Lamb & fennel meatballs with rag pasta

Well this one is hot off the press!  We had this for dinner this evening and it was so good, I had to commit the recipe to the blog before I forgot what I'd done.  Yes, it's a Jenny Eatwell original, so mind you remember that when you're telling all your friends.   *wink*

In actual fact, the germ of inspiration came from a news article regarding an Italian restaurant.  I forget where the restaurant was, but in the article they showed a dish of meatballs with "rag" pasta.  This one was completely new to me and required some further investigation - and it turns out that recipes involving "rag" pasta are all over the internet.  It is only a wonder that I haven't tripped over one before!

So what is "rag" pasta?  It's such a simple thing!  You take a fresh lasagne sheet (egg pasta preferably) and cut it into random shapes.  Tadaaaaa!  Rag pasta.  Now I do remember seeing Gennaro Contaldo making something with randomly shaped flat pasta in the past, but hadn't connected it with "rag" pasta.  I decided to cut mine into triangles, but you can be as random as you like, so long as the shapes are roughly the same size so that they cook at the same speed.

I will admit, however, that once I combined the pasta with the sauce it looked rather flat and uninviting.  Hubby was looking at it most dubiously and I suddenly lost all confidence in my lovely tasty sauce that I'd been quietly rhapsodising over only minutes before.

I made the mistake of serving it on flat plates - it would have looked so much better in a bowl with a little sprinkle of some herb or another - parsley probably - to give a brighter green.  Everything looks inviting with some parsley sprinkled over it!

Having dashed off the three photographs (why didn't I take more?) I ventured into the sitting room where hubby and son were tucking in.  Well?  How was it eating?  "Do you know," said hubby, in amazement, "this is actually really very good!".

Really?  I mean, there, I told you it would be lovely.  ~Koff~  He was right, as well.  It ate very nicely indeed.  The pasta wasn't chewy, or flabby, the meatballs were just right size wise and yes, you could taste the fennel seed.  The sauce was just the right consistency and perfect amounts of it.  Gosh!  I'd only gone and conjured up a family favourite.

So here I am, dashing off a quick blog post so that you, too, can enjoy some "rag" pasta with your families.

Now, for the cook's notes, I've a couple :

-  firstly, make sure to use full fat creme fraiche.  Low fat just won't work and will split once you bring it up to the boil.

-  Secondly, any old stock will do (other than fish, of course!), so don't worry if you don't have any lamb stock cubes or powder in the cupboard.

-  It is very worth crushing the fennel seed before adding it to the meatballs, as getting a seed stuck between your teeth can ruin the best of meals.

For those who might be counting calories, this amounts to roughly 1,161 calories per portion (which is the entire amount divided between three people).  However, it is an entire meal on the one plate, so long as you make sure to have a light breakfast and lunch.  Of course, you could always serve it with a salad and split it between four people, which would reduce the calories a bit!

Happy munching!


LAMB & FENNEL MEATBALLS WITH RAG PASTA    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

500g minced lamb
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp sumac
half a tsp garlic granules
1 large banana shallot, one half chopped finely, the other sliced finely
1 tbsp olive oil
200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
200ml lamb (or veal, or chicken) stock
300ml full fat creme fraiche
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
half a tsp dried thyme
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
300g fresh egg lasagne pasta sheets, cut into 2" triangles
50g tenderstem broccoli
20g peas.

Method :

1.  With a pestle and mortar, crush the fennel seed with a pinch of salt.  Then into a large bowl, mix together the minced lamb, crushed fennel seed, sumac, pepper, garlic granules and the finely chopped half of banana shallot.

2.  Wet your hands and shape the mixture into small meatballs - about the size of a cherry tomato.

3.  Heat a deep frying pan and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and fry on a high heat until lightly browned, but just cooked through. Remove from the pan and reserve. Tip away all but 1 tablespoonful of the oil.

4.  Add the remaining finely sliced half of banana shallot and sliced mushrooms and fry gently until softened.

5.  Return the meatballs to the pan and add the lamb stock, creme fraiche, Worcestershire sauce plus thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil and reduce until you have a thickened sauce (around 10-15 minutes).

6.  In the meantime, bring a deep pot of water to the boil and once boiling, add the pasta pieces. Cook until tender - approx. 3-4 minutes.

7.  Add the tenderstem broccoli to the sauce, making sure to submerge it so that it cooks evenly. Cook for around 7-8 minutes, then add the petits pois and cook until heated through and tender.

