around the edge. Discard half of the pulp and chop the rest.

Mix together all the other ingredients, add the chopped aubergine and S&P.

Spoon the mixture into the aubergine shells and place into a roasting tin and drizzle with the remainder of the oil.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the lamb is cooked.

Italian Pork Patties

With excitment I opened this months Good Food magazine and found loads of recipes just crying out to be tried, here is the first of many.

Italian Pork Patties

500g Pork mince

50g Fresh breadcrumbs

50g grated Parmesan

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 crushed garlic clove

Zest of one lemon

Mix breadcrumbs, mince, Parmesan, parsley, garlic and lemon zest in a bowl - Good Food says to add water to moisten the breadcrumbs first, I just added an egg to bind it all together.

Season well, I also added a little sage.

Form into 8 flatish patties

Add a little oil to a frying pan and over a moderate heat fry for 7 mins each side until they have a lovely crisp golden outer.

I served with the recommended potato wedges baked in a pan with a coating of oil, lemon juice, S&P and a simple salad.

The patties were so soft and light and very tasty, nothing stodgy about them at all. The lemon was a lovely twist although hubby thought it was too overpowering. I can imagine these will be a very welcome change when used on a BBQ over the usual burnt beef burgers.

Mild Chilli & Bean Pasta Bake

Another one found last minute on the hallowed pages of BBC Good Food. Recipe Here

I made a few amendments, depending what was in the cupboard at the time, but this dish was really very, very tasty and will definitely be cooked again.

Mild Chilli & Bean Pasta Bake

Serve 4

1 large onion - chopped

350g lean minced beef

2 tsp chilli flakes

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tbs tomato puree

400g kidney beans

300ml beef stock
300gm Fusilli

Topping

300g low fat greek yogurt

2 eggs beaten

Handful grated Cheddar cheese

1 garlic clove grated.

In a dash of oil fry the onions and mince in a frying pan until onions soft and mince browned.

Add the chilli flakes, tomatoes, puree, beans and stock bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Cook the pasta, drain and then add to the mince. Transfer to a ovenproof dish.

Mix the yogurt, eggs, cheese and garlic season lightly and pour over the pasta and bake in a 200oc oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

The topping was an absolute winner, firm, creamy and cheesy a great contrast to the chilli beef.

Spanish Chicken

It seems that my usual inspiration for cooking comes from a quiet afternoon in the office a little surf over to the Good Food website to get together a recipe for that evening. It really is a brilliant site. Last night I grabbed the following recipe from its pages.

Now, you know I am all about the ease and simplicity of one pot dishes, especially during the week, well this one is no exception.

Spanish Chicken

8 Chicken Thighs - skin on with bone in

3 Onions - thinly sliced

2 tsp Paprika

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Parsley, good handful chopped

150ml Stock

1 Tbs Olive oil

Heat the oven to 190oc. Put all the ingredients into a large ovenproof dish. Mix everything together and season.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the chicken is golden and the onions tender. Stir the onions after 20 mins. Serve with rice.

See simple!

Cottage Chilli Hotpot

This is truly a stunning show stopper of a one pot dish. It comes from the January edition of Good Food magazine and my pictures really do not do it justice, it was my first attempt and I did not transfer it to a casserole dish so it looks a little messy, (Update, have added new picture from my latest attempt, much better) but it really is delicious.

Cottage Chilli Hotpot

Serves 6

800g Braising Streak - cubed

2 tbs seasoned plain flour

4 tbs Olive Oil

300ml Red Wine

2 Red Onions Finely chopped

2 Carrots - Finely chopped

4 Garlic cloves - Finely chopped

2 Red Peppers, deseeded and chunked

Thyme

Bay leaf

1 tsp each ground Cumin and Corriander

1/2 tsp each Cinnamon and Chilli flakes

2 x 400g Chopped Plum Tomatoes

2 tsp sugar

250ml Beef Stock

400g Red Kidney Beans

1Kg potatoes

Butter

Toss the beef in the flour and brown half of it in a pan. Remove meat from pan and deglaze with 100ml wine, pour all the wine and sticky bits over the meat, wipe pan clean and repeat with the remainder of the beef.

Add 2 tbs of oil to the pan and add the veg, peppers, fresh chilli some thyme sprigs and bay, fry for 10 mins. Tip in the spices, cook for 1 min then add the rest of the wine and reduce by half.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, beef, winey jucies and stock, season and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until meat is meltingly tender. Stir in the beans and allow to cool.

