Slow Roast Lamb with Fennel, Chilli & Oregano

Coming back from holiday, leaving the hot sunny days in Mallorca, back to the grey, overcast and cool days of England will make everyone feel the Post Summer Holiday Blues.  To cheer ourselves up I decided on a slow roast half shoulder of lamb, as well you know a favourite of mine.  This time I tried something a little different.

Slow Roast Lamb with Fennel, Chilli and Oregano

1 x half shoulder lamb

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 or more sprigs fresh oregano

S&P
2 tsp oil

Put the garlic, fennel, Chilli and part of the oregano into a pestle & mortar and bash about a bit. Mix with the oil the rub over the lamb, leave for a hour.

Put the lamb into a roasting tin and pour over the chopped tomatoes add seasoning and mix everything together, add the rest of the oregano.  Cover with foil and place into the over set at 160oc fan/150oc and leave to cook for 3 hours or so.  Turn the lamb halfway through so all sides get a chance to soak in the yummy sauce.

Remove the foil 30 mins from end of cooking time to crisp up slightly. Drain off some of the fat, the meat will just fall apart, serve with green beans and crushed potatoes.

The spices are delicate but very flavoursome, tinker around with the quantities to find what suits you.

Chicken, Leek & Tarragon Mini Pies

Still struggling with the rotation of iphone pictures, sometimes it works, sometimes not ... today is a not day!

Recently Hubby and I met up with family for a little picnic.  Once of our contributions were these lovely little mini pies.  A little preparation is required, but they were certainly worth it as the taste was fantastic and they were received very well indeed.

Chicken, Leek & Tarragon Mini Pies

Makes approx 12 if using deep muffin pan or 18 if using standard pie tray

Pastry

500g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

250g chilled unsalted butter, cubed

1 medium egg, beaten

Filling

1.3kg FR chicken

1 stick of celery, rough chopped

1 large carrot, rough chopped

6 black peppercorns

Large bunch of fresh tarragon, chopped, leaving 3 sprigs for stock

Knob of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 large leek, thinly sliced

1 tbsp plain flour

100ml double cream

Put the chicken in a large pan of water, add the celery, carrot, pepper and tarragon sprigs.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 mins.  Remove the chicken and set aside to cool.  Strain the stock, then put back onto boil and redice for 10 mins.  Leave to cool.

Make the pastry, sift the flour and salt and mix, add the butter rub together till you have a breadcrumb consistency, then add 6-7 tbsp water and mix together into a ball.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth, form into a ball cover in clingfilm and place in fridge for 30 mins.

Heat the knob of butter in a frying pan and soften the onion and leek gently for 10 mins, stir in the flour and then cool.

Take the skin off the chicken and discard.  Gently shred the chicken, take 300g (saving the rest for other dishes) and add the chopped tarragon and the leek mixture, stir in the cream and 100ml of the reserved stock.  Season.

Pre-heat the oven to 220oc/200oc fan/GM7.  Take the pastry and divide off one third, set aside.  roll out remainder to about 3mm thick and cut out using approx 9cm dia form (11cm if using the deep muffin tin) place in the tin and spoon filling int the moulds.

Using the final third pastry roll out the lids and cut, using a smaller form.  Brush the edges with egg place on top, crimp together, brush lid with egg, cut a little cross on top.

Place in oven for 25mins.  Remove and cool slightly before transferring pies onto wire rack.  Eat!

Turkey Burgers

My new found love for turkey mince continues.  Honestly it is such a great replacement for mince beef and pork as long as it is spiced up well, it really lightens dishes points/calorie wise.  This receipe is another one from Weight Watchers and certainly satisfies those junk food cravings.

Turkey Burgers in Buns

4 servings Pro Points per serving 8

450g lean turkey mince

1 onion finely chopped

1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp chilli flakes

3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

S&P
4 medium buns at 50g each

sliced tomato

lettuce leaves
sliced pickles

Mix together the turkey mince, onion, herbs, chilli and Worcestershire sauce, season and form into 4 patties.

The WW receipe calls for grilling the burgers for 10 mins turning once, but I used one cal spray and pan fried them.

Lightly toast the split buns fill with burger, lettuce, tomato and pickle and yum-up.  As an extra at zero points I added some sliced mushrooms to the frying pan when cooking the burgers and popped them on top.

Turkey Lasagne

After months of near constant rain, that dragging feeling of a summer lost hit and I knew that a salad would not cut it last night, we needed comfort food.  In the past comfort food would have consisted of a 3" deep beef lasagne smothered in three types of cheese, oozing oil, but a year into Weight Watchers and 4 stone down, I could not bear the thought of undoing all my good work so I thought of a lighter variation, which I think worked rather well and gives you a very generous portion so you feel like you are being naughty when really you are not.