8.  When the pasta is done, drain and add the pasta to the sauce. Toss in the sauce to coat - and serve into warmed bowls.

Printable version

Paprika Chicken with asparagus & tarragon

Ooooh, now, what a lovely meal this turned out to be!

Well chicken and tarragon is always guaranteed to be nice, in my opinion.  It's just one of those matches that are supposed to go together.  Couple it with a creamy sauce, some lovely asparagus and a sprinkle of paprika and you've taken it to another level of loveliness.

What I think the really great thing about this dish is that chicken is always in season and tarragon can (pretty much) always be found - but asparagus is very seasonal.  However, this dish would be happy with some fine beans in it, if you couldn't lay your hands on asparagus.  Using fine beans would also make it more affordable during the times that asparagus isn't in season and the supermarkets are importing it from the back of beyond and charging a mint to do so.

Supermarkets so need to be taught so many different lessons about food and seasonality - I just wish the Great British Public could see the light and enforce these lessons through their buying power, but I fear it is not to be.

Anyway, I digress.

I have had this recipe on the menu list for a couple of weeks now, but hubby had some kind of antipathy towards it and so we'd skipped around it once already.  Having quizzed him on why he didn't fancy it - and established that it was more a feeling of "meh!" than a feeling of "don't want" - I went ahead and cooked it.

Unfortunately, this is going to be one of the last - for a while - chicken breast meals I can make, as our butcher has put the prices up for chicken breasts and they're a teensy bit unaffordable now.  I think I'm going to have to use a combination of chicken legs and just the one breast - or buy an entire chicken and take it to pieces - if I want to use chicken in future.

So it was good that the recipe turned out so well.

I found the recipe in a BBC Good Food magazine, but it doesn't appear to be on their website.  In the photograph, the chicken looks quite reddish - like as though it was sprinkled with paprika along with the seasoning before being fried.  Having had a look at the ingredients list, I can't find paprika mentioned anywhere.  So I decided to add some.  I thought about using the smoked paprika but figured that would be too much, so opted for just normal sweet paprika, which went very well.  The paprika wasn't so very obvious in the sauce - but it was discernibly there to look at and helped the colour of the chicken no end.  It also added a little "something" to the flavour of the chicken in a subtle, but effective, way.

I served the chicken with some broccoli, Jersey Royal new potatoes and corn on the cob - all of which were a perfect match.

Hubby thoroughly enjoyed his dinner and had no idea why he was feeling a bit "meh!" towards it, as his verdict was - and I quote - "this is delicious!".  Son and heir liked it, but would have liked it better without any vegetables other than the corn on the cob - but I think we can put that down to his being a teenager and consequently vehemently opposed to anything that might be deemed "good for you", especially green vegetables.  I really liked the dish and although it was a perfect "chicken in sauce" dish.

I particularly liked the ease with which it came together, even though - in the magazine - it was dubbed as "looking like a lot of effort".  It certainly wasn't!

PAPRIKA CHICKEN WITH ASPARAGUS AND TARRAGON    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

1 large onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
1 tbsp olive oil
3 skinless chicken breasts
freshly ground black pepper
a pinch or two of sweet paprika
350ml chicken stock (I used Knorr chicken stock granules)
small bunch of tarragon, chopped roughly
150g asparagus, trimmed and cut into three pieces
3 tbsp reduced fat creme fraiche.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion.  Fry on a gentle heat until softened and golden, then add the garlic and continue to fry for another minute or so.  Remove and reserve.


2.  Increase the heat under the pan and season the chicken breasts with pepper and paprika.


3.  Put the chicken breasts into the frying pan and cook on a medium-high heat until well browned on both sides and almost cooked through.


4.  Return the onions & garlic to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.


5.  Pour over the stock and add the tarragon.  Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes or so or until the chicken appears to be just done.


6.  Turn the chicken, add the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes more - or until the asparagus is tender.

7.  Stir the creme fraiche into the pan and heat through.

Serve with new potatoes, broccoli and corn on the cob.

Printable version
.

Bacon, pea & mint pasta - an unexpected success!

Well, what an unexpectedly resounding success this one was!

Thank you, "Senses in the Kitchen" blog!

Even though I was concerned about the minty herbiness (following on from hubby's dislike of the mint in the stir fry), it turns out that these combinations of flavours hit the spot perfectly.

Hubby did say that he thought the mint was a bit "whack you around the face" in its profile, whereas I thought it was a much more reserved background flavour.  Son & heir didn't have any opinion either way, he just scoffed the lot and asked for more!

So, I can only come the conclusion that hubby must be more sensitive to minty flavours than I am.  Which is odd, considering hubby will happily eat Extra Strong Mints, whereas anything stronger than a Tic Tac and I'm spitting it out!

Another mark in this dish's favour is that it is really very simple to prepare and cook.  Definitely one to remember for those days when you've done the shopping and can't be bothered to unwrap your creativity in time for dinner.

BACON, PEA & MINT PASTA           Serves 3


Ingredients :

6 rashers of smoked back bacon, diced
a small knob of butter
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced finely
1 clove of garlic, peeled and grated
300g pasta - I used either Spirali or Conchiglie
150g frozen peas
200ml creme fraiche - I used Creme fraiche d'isigny
freshly ground black pepper
3-4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly chopped
enough freshly grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle over.

Method : 

1.  Put a pan of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta for 8-9 minutes.

2.  Put another smaller pan of salted water on to boil, for the peas - and cook for 2-3 minutes once boiling.

3.  Meanwhile, in a dry frying pan and while the water is coming to the boil, cook the bacon until the fat has rendered then set aside and add the butter and oil to the pan. 
(The pasta and peas are probably able to be put in to their pans to cook now).

4.  Add the onions and cook, stirring often to prevent them caramelising, until softened but not browned.

5.  Grate in the garlic and cook for another minute.  Mix the crème fraîche into the pan, with some pepper and most of the chopped mint.  Stir well, to combine all the flavours.

6.  Drain the peas, then the pasta, in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the pasta cooking water in case your sauce is too thick.

7.  Return the pasta and peas to the saucepan and add the sauce.  Stir gently to combine.

Divide between serving bowls and sprinkle with parmesan.

Printable version

Springtime Prawn Pasta

I have said how I want to move us along from eating heavy stews and cream-laden this that and the others - which is okay during the winter (to a certain extent), but doesn't do for spring or summer.

As such, I found a recipe on Yummly that got my brain ticking over as regards a pasta dish.  I was looking for a lighter pasta dish anyway and although the one in question (Creamy Shrimp & Mushroom Pasta) didn't really fit the bill owing to its use of linguine (which hubby has requested we steer clear of for a while) and mushrooms (which Son & heir can't abide), it only needed a change in ingredients to make it a viable proposition.

The trouble was, I then had a bit of brain-fade about what to use instead of mushrooms, that would make it "spring like".  Owing to said brain-fade, I wound up using baby corn and sugar snap peas.  Which were fine - but it required something else to give it another dimension.  As I was cooking it, I was wishing I had a bunch of spring onions in the fridge.  I'm sure they would have done the trick. 

I was also aware that a whole pack of cream cheese wasn't exactly following the "steer clear of creamy stuff" brief, but having changed the recipe to include a low fat cream cheese, figured that was enough of a compromise.

The end result was nice, but requires some work.  When I do it again (and I will, because I am convinced there's a nice dish in here somewhere), I'll change the low fat cream cheese to low fat creme fraiche, lose the garlic (as it didn't sit very well with the "spring" theme) and add spring onions and maybe some dill or tarragon along with a good scrunge or four of freshly ground black pepper.  (A "scrunge", for those not in the know, is a turn of the peppermill.  "Scrunge" is our description of the sound it makes!).

So, unusually, the recipe you have here is the untried and untested, mark II version.  Do let me know what it's like, if you try it before I do!

SPRINGTIME PRAWN PASTA  (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

Enough Fusilli pasta for the assembled throng.  I usually use around 4-500g for 3 of us.
a knob of butter
a bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped quite fine
300ml pot of creme fraiche
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped dill or tarragon (not both!)
1 tbsp chopped basil
300g prawns (I used frozen cooked peeled prawns, defrosted)
100g baby corn, broken into quarters
100g sugar snap peas
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

METHOD :

1.  Put a large pan of salted water on to boil.  Once boiling, add the pasta to it and cook as it says on the packet.  However, seven minutes before it is ready, add the baby corn and four minutes before it is ready, add the sugar snap peas.  It is best if they are at room temperature before adding, so as not to cool the water too much.

2.  In a frying pan, melt the knob of butter and add the spring onions.  Cook them gently until they are beginning to soften.

3.  Then, add the creme fraiche and warm through gently, stirring all the time.

4.  Add the herbs and stir through, along with a good quantity of the black pepper.

5.  Making sure that the creamy mixture is quite thick (reduce it a little further, if not), add the prawns and stir them through.  Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, then check for seasoning and adjust if needs be.

6.  When the pasta is done, drain in a colander and replace into the pan.

7.  Add the prawns to the pasta and stir through, then serve immediately.

.

Parmesan gnocchi & tenderstem broccoli.

There is chicken there, somewhere!

One of the two recipes that had been carried over until the following week, was a pot roasted chicken accompanied by parmesan gnocchi & tenderstem broccoli.

I was very keen to do this recipe, as I am constantly on the lookout for vegetable side dishes to have with pot-roast chicken.  There's only so many times you can have roast potatoes, lovely as they are.

The great benefit of this recipe was that I could cook the chicken in the morning, then take the meat from the bones and re-heat it for dinner that evening - and the same for the following day.  Oh, and let's not discount the using of the carcass and cooking liquid for stock and/or chicken soup!  The gnocchi recipe seemed to be very easy and wouldn't be too hard on me to produce.

As it was, as a last minute addition, I decided to roast some courgettes and cherry tomatoes to go alongside the gnocchi/tenderstem broccoli dish - and I was very glad of them.  Although the gnocchi dish is delicious, it would have been better served with a robust form of meat such as gammon steaks or roasted gammon.  With the chicken, it tended to muscle the lovely chicken out of the way like a big, burly bouncer would do.  "If yer name's not down on the list (beside the garlic), then you're not comin' in".  As a consequence, it needed the acidity of the cherry tomatoes to provide the balance.  When I do the gnocchi dish again, I'll make sure to do some cherry tomatoes with it unless it's accompanying something with tomato as one of the main players.


Please don't take that as a negative view of this dish, as the softness of the gnocchi provides a lovely counterbalance to the crispness of the tenderstem broccoli, and the freshness of the broccoli provides a counterbalance to the richness of the parmesan.  I'll definitely be doing the gnocchi again, as quite apart from anything else, it's the first gnocchi dish I've ever really liked!


PARMESAN GNOCCHI & TENDERSTEM BROCCOLI  (serves 3)


Ingredients :


a knob of butter
1 garlic clove, grated
teensy pinch of chilli flakes
150ml vegetable or chicken stock (depending on what you're serving it with)
5-6 tbsp creme fraiche (I used a low fat version)
60g parmesan, finely grated
250g tenderstem broccoli, halved lengthways if large
250g gnocchi.


Method :


1.  Heat a large pan of salted water until boiling.  While it's heating :


2.  Heat the knob of butter in a frying pan and cook the garlic and chilli for 2 minutes.


3.  Add the stock, bringing to a boil and continue boiling until reduced by three-quarters.


4.  In the meantime, cook the broccoli until just tender.

5.  Whisk in the creme fraiche and parmesan to the stock, to make the sauce.

6.  Add the broccoli when done and retain the cooking water, to which you should add the gnocchi and cook following pack instructions (around 3 mins).  Drain and add to the broccoli and sauce.

7.  Toss to cover with the sauce and serve.


.

Pork in cider sauce : a princely thing to do to some pork steaks

I mentioned this in passing, during my piece regarding what was for dinner this week.  I billed it as "a return to man food" - which it certainly was.

When I'd gone to the butchers to get the pork steaks, I was amazed to see that for £2.99 I was getting six steaks cut from what looked like a gorgeous piece of loin - and they certainly lived up to that brief glimpse.

I decided to cook all six steaks, as I wasn't sure whether they'd shrink much and although one steak would be enough for son & heir, hubby might raise an eyebrow at just the one.  As it was, one steak was considerably smaller (having been cut from the end of the piece) which made portioning the meal out a complete doddle.  The two steaks were ample for hubby and I.

My bay tree

This dish really couldn't have been any easier to make.  Sometimes you seem to be cooking and setting aside stuff for ever before you get to put it all together in the final dish - but with this one it's a simple matter of flash frying the steaks and setting them aside while you cook down the onion, then it's everything into the pan and in the oven it goes.  Easy peasy.

Incidentally, the Dabinett Cider from Sheppey's was glorious in this.  It has such a rich fruitiness that stands up well to the onions and the slow cooking.  Not only that, but I used low fat creme fraiche, without any comment from either of the chaps, which I take to mean that it was sufficient unto the cause.  It's definitely a mashed potato dish - you need something to mop up that gorgeous gravy with, because you certainly don't want to leave any on the plate!