Peel and slice the potatoes about 5mm thick, then boil for 5 mins. Drain then tip back in to the pan. Add a knob of butter and thyme leaves, season then toss gently to coat. Pour the chilli mix into a casserole dish and layer the potatoes over the top. Bake at 180oc for 40mins or until sauce is bubbling and potatoes golden.

Serve with green veg and soured cream. Truly scumptious!

Angostura Mince Cobbler

Pink Gin - I love it, just a few drops of Angostura Bitters really enhance a classic G & T with it's unique herby taste and glorious deep pink colour. A bit of research comes up with the fact that it is made from gentian root was developed in Venezuela around 1824 and is 44% Alc. It is an ingredient in many cocktails, can be a cure for an upset stomach and hiccups, but I have only ever once seen it as an ingredient in food. Taken from the 1982 M&S Special Occasion Casseroles I give you the delicious:

Angostura Mince Cobbler

550g Mince Beef

1 Large Onion chopped

2 Carrots peeled and diced

300ml Beef Stock

1 1/2 tbs Angostura Bitters

1 tbs Tomato Puree

S&P

2 tsp Cornflour

Scone Topping

175g SR Flour

40g Butter or Marg

S&P

1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs, I like to use onion seeds

1 Egg beaten

2 tbs Milk

Handful grated Cheddar Cheese

Fry the beef, onion and carrots gently until soft.

Add the stock, Angostura Bitters, tomato puree seasoning and bring to the boil.

Blend cornflour in a little water and add to pan, cook until thickened.

Transfer to a casserole dish, cover and cook in oven at 180oc for 20 mins.

For the scone topping, sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the fat until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add S&P and herbs. Bind together with the egg and enough milk to give a softish dough.

Pat out the dough on a floured surface to about 1cm thick and cut into 4cm rounds.

Remove casserole from oven and increase the temperature to 200oc. Arrange the scones in an overlapping circle around the edge, brush with milk.

Return to oven and bake uncovered for 20 mins or until the scones are well risen and golden brown - as an extra add a handful of grated cheese over the scone 10 mins from end.

In a variation minced pork can be used as well and I have been know to add a couple rashers chopped of smoked bacon to it.

Pork & Chilli Goulash

This is a brilliant recipe to scale up and do for a crowd of people. It can sit in the oven for hours until you are ready for it. Taken from the Jamie Oliver Cook at Home book a very pleasing and hearty dish. These quantities feed 4-6.

Pork & Chilli Goulash

2kg Pork shoulder, off the bone, skin off, fat left on.

2 Red onions - slices

2 Fresh chillies, de-seeded and chopped
2 Heaped tablespoons mild smoked paprika

2 Tsp Caraway seeds

Small bunch Marjoram or Oregano

5 Peppers - Capsicum/bell peppers - mixture of colours - sliced
280g jar of grilled peppers, chopped

400g can plum tomatoes

4 tbs red wine vinegar.

Heat the oven to 180oc. Heat a large ovenproof pot on the hob. Score the fat on the pork, season with S&P, cook the pork fat side down in a glug of olive oil for 15 mins on medium heat to render the fat. Remove pork.

Add onions, chilli, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram/oregano leaves and more S&P. Lower heat and cook for 10 mins.

Add the peppers, grilled peppers and tomatoes.

Put the pork back in the pot and mix. Pour in enough water to cover the meat.

Add the vinegar.

Bring to the boil and place in the oven for 3 hours or so - the meat is cooked when it pulls apart with two forks, if it does not, then pop it back in the oven for longer.

I serve it all pulled apart on a large serving dish, with boiled rice and soured cream and some chopped parsley.

Best Ever Spaghetti Bolognaise

Hubby with low tolerance levels made another unexpected but welcome trip into the kitchen over the weekend. Whilst I was out shopping and failing miserably with any inspiration for presents he was getting all creative. Having listened to Nigel Barden on the Chris Evans Drivetime show on Radio 2 with his best ever Spaghetti Bolognaise recipe, Hubby decided to take this and customise it. Details of which are below:-

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Would probably serve 6 if you can bare letting anyone else have any!

