Lamb Steaks and Houmous Potatoes

Woo-wee, were did the time go, post Jan 14th then nothing until today.  Well I went to America.  Florida to be precise with my friend and her baby.  My first time over to the states and I loved it, sun and warmth in Winter - such a pleasant change. 

I can confirm that when they say everything in America is big they are not wrong, the food when we ate out was huge and so very tasty.  I was asked how would I like my hamburger cooked, you never get asked that question in the UK - like cardboard is usually the only option here.  I chose rare and indeed the burger that arrived was cooked perfectly rare, topped with sauteed mushrooms and melted cheese.  Probably the best burger I have ever tasted and it came from a traditional shiny aluminium sided, art deco diner, heaven.

Upon my return to the UK, it has been dark and dismal, so a complete lack of inspiration or desire to cook took hold, but yesterday Hubby came back with lamb steaks - not an ingredient I have ever really cooked before so I trolled over to Good Food website again and came away with the following recipe that I modified slightly to suit.

Lamb Steaks with Houmous Potatoes

2 thick lamb steaks

500g new potatoes

Cherry tomatoes on the vine

Small bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

Small tub houmous or 3 tbls

Juice of half lemon or to taste

Oil / Butter

Boil the potatoes until cooked, then crush lightly with a fork, stir in the houmous, spring onions and lemon juice - add a little butter if it is a little too thick and sticky.

Griddle fry the lamb steaks about 3-4 mins each side - will produce a pinkish middle.  Add the cherry tomatoes to the griddle pan about 4 mins from the end of cooking, until they are ready to pop.  Serve up.

A very tasty, easy supper time dish.  Houmous potatoes a revelation

Forgive my very bad photo, only had my iPhone to hand!

Carolina Pulled Pork

One of the the New Years Resolutions that I enforced onto Hubby-with-low-tolerance-levels was that he cook once a week and I will do my utmost to not to put my two penneth in whilst he is doing so.  I find it hard to let anyone into 'my' kitchen.  So finding a little recipe from an iPhone app on recipes for the Slow Cooker he set about this delicious dish.

Carolina Pulled Pork

Serves 8

2.6Kg Pork Loin (although we only used a 1.5Kg piece)

2 medium onions, finely sliced

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup (23cl) cider vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp chili flakes

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt (which Hubby substituted 1 chopped clove fresh)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a bowl mix the onions, brown sugar, paprika, S&P.  Coat the loin with the mixture and put into the slow cooker.

Mix the vinegar, Worcs. sauce, chili flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic and cayenne.  Pour a third of this sauce over the loin and refrigerate the rest.

Cook the loin on Low for 8 to 10 hours (as we were using a smaller piece, we put it on for 7-8 hours)

Add a further third of the sauce 30 minutes before the end of cooking, we also put the heat up to medium at this point.

Remove the joint and pull apart with forks and use the rest of the sauce from the fridge to taste as you pile the pork into bread buns.

We drained the onions and spices mixture from the slow cooker and used it as a spicy, pickled topping to the pork.  We also cut the loin into two parts the first part we shredded with forks and ate hot, served with homemade coleslaw and my Pinto Beans.  The remainder kept in the fridge and sliced thinly into sandwiches for a few days afterwards. 

Christmas Slaw

Welcome to my post Christmas slump, where, after weeks of over eating, imbibing too much and general partying you feel stodgy, sluggish and blurgh.  Well I found a cure for that.  Following a meal of roast chicken and a truly great cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake our bodies finally gave up and said no more, so the following day a quick shufty at Good Food website bought us this little gem, super easy, super healthy, super colourful.

Christmas Slaw

Serves 6

2 carrots, matchstick cut

1/2 white cabbage, shredded

100g pecans, rough chopped

Bunch of spring onions, sliced

2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced

Toss around in a bowl and now for the magic ...

Dressing

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp Dijon mustard
8 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp cider vinegar

Pop the ingredients into an old jam jar and shake away until fully mixed, then drizzle over your salad when ready to eat.

Told you it was simple, but it was just what we needed, served with the legs from the roast chicken the previous night it was a fresh, zingy and crunchy way to feeling less stodgy.  I can see this salad becoming a staple over the next couple of months as it will be a great accompanyment for many dishes.