31 August 2016

I made this recipe again today, the first time in a long time, and because I had some dill in the fridge and dill is a fundamental flavour in the pork meatballs that go into making Swedish meatballs, I thought I'd add some.  I also added a couple of teaspoonfuls of apple sauce.  Oh, and a little bit of thyme.  Oh and I forgot to include the bay leaves.  Oh yes, and I used wholegrain instead of Dijon mustard.  *sigh*  It was very nearly a whole new recipe.  LOL

However, my message to you is that I have included some of these things in the recipe as the end result was AWESOME!  Honestly, it was really good.  I almost ate that sauce with a spoon.  Here's what it looked like :

Oh yes.  This can come again - and this time, a whole lot sooner!

PORK STEAKS WITH CIDER SAUCE  (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp olive oil
700g of pork from the shoulder, or pre-cut steaks

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

a large onion, thinly sliced

500ml cider

2 bay leaves
15g fresh dill, chopped
15g fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 ham or pork stock cube

4 tbsp crème fraiche (use low fat if you want)

2 tsp Dijon mustard.

 

Method :

1.  Pre-heat oven to 160deg C/325deg F/gas 3.

2.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan and sear the pork on both sides, adding a touch of sea salt and black pepper to the one side, (you'll probably need to do this in two batches to maintain the temperature of the pan) then remove from the pan into a flameproof casserole dish with a lid and set aside.

3.  Reduce the heat under the pan to moderate and add the onions.  Fry until softened and golden – around 10 minutes or so.

4.  Add the cider, herbs and stock cube and stir everything through, bringing it to a simmer.

5.  Decant the cidery herby mix into the casserole dish, give everything a light stir to make sure the liquid has reached each piece of pork and cover.  Place into the oven for 2 hours.

6.  At the end of the cooking time, remove the pork and reserve to keep warm.  Either decant the sauce into a saucepan or (if it will handle it) put the dish directly onto the heat.  Stir in the mustard and bring to a boil.  Reduce the sauce by one third and then reduce to a simmer. 

7.  Stir in the creme fraiche and return the pork to the pan until fully re-heated.

Serve with mashed or new potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Printable version

Creamy chicken and butter beans

Not the dreaded cabbage in sauce,
but very similar!

When I was considering what to include on last week’s menu list, it occurred to me that I was quite probably capable of concocting my own dish.  This was a notion that made me sit up and pay attention, as way back in the dim dark days of when I began cooking, any attempt to go “off piste” would be fairly disastrous.  I well remember a dish of turkey breast, red, green & yellow peppers and cream, which I served to my parents.  Quite apart from the fact that my Mum can’t eat peppers, it was a tad one-dimensional to say the least.  I also cringe at the memory of visiting friends in Devon and cooking for them some filled pasta (not made from scratch, of course) with cooked white cabbage and a cheese sauce.  Poor souls, they ate it diligently but never let me cook again, for which I can’t blame them.  

So, many years have passed and many a sausage has gone with them.  It is true to say that I’ve really only fairly recently (like, within the last six or seven years) taken such an intense interest in food.  I think this was largely borne by the requirement to make a very little go a long way (following on from redundancy and pregnancy) and having a child.  There’s nothing like being responsible for someone else’s health, for focusing your mind on what you’re all eating! 

Those were the days!
Having fun hunter trialling with Kellie of Whitefield,
my Highland pony

Another aspect is focus.  For years I ate, slept and breathed my horses.  They were my life and food was simply enjoyable fuel that enabled me to get up at 6am, walk the dogs, “do” the horses (feed, muck out, etc), go to work for 8-9 hours, then do it all again on the way home.  When the horses faded (regrettably, they don’t last for ever), that focus was taken up by the new baby.  In turn, as the son and heir has grown up and become more independent, I’ve obviously been looking for something to fill that gap – and food was an obvious choice.

It was an intriguing notion, to think up a tasty dish that had several dimensions and that catered for all our whims and foibles.  It’s those whims and foibles that more often than not has me tinkering around with other people’s recipes, so I was well used to substituting ingredients or changing quantities.

I didn’t have the confidence to just come right out and tell the boys that this was one of their Mum’s ideas, I talked about it as though it was another recipe I’d picked up.  At least, that way, if they hated it I didn’t have to admit it was mine!

However, lo and behold, they liked it – and everyone cleaned their plate.

There were a few adjustments required to the dish, which I’ve taken into account with the recipe below.   If you decide to have a go at it, do let me know what you think!