500g Beef Mince

500g Pork Mince

200g Chicken Livers - Chopped (Hubby used 400g, great for me as I love liver, but too much for others)

2 Onions - Sliced

3 Carrots - Grated

3 Stalks Celery - Finely Chopped (Did not have in Hubby's, but he would recommend it for next time)

3 Cloves Garlic - Finely Sliced

500g Passata

150g Pancetta (Not included in Hubby's, but again he would recommend it next time)

400g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes

1 Tbs Tomato Puree

2 Tsp Thyme (dried)

1 Tbs Parsley (dried)

3 Bay Leaves

3/4 pint Stock

Sweat the onions in a little oil until translucent.

Add the mince and fry until almost dry.

Add everything else and mix well.

Bring to the boil.

Simmer or place in a low oven (130oc) for 3 or more hours, stirring occasionally. Hubby had it in the oven for almost 5 hours.

It really was the best ever Spag Bog I have had, there were leftovers after we'd had second helpings, so we scoffed those the following day as part of a Sloppy Joe Bagel, totally scrumptious and well worth the wait.

Lamb Tagine with Sundried Tomatoes

I think was so cold at the weekend as mentioned in my last post as I had just come back from a spur of the moment trip to visit my Brother and family on Holland for my Nephew's 10th Birthday and they were having glorious weather 28oc clear blue skys and hot sunny days - it was just like being on holiday - 5 days there and I did not want to return. There was lots of glorious food on offer - I have already told you how wonderful my sister in law is at cooking so I was looking forward to a great rest and indulgence, until my brother told me that he wanted to expand his little cooking repertoire and that we were going to cook a lamb tagine. Now if he had given me warning I could have prepared a suitable recipe, but as it was I had to play it by ear. I don't think we did too bad a job.

Lamb is not a popular meat in Holland, but we did find a Butcher who had a frozen rump of Lamb - 1.5kg (their cuts are slightly different to ours) so once thawed I got Dan (the Bruv) to cut into chunks, along with a large onion.

Then pan fried them in oil with random spoonfuls of spices Cumin, Paprika, Coriander.

Pour over a jar of passata 500ml and season. Adding a couple of teaspoons of sugar to take the sharpness out of the tomatoes.

Transferred to a warmed Tagine and the into the over at 150oc for 2 hours, then we added a jar of sun dried tomatoes and returned to the oven for a further 1/2 hour.

Served with a huge bowl of cous cous cooked with a vegetable stock and lots of finely sliced spring onions.

The meat was lovely and tender and although codged together it turned out tasty enough and not too spicy for the kids to enjoy.

Lamb Shoulder with Shallots

Autumn has sprung upon us! Not the usual stealthy drift from sunny summer days to lazy Autumn warmth - No this was a subtle as a brick - 1st of September cold, blustery weather knocking all the leaves off the trees. I think even the weather was fed up with the truly awful Summer we had endured and decided on a clean break into Autumn.

Shh, don't tell hubby but I had to put the heating on briefly yesterday as I was so cold, but it did mean that I felt justified in defrosting a half shoulder of lamb ready for a long slow cook - perfect Autumnal comfort food.

I got a pack of shallots - approx 20 fairly small and sweet, peeled them and put them in the bottom of a lidded ovenproof pan.

Seasoned and oiled the lamb popped it on top of the shallots, tossed in a few sprigs of rosemary added some chicken stock - up to halfway covering the lamb and the into the oven at 160oc for 2.5 hours.

Remove the lamb and some shallots onto carving dish and then I put it back into the oven turning the heat off - this gave enough time to brown the meat on top and leave it to rest with out drying it out.

With the remainder of the shallots and stock, which are pretty mushy at this point, mush them up even further and add flour and further seasoning to make a lovely sweet and herby gravy. Served with crushed potatoes and peas (I know, I know my favourite accompaniments).

BBQ Rib of Beef

Sun, Sun, Sun and what better way to celebrate than to drag out the old BBQ.
So after a rather hot and
clammy day in the office I shamelessly stole this recipe from Girl Interrupted Eating. and went to enjoy the early evening in the garden. This is not so much a recipe as a different way to cook an expensive bit of meat.

I bought a lovely fat marbled rib of Beef, left it to get to room temperature before seasoning with salt and pepper. Heated up the BBQ and as usual could not wait until the coals got completely white and ashy, so I ended up putting the meat on whilst the heat was probably too fierce. There were a fair few flames as the fat dropped onto the coals so a spray of water is required to keep them under control. Keep turning the meat frequently for approx 20 minutes - if you like it rare. Then importantly remove from BBQ and cover in foil to rest for at least 20 minutes.