Winter Snow In...

...Well almost, but it certainly feels like one should batten down the hatches and not emerge until spring. 

Sorry to have abandoned you since the start of November but now that winter has hit, far too much old stand by comfort food has been going on.  I did download some foody pics from my camera, but although they look rather delish I have no recollection of making these dishes or indeed what recipe was used. 

Hopefully I will get my mojo back after Christmas and be re-invigorated by the New Year, but for now I will leave you with the unremembered meals!

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash

A very tasty and different dish from the Good Food Magazine October 2010.

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash

Serves 4

1kg sweet potatoes, cubed
2 tsp Ras el Hanout
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
200ml chicken stock
2 tsp clear honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Handful of green olives
Fresh coriander

Boil the potatoes until tender, approx 15 minutes.  Mix the ras el hanout with seasoning, then sprinkle all over the chicken.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan then brown the chicken.
Remove the chicken and add to the pan the garlic and onion, cook for 5 mins.  Add the stock, honey, lemon and olives.  Return the chicken to the pan then simmer for 10 mins until the sauce is syrupy and chicken cooked.
Mash the potatoes with the remaining oil (or butter, like I did), thickly slice the chicken (which I didn't do) stir the chopped coriander in to the sauce and plate up.

I was not sure of this dish to start, I have had some bad Moroccan dishes which usually have incorporated preserved lemons, my most loathed ingredient, but the honey and the lemon in this dish combined beautifully and the ras el hanout spices gave a lovely kick to the chicken, very very tasty and super healthy, according to Good Food!

Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake

Another comforting dish from the Jamie at Home cook book, that utilised my beloved one pot cooking.

Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake

Serves 6 (or not depending on how greedy you are, we halved the recipe for 2 people!)

2kg Cherry tomatoes various varieties, I also used baby plum tomatoes

2 sprigs each of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay

1 Tbsp dried oregano

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

12 Cumberland sausages

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

S&P

Set oven to 190oc.  In a large roasting tray add your tomatoes, in one layer.  Add the herbs, garlic and sausages.  Drizzle well with oil and Balsamic, season and toss together.

Making sure the snorkers are on top pop into the oven for half and hour, then take out shake around and pop back in for a further 15 to 30 minuted depending on hour golden and sticky you like your sausages.

Once cooked you have a lovely thick unctuous tomatoey sauce, if it is too thin, take out the bangers and place the tray on the hob to reduce down a little.

I served this on a big dollop of mashed potato. It was a delicious, thick, rich tomato sauce, utterly perfect and could replace the old favourite of bangers, mash, peas and onion gravy.  Very, very tasty.

Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan Croutons

I love butternut squash soup, nothing compares to how warming, thick and creamy it turns out, perfect for misty Autumn days, curled up next to an open fire.  I usually just fry up an onion add chopped and peeled squash with vegetable stock and chopped sage leaves, simmer away for 20 mins then blitz with a hand blender, add a little creme fraich or cream if I have it to hand and yum.  Whilst riffling through the Jamie at Home cook book I noticed his recipe and decided to give it a go.

Squash Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Serves 8

olive oil

16 fresh sage leaves

2 red onions, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary leaves stripped
1 fresh red chilli chopped
2Kg butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chunked
2 ltrs chicken or veg stock

16 slices of ciabatta (I used french stick slices)

Parmesan

In a large pan add oil and heat then fry the sage leaves until dark and crisp, approx 30 secs remove and put to one side.  Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, chilli and S&P to the oil and cook gently for 10 mins until soft.  Add the squash and stock.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 mins.

Whilst the soup is cooking drizzle oil over the bread slices and the press in some grated Parmesan  on each side of the slices.  In a non stick frying pan fry with no extra oil until golden on both sides.

Once the squash is soft and cooked through whiz the soup with a blender, I like it fairly smooth with a few chunky bits.

Dish up and serve with 2 croutons on each and the fried sage leaves on the top and an extra grating of Parmesan.

This is a great soup and a good way of using up all the leftover squashes and pumpkins from my Autumnal/Halloween display.