CREAMY CHICKEN AND BUTTER BEANS (serves 3)

Ingredients :

3 x chicken breasts

3 rashers streaky bacon, diced

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, grated

1 leek, sliced

100ml white wine

1 small tin butter beans

2 tbsp sweetcorn

salt & black pepper

crème fraiche

200ml chicken stock

1 tsp tarragon, chopped

Method : 

1.  Using a deep frying pan, fry the bacon until the fat has reduced.  Remove the bacon and keep warm.

2.  Fry the chicken breasts until golden, then remove and reserve to keep warm.

3.  Fry the onion until translucent and starting to colour, then add the garlic and fry for 1-2 mins more.

4.  Add the leek and fry until softened, then add the bacon to the mix.

5.  Add the white wine and boil until reduced by half – this only takes a few minutes.

6.  Add the crème fraiche and some chicken stock to let it down a little.  Add the tarragon and season.

7.  Add the butter beans, sweetcorn and the chicken, put on the lid and simmer until the chicken is cooked – some 10-15mins depending on how big your chicken is.

8.  Check the seasoning and serve with tagliatelle.

 .

Ham Pot Roast

The Gammon is hiding under the creamed leeks
see the slices, peeping out all pinkly, there?

Sunday, to me, demands something a bit special in the meal department.  There's no real reason why - it's not as though we starve for the remaining six days, so need to stock up for leaner times ahead.  I suspect that it's just a hangover from my upbringing when we would always have a roast on a Sunday, with a special dessert.  When people came round to eat with us, wine was served - and at Christmas, we had the Mother and Father of all roasts, with fruit or tomato juice to drink beforehand, a starter, then the Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, together with three choices of dessert - all followed by sweetmeats such as Turkish Delight, glace fruits, chocolate eclairs and nuts, served with a sweet dessert wine or liqueurs.  I take my hat off to my Mum and my Aunt - and in earlier days, my Nanna - who slaved over hot stoves for days beforehand doing all the baking and then got up before we'd gone to bed to put the Turkey in the oven.

All this, has resulted in it not being Sunday unless there's a roast on the table.

So, this Sunday (and because they're on special offer at the supermarket), we pushed the boat out and got a gammon joint.  Not, regrettably, one of the "real" gammon joints (we're saving up for one for Christmas), but one of the rolled, munched up and stuck back together again, gammon joints.  It may not have been your pukka thing - but it sure tasted good!

Considering I'd had such success with pot roasting chickens, I thought I'd step it up a gear and pot roast the gammon.  I thought that at least, that way, it wouldn't shrink as terribly as they often do when just plain roasted and it would stand a chance of staying succulent and moist.

The recipe was one of my own, gleaned from various recipes I'd read during my research.  I wanted it to be a veggie-based broth it was cooked in, rather than a spice-based broth.  Even though I'm just hopping up and down to use my new Star Anise, I thought I'd stay on the veggie side and see how we got on.

So, as we were having creamed leeks, I used the leek tops and two onions cut into quarters, plus a hoary old carrot that was looking for a home.  All these, combined with the cider, made a glorious stock that was just beyond tasty when made into gravy.

I served the Gammon with the creamed leeks, which were easily made by sweating the sliced leek in butter and, when softened, a large tablespoon of creme fraiche and some Worcestershire Sauce is added.  Mix it all together, add some seasoning and there you have it - creamed leeks.  I'd planned to serve some Chantenais carrots and swede batons, but discovered some Brussels sprouts in the veggie drawer, so they got included too.  With roast potatoes and roast parsnips, together with the ubiquitous Yorkshire Puddings, it was the kind of dinner that Sundays were made for.

GAMMON HAM POT ROAST

Ingredients :

1.5kg gammon ham joint

2 onions, quartered

Any other veg., like leek tops, carrot, celery

300ml dry cider

4 tbsp clear honey

1 tsp ground coriander

3 heaped tsp English mustard powder

Method :

Lay the vegetables into the bottom of a large lidded oven-proof saucepan or casserole.

Nestle the joint into the vegetables and pour over the cider.

“Paint” spoonfuls of the honey/mustard mixture over the joint.

Bring to the boil on the stove top and then place, covered, into a pre-heated oven at 170deg C for 2 to 2½ hours.

When done, remove the meat and put it to rest, covered in foil in a warm place, for around 20 minutes.

Pour the juices from the pan into a smaller saucepan, add cornflour or gravy granules to thicken for gravy.

Delicious!