All the juices had poured out of the meat and it had relaxed making carving like cutting through butter. A lovely crisp caramelised outer with rare tender succulent meat in the middle - perfect.

So as not to detract from the meat, I made a simple salad similar to Girl Interrupted's of new potatoes with broad beans, half a finely chopped onion mixed with mayo and a dash of salad creme

I would like to say that we had some left for sandwiches but being the gluttons we are we guzzled the lot!!!! It was so delicious, just melted in the mouth - drool. It was a test run and I now feel happy that I could cook this for a more formal Sunday lunch.

Herby Baked Lamb in Tomato Sauce

I love the Easter tradition of having Lamb for lunch, but wanted something a little different this year, and with my love of one pot dishes this recipe found n the May issue of BBC Good Food sounded perfect.

Herby Baked Lamb in Tomato Sauce

1.8Kg/4lb Shoulder of lamb

2 tbsp olive oil

3 oregano sprigs, leaves stripped from 2

3 rosemary sprigs, leaves tripped from 2

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

600ml/1pt red wine

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp sugar.

Heat the oven to 220oc. Mix the oil, oregano, rosemary and garlic in a food processor until a paste (I bashed mine in a pestle and mortar, not quite paste like but not far off) Rub all over the lamb. Roast lamb in a large heavy bottomed ovenproof pan for 20 mins.

Cover and lower the oven temp to 150oc. and roast for a further 3 hours.

Remove the lamb from the oven and spoon off the fat, leaving the meat juices. Pour over the wine and tomatoes and toss in the remaining herbs. Return to oven uncovered for a further 40 mins.

Spoon the wine and tomato sauce into another pan, skimming off any excess fat, re-cover the lamb and let it rest. Heat up the sauce until bubbling and then simmer for 10-15 mins until thick and saucy. season with sugar and some S&P, then pour back around the lamb and serve.

I love shoulder of lamb recipes, it is one of the most satisfying cuts to cook, I love that the slow cooking brings out the most tasty flavours and that it is tender enough to pull part with forks. I served this with roast potatoes and a selection of peas and cabbage. Ultra scrummy, the wine and tomato sauce a rich treat.

There was enough left over that the following day I shredded the meat and heated it along with the sauce, threw in a handful of frozen peas and served as a ragu sauce over fresh tagliatelle pasta. It is a shame that my picture does not do this dish justice.

Beer Marinade Pork Ribs

With the promise of good weather to come (hopefully) I figure it is time to get to grips with my BBQ skills and dishes, so having found a very reasonable rack of pork ribs and armed with my Ainsley Harriot Big Cook Out book I tried his Dodg'em and Down'em Cowboy Ribs.

330ml strong lager

grated rind & juice of a lime

2 garlic cloves - crushed

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

2 tbls dark muscavado sugar

1 tsp chilli flakes

S&P

1 sheet of pork ribs approx 750g

Mix all the ingredients (except pork) together.

Add the ribs to the mixture and marinate for 8-24 hours.

Cook over a medium BBQ, turning occasionally for 25-35 mins.

The weather still not being clement enough to drag out the BBQ I cooked them in the oven at 200oc for the same amount of time, turning halfway.

They came out wonderfully brown and crispy on the outside, but so tender and tasty, and being a non-sticky marinade they were not messy to eat.

To go with the ribs I made a simple potato salad with a finely sliced shallot & parsley and a beef tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.

Now I know the recipe is a winner I cannot wait for the glorious warm and sunny days of summer (!??!)

Brisket & Beer

Since starting my blog I have noticed that I cook a lot of hearty comfort food and Monday night was no different. I found a recipe here for Pot Roasted Brisket in Beer with Parsnips and Mushrooms.

My eventual dish varied slightly in that I used a smaller joint around 600g, I had no celery or flat mushrooms - using the remainder of the Chestnut mushrooms instead, forgot to add the Dijon mustard - doh! I also only needed to cook the joint, (which managed to unfurl in the pan, but made it easier to carve) for 2 and half hours. I served it with fresh Polish Bread to soak up all the juices. It was pretty delicious and the Brisket was lovely and tender. Hubby has requested this again.

This blog is a good way to remember all the dishes I have tried, as invariably I would forget, it also high lights our eating patterns. Time for something lighter I think - step away from the stodge!