Turkey Lasagne

Serves 2 Approx WW Pro Points per serving 15

500g turkey mince

1 onion, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 courgette, chunky chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red pepper, chunky chopped

3 sheets dried lasagne pasta

One cal oil spray

1 tsp mixed herbs, dried

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

1 400g can chopped tomatoes

Squirt of tomato puree

Squirt HP brown sauce

White sauce

30g light soft cheese

1 tbsp grated Parmesan

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp corn flour, made up with a drop of water

100ml skimmed milk

Heat a pan and spritz in the oil, slow fry the onion, celery and carrot until soft, add the turkey mince and cook until coloured.  add the garlic, courgette, pepper, herbs, chopped tomatoes, puree and HP and seasoning.  Simmer away for an hour.

To make the white sauce put the soft cheese and milk into a small saucepan and whisk over heat. Add the cornflour mix and keep whisking until thickened, stir in the mustard and half of the Parmesan, add more milk if it gets too thick.

Heat the oven to 190oc.  Take an oven dish and spoon half of the turkey mixture in, pour over half the white sauce.  Lay on the three pasta sheets and top with the rest of the turkey and finish with the white sauce, sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan.  Pop into the oven for 30 minutes.  Serve.

Hearty, warming, decadent and utterly scrumptious.  Going heavy on the herbs and seasoning and by adding a dash of tangy HP really helps pack a punch and liven up boring old turkey.  Just enough pasta to not load up with carbs but feel like you are not missing out and jam packed with veg, next time I would probably reduce the amount of turkey mince used and toss in some quartered mushrooms.

Kidney in Red Wine with Chorizo

After hubby's last sortie to the kitchen, resulting in the Steak & Kidney Pudding, I was left with several unused lamb kidneys.  Unsure of what exactly to do with them and a bit loath to just chuck them out I consulted the Sainted Delia and came away with my version of this recipe.

Kidney in Red Wine with Chorizo

Serves 2 Est WW Points 10 per serving

6 Lamb kidneys, halved and with the core cut out

Large handful of mushrooms halved

1 glass red wine
1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

40g chorizo

20g butter - naughty but nice

1 tbsp flour

2 tsp fresh thyme chopped

Melt the butter and gently soften the onions and garlic.  Add the chorizo and mushrooms and cook slowly for 10 mins. 

Add the prepared kidneys and cook them until they have a little colour. 

Sprinkle on the flour and stir in to soak up all the juices, pour in the wine and add the thyme and S&P.

Stir and bring up to a simmer.  Cover with a lid and leave to blip away for 15 mins, then remove lid and simmer for a further 10 mins.

I served with boiled new potatoes and cabbage and for an afterthought of a dish it turned out very well indeed.  A seemingly decadent dish that is rich on taste and low on cost.

Steak & Kidney Pudding

Hubby had another success in the kitchen at the weekend and managed to pull of THIS receipe from the Hairy Bikers.  It was truly scrumptious.  Again it was not a thing I would have attempted myself as I have an aversion to fiddly cooking and as I thought also to kidneys, but as it turned out it was a) not very fiddly, just time consuming b) I may have mentioned this already, was truly scrumptious! and c) I like kidneys

Hubby halved the recipe and used a .75ltr pudding basin which turned out perfectly for 3 people or two if you happen to be greedy (we were the latter).  He also added lots of fresh thyme to the suet pastry which not only smelt fantastic added a lovely zing to the dish.

He did have a little mental abberation when it came to the stock and added 4 times the amount of stock to the volume of liquid required, to me it just made the dish extra unctious and rich, but he was concerned that it was too strong, (I think it was perfect).

Served up with new potatoes and cubed swede, mmmm will have to encourage him to make this one again.

Focaccia

Hubby's little baking escapades are continuing with great results.  This easy slab of Focaccia came from the Hairy Bikers Big Book of Baking and was exceptionally tasty.

Focaccia

1 loaf

500g strong white flour

7g fast-action dried yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp olive oil

300ml warm water

Topping

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Maldon salt

1 tsp black pepper, course ground

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp chilli flakes

Put flour, yeast sugar and salt into a bowl, mix oil with water and pour into mixture, mix together to form a rough ball.

Lightly flour a work surface and turn out the dough, knead for 5 mins to make smooth and soft. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour until twice the size.

Lightly oil a large baking tray.  Turn the dough out onto the floured surface, knock it back with your knuckles, then press into the baking tray pushing the dough to the edges.

Cover again with clingfilm and leave for a further 30 mins to prove.

Preheat the oven to 220oc/200oc fan.  The dough should now look rather puffed up and spongy.  Use your finger to poke dimples in the dough.  Drizzle the oil over the dough, sprinkle with sea salt, pepper rosemary and optional chili flakes.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown