Persian lamb & vegetable stew - worth every second it is in the oven!

The blame for this recipe lies fairly and squarely with my birthday.  You see, I was lucky enough to be given "The Saffron Tales" by Yasmin Khan, which fired up my already well established liking for and curiosity about Persian - or Iranian - cuisine.  As you'll probably have gathered, I really like lamb and saffron and pomegranate molasses is no stranger to my ingredients cupboard, plus I love using fresh herbs in my cooking, so I was part way there already.

Having lapped up every word of the recipe book, my imagination had been captured.  I wanted to make something for dinner that would encapsulate some of the cooking techniques and flavours I had read about.  Right up there on that list was lamb, which was a fine if somewhat expensive place to start.  However, I discovered that Asda do a bag of frozen diced lamb which gave sufficient quantity for the right price.  I just hoped that the quality would be good enough!  (Which, as it turned out, it was!).

Dried limes at a market in Bahrain c/o Wikipedia

The second essential was that this dish should include Iranian dried limes.  I was SO curious about these little black apparently hollow little ping-pong-ball-alikes.  I really like lime - which helps - and using these odd little creatures was a curiosity all of its own. What would they smell like? (Vaguely liquorice-like).  What do they taste like?  (Aside from the obvious citrus effect, I have never tasted anything quite like them to be able to give you a "tastes like" point of reference).  What effect would they have on a stew?  (A quite incredible and delicious effect, as it happens!).  So they had to be done.

The third essential was that this stew had to use fresh herbs and lots of them.  I'd seen the Gormeh Sabzi, which is a stew made almost exclusively from an assortment of herbs such as parsley, leek, coriander and fenugreek which looked great, but I was a bit nervous about diving straight into a herb stew.  I felt that something a bit more familiar - meat with vegetables and herbs - would be a little less of a challenge to the family.

As a result, I incorporated the best bits of two recipes in order to make this one.  I took the cooking instructions for the lamb from this recipe from House to Home and took the vegetable and herb influences, along with the dried lime cooking advice, from this Ottolenghi recipe.

My only regret was that they both used turmeric instead of saffron, but hey - you can't have it all and turmeric is so good for you!

So it turned into a three stage, three hour process.  Oh boy but it was worth it, though. Each stage is achieved relatively easily and if you do all your chopping and peeling to begin with, that makes the process a whole lot easier.

I was so curious to taste the gravy at the end of the first hour and a half of cooking, as the soft herbs had all gone into the pot for this stage.  Mmmmnn, I could easily have just thickened that gravy and eaten the lamb as it was.  It was tender, the gravy was delicious and the herbs had amalgamated with the spices (turmeric, cumin, chilli) into incredible layers of exotic flavour.  You can only imagine how butter soft the lamb was by the end of three hours!  I had to resist though, as the dried limes had yet to be included.

Now nobody had mentioned how, even though you poke a thousand holes into each dried lime - to let the gravy in and the flavour out - they insist on bobbing about on the top of the casserole's contents and will NOT submit to being submerged.  In the end, I decided to give the contents a stir at 45 minutes, in the hope that they would have softened enough to sink.  They did - so there's a tip for you!

With the addition of the vegetables - and most especially the butternut squash - the gravy began to sweeten somewhat.  (Yes, I did have a taste at the 45 minute mark - well, it was for research purposes as much as anything).  Now the interesting thing is that with the addition of the lime juice (you squeeze each lime against the side of the casserole dish before removing it) which is gloriously flavoured and mahogany coloured, it doesn't wipe out that sweetness.  Yes, there is a citrussy element to the flavour of the dried lime, but it just adds another layer to an already multi-flavour layered concoction, without knocking any particular flavour out of the melange.  Their astringency also has the effect of cutting through the richness of the fatty (no matter how hard you trim it, it's still fatty) lamb.  I am seriously impressed with these dried Iranian limes and can't wait to use them again - perhaps in some rice to accompany a curry.

The final three flourishes - some chopped fresh tomato, currants soaked in lemon juice (I hadn't been able to source any barberries) and the very last minute addition of spinach leaves - were sufficient to just add a freshness to the dish.  So often, casseroles cooked long and slow can become a little muddy-flavoured as they progress.  Not this one - and with the last minute additions, it makes sure of it.

Tasting the stew as it progressed through all the different stages was a real education in flavour development and I encourage you to do the same.  I think by doing so, you will understand how each ingredient is working with the others a lot better than just sampling the end result.

I wasn't brave enough to attempt the traditional Tahdig (golden saffron flavoured rice that forms a crisp crust in the making), I'll leave that for another day.  Instead, I served the stew with simply cooked white basmati rice and a hearty dollop of plain yoghurt.

It really doesn't describe the dish sufficiently to call it a simple "stew", as being English that evokes thoughts of thick gravy and dumplings.  However, I'm hoping that the "Persian" in the name will stop such thoughts in their tracks and send you down more exotic lines of thought!

As my first even half-serious voyage into Persian (Iranian) cuisine, I'm feeling quite satisfied that I did it some justice.  I just hope you will feel the same way.

I have linked up this recipe with the excellent Sneaky Veg Blog

where you can find other interesting recipes.

PERSIAN LAMB & VEGETABLE STEW   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used rapeseed)
500g diced lamb
1 large onion, diced
pinch of sea salt
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
half a tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp tomato puree
20g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
10g fresh dill, roughly chopped
10g fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
1 litre of lamb stock, made using two stock cubes
1 whole red chilli, pierced all over
4 dried limes, pierced all over
1 large waxy potato, peeled and diced very small
1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced
4-5 mushrooms, quartered
3 vine ripened tomatoes, pips removed and chopped
15g barberries or alternatively currants soaked in lemon juice
a large handful of baby spinach leaves.

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 140degC/275degF/Gas 1.

Heat the vegetable oil (I used rapeseed) over a high heat in a large frying pan until almost smoky hot.  Add the lamb (gently!) and sear on at least two sides.  Using a slotted spoon remove the lamb to a lidded casserole dish.

Reduce the heat under the frying pan to moderate and add the onion, sea salt, garlic, turmeric and cumin seeds.  Fry until the onion is transparent and just beginning to caramelise but stir often to prevent the turmeric from burning on the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomato puree and stir through.  Cook on for another 3-4 minutes, until the ingredients are well combined.

Gently stir in the lamb stock and add the three fresh herbs.

Decant the mixture into the casserole dish, give everything a stir, whisper some words of encouragement and put the lid on.  Place the casserole dish into the oven and forget about it for the next hour and a half.

Remove the casserole dish from the oven and remove the lid.  Give the contents a stir and have a taste of the cooking liquid, to check for seasoning and to admire how it tastes at this early stage - seriously lovely.

Add the red chilli, the dried limes (which will insist on bobbing around on the surface, because they're so light), potato, butternut squash and mushrooms and stir through.

Replace the lid and put the casserole dish back into the oven for another hour.

At the end of that hour, retrieve the casserole dish and remove the lid.  Stir in the tomatoes and barberries or currants.  Replace, uncovered, in the oven for the remaining half an hour.  (The sauce is fairly thin and of a broth-like consistency, but amazingly flavoured.  If you prefer your sauce thicker, simply stir in a little cornflour mixed with water at this stage, which will thicken the sauce).

Ultimately, once you have finally removed the casserole dish from the oven (and cooked some white rice to go with it), stir in a big handful of baby spinach leaves and serve along with the cooked white rice and a healthy big dollop of plain yoghurt.

Tuck in!

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Lamb and potato pasties - oh yes please!

Here we go then!  The last recipe that takes care of the leftovers from the beautiful rolled lamb shoulder that I used for the Minty Aromatic Pulled Lamb Pittas and the Crunchy Lamb Spring Rolls.  Well, if you discount the socking great - and delicious - cold roast lamb and mint jelly sandwich I had for lunch with the very last bits, that is.  Many, many thanks go out to Farmers Choice (Free Range) Ltd, for providing such a versatile and delicious, top quality piece of lamb.

This was another of hubby's bright ideas, that - in my opinion - worked even better than the Spring Roll recipe did.

Because it was a simple recipe - just the pre-cooked lamb, potatoes and a few small peas - I pondered for a while over how to inject more flavour into the whole thing.  I was concerned that the gentle flavour of the lamb, together with the relative blandness of the potato, would all be too wishy washy to stand up to the pastry.  I'm sure you're all well  aware of how a large quantity of pastry can obliterate even the heartiest of flavours.

Adding flavours to the lamb wasn't a good idea as it had been cooked for a long slow cook originally and had received quite enough cooking time, especially as it was about to go back into the oven in the pasties.  Because of the spicing of the lamb, it carried a good pronounced flavour already.  So that basically just left the potato.  What could I do, to cheer up the potato?

I remembered how, in the past, I would cook new potatoes and add a teaspoonful of mint sauce - the vinegary one, not mint jelly - to them before serving.  I had to stop doing that when my son developed a hatred of vinegar, but I crossed my fingers that just a teaspoonful in the pasty filling mixture wouldn't offend.  It would give a nice background minty flavour, whilst the vinegar would give a high flavour note to broaden the depth of those already there.  Well, it sounded good to me.

I wanted to keep the potato in chunks - cubes, if we're being pedantic - so mixing anything with it that would break the cubes down into mash would be bad.  So the only other route to flavouring the potato was to cook it in something.  The obvious thing was to break out the Essential Cuisine Lamb Stock that is always at the ready.  Providing a lovely lamb stock to cook the potatoes in would ensure that they absorb great flavour and enhance the lamb side of things, which after all was the star of the show.  If you've not been converted to Essential Cuisine's stocks, do feel free to use a lamb stock cube.  I would heartily recommend you use a low salt one, for obvious reasons.

I had always intended to par boil the potato - so as to prevent any nasty crunchy potato crises in the finished product - and this was the perfect answer.

In fact, it worked beautifully.  To eat a cube of potato on its own, the lamb flavour wasn't all that big and "in your face", to quote the vernacular.  However, when put in conjunction with the lamb itself and the mint - which was entirely in context in this use - it all came together in a harmonious and flavoursome whole which stood up perfectly to the domination of the pastry.

The pastry could bear some discussion here, as I chose to use shortcrust pastry.  Just because the only commercially produced sausage rolls and pasties you can buy use puff or flaky pastry, does not mean that it is the only pastry that should be used.

So the long and the short of it is the advice that if you prefer puff or flaky - or any other kind of pastry - then by all means use your preferred type.  So long as it encases the filling satisfactorily, it matters not.

The quantities given below, filled three pasties of approximately 8 inches across.  So if you are intending on making more, you'll need to increase the quantities accordingly.

They really are the most uncomplicated things to make - and if you retain the liquid from cooking the potatoes, then add some gravy granules to it (I heartily recommend Bisto's Best Lamb Gravy), you will have a tasty gravy for those who enjoy gravy with their pasty.  Yes, I know, there will be sharp intakes of breath all around because of the encouragement to use gravy granules - but as a swift and effective means to a tasty gravy, it will forever beat the other more long winded ways of achieving the same end result - that of some tasty gravy.

Now I'm not particularly a pasty kind of a gal, but I really enjoyed mine.  On a scale of one to brilliant, these pasties rate right up there on the brilliant side.  Son and heir gave his the thumbs up too - and even took care of the last one for lunch the following day.  Hubby was out that night and didn't indulge, so I'm afraid we can't ask his opinion on the taste test!  Oh and incidentally, son and heir didn't notice the use of the mint sauce in the pasty beyond suspiciously asking whether I'd used mint jelly (he hates that too) in there.  Once reassured that it was mint sauce, not mint jelly, he was appeased.  Well, he had to have been - he ate two of them!

I served our pasties with oven baked salt & pepper potato wedges and a side of mushy peas.  Well, it seemed fitting to go with humble food.  By all means serve yours with a salad, or with steamed vegetables if that's what you like.  The pasties won't mind!

LAMB & POTATO PASTIES   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

340g shortcrust pastry
1 egg yolk
1 large potato, diced small
1.5 tsp Essential Cuisine lamb stock powder or a low salt lamb stock cube
1.5 tbsp (or thereabouts) Bisto Best lamb gravy granules
250g roasted lamb shoulder, diced
2 tbsp petits pois
half a tsp mint sauce.

Method :

1.  Using just enough water to cover the potatoes in a medium sized saucepan, bring the water to a boil and add the stock powder.

2.  Stir the stock until dissolved, then add the potato and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until the dice are just tender.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potato to a bowl and reserve to cool.  Retain around a quarter of the stock and add just enough gravy grains to thicken it.  Set it aside to cool.

4.  Dice the lamb and place into a bowl with the cooled potato, two spoonfuls of the gravy, the petits pois and mint sauce.  Stir gently to combine.

5.  Roll out the pastry and cut out three 8" circles.

6.  Using the egg yolk, paint a little onto the edge of one half of each pastry circle.

7.  Divide the filling between the three pastry circles, placing it on the un-egged side of the pastry.

8.  Fold the egged side of the pastry over to encase the filling and press down lightly to seal.

9.  Follow around the edge of the pastry with a decorative pattern, pressed in to fix the pastry properly, and cut a hole into the top to let the steam out.

10.  Place onto a baking tray and give the pasties a good covering of egg wash.

11.  Bake at 190degC/375degF/Gas5 for 30-35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.

Serve with potato wedges and mushy peas.

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Stellar Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks

A few weeks before Christmas, Farmer's Choice Free Range Ltd got in touch with me via my Twitter page, to ask whether I would be interested in developing a couple of recipes for them to include on their website.  Well, how could I say no?  I've worked with Farmer's Choice on occasion and I know that their produce is terrific - and to develop one recipe for them would be a marvellous opportunity, never mind two of them.

So, after a bit of an email chinwag and conflab about what main ingredient to use, we came to the conclusion that lamb would be a great subject. Hence, this post deals particularly with the fantastic lamb shanks that arrived in the big and exciting box, but there will be another one (or two) involving the wonderful piece of rolled shoulder of lamb that arrived at the same time.  Something to look forward to!

Now these lamb shanks weren't just any old lamb shanks, they were e-flipping-normous, at 500g or so each.  Beautifully meaty and although they appear a little pricey at £11.20 for the two (price as at January 2015), they really are whoppers.  I could easily see just one shank feeding two children, off the bone, of course.

There were many reasons for wanting this recipe to be a little bit special, not least the fact that Farmer's Choice wanted to put it on their website.  (It's here, if you are curious!)  The quality of the lamb was the primary reason, as something so good just demanded respectful and celebratory treatment.

I had an image in my head of how I wanted the lamb to look on the plate - deeply coloured, richly flavoured and supported by a substantial, delicious sauce.  Initially, I had a quick peep at what lamb recipes they had already - as I didn't want to inadvertently echo someone else's ideas.  Knowing what to avoid is as valuable as knowing what to include!  I also asked on a couple of Facebook pages - Rhubarb & Ginger's included - about people's favourite lamb shank recipes.  The general consensus of opinion seemed to really rate any recipe that had red wine involved with it.  Red wine wasn't an obvious choice for me - and because of that, of course I had to go with it.

I knew that I wanted to use the slow cooker with the lamb shanks, as being well worked leg muscles, they would require long slow cooking to achieve that buttery, melting texture that is so mouthwatering.  As a consequence, I pondered additional ingredients that would cope well with slow cooking and lend their flavours to the meat.  Ingredients such as carrot, leek and celery along with herbs such as rosemary and mint - both of which are traditional herbs for lamb.  Now the traditional "sweet thing" that accompanies lamb is redcurrant - redcurrant jelly, ordinarily.  However, having just been through Christmas, cranberry was very much in my mind and I decided to go with the subtle dryness of cranberry as opposed to the high sharpness of redcurrant.  I thought that perhaps the acidity from the red wine would be better matched with the cranberry.

I had the basis of a tasty recipe, involving simple, traditional ingredients together with an economical, labour saving cooking method.  Of course, the fact that the very idea of all these ingredients coming together in a completed dish made my mouth water, was another good sign.

The method of cooking and preparation went well, the shanks behaved themselves in the slow cooker (didn't dissolve or stay raw!) and as I served the meal both the aroma and the look of the thing were so promising.

I had tasted all the way through the cooking process, checking for seasoning, tartness, sweetness, balance of flavours etc. and the finished article was just divine.  The meat was so soft you could cut it with a spoon, it just dissolved in your mouth with tenderness.  Juicy and so flavourful, I was thrilled.  Mmmn, so, so, delicious that the eating of it had me smiling in pleasure.  This was my son's first experience of a lamb shank and he was just as happy as I was.  He declared it to be "absolutely great!" and professed to be "in little diner's heaven" - which is high praise, believe me.

I served the lamb with some parsley mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.  The sauce is packed with goodness and needs something like mashed potato to absorb all those lovely flavours.  You won't want to lose a bit of it just because you don't have a spoon to hand!  I found the parsley gave a nice fresh note to the comforting notes of the lamb.

This is the kind of recipe that you can use for a special Sunday dinner, a romantic dinner for two or a dinner party with friends - who will, I am sure, be requesting the lamb shanks again upon return visits!

Trimmed and ready to be seared

Now as for Cook's Tips, I have a few for you.

Firstly, when trimming the lamb shanks, don't be scared to remove the skin.  Personally, I think the sight of waterlogged, flabby skin on an otherwise glorious lamb shank is off putting in the extreme.  Because of the long slow cooking, the skin has no choice but to appear this way - and if you're keen to retain the flavour from it, you can always drop it into the slow cooker individually and fish it out before serving.

Remember that this is a long slow cook, so you'll need to defrost the lamb the night before and get cracking with preparation in the morning, to achieve the seven hours' cooking that is necessary.

A few tips as regards the ingredients - firstly, I found that using whole cranberry, cranberry sauce is preferable to the mashed up version.  That way, you stand more chance of tripping over a whole cranberry on your plate, which is an absolute delight.  Secondly, when chopping the fresh parsley, make sure to include the parsley stalks.  They won't be discernible on the plate, but the flavour is very valuable in the sauce.  Lastly, a vote of confidence for the award winning Essential Cuisine's Lamb stock.  Without doubt, the best lamb stock for a quality recipe.  If you haven't tried their range of stocks yet - where have you been?

My last tip for you is regarding the flour paste thickener for the sauce.  Make sure to take the pan off the heat before adding the paste and make sure to mix, mix, mix and stir, stir, stir, to prevent it setting into a gelatinous lump on the bottom of your pan.  Once incorporated into the sauce, it is then fine to replace onto the heat - but carry on stirring - the only way to ensure a lump free sauce.  You can thicken the sauce to your satisfaction, then set it aside until you are ready to heat it back up and serve, if necessary.

If, as I did, you find you have much more sauce than is required, for goodness sake don't throw it away.  Decant it into a bowl and refrigerate it for a tasty lunch the following day with some crusty bread.  Luscious!

Well, there you have it.  Enjoy the process, the cooking and most of all, the eating!   

Veggies and herbs, all ready for action

STELLAR SLOW COOKED LAMB SHANKS   (serves 2)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp olive oil
2 x 500g lamb shanks
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery
1 large leek
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
10g salted butter
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped fine
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried mint
400ml full bodied red wine
400ml lamb stock
125g cranberry sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp plain flour.

Method :

1.  To begin, take the celery and remove the strings from the back of each stick.  Chop one and a half sticks finely and the remaining half, into bite sized pieces.  Place in separate bowls.  Chop two thirds of the leek finely and one third into bite sized pieces and place into the corresponding bowls so as to keep the finely chopped and bite sized pieces separate.  Chop two thirds of the peeled carrots finely and one third into bite sized pieces and place into the corresponding bowls.

2.  Take the parsley and remove the stalks from the leaves.  Chop the stalks and add to the finely chopped vegetables' bowl.  Reserve the chopped leaves for use later in the recipe.

3.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan until really quite hot.  Add the lamb shanks, sprinkle with a little sea salt & black pepper and sear them on all available sides until golden and caramelised.  Place them into the slow cooker with the bite sized vegetables and switch to low.

4.  Reduce the heat under the frying pan to moderate and add the onion, garlic, bay leaves and finely chopped vegetables.  Cook for some 5-10 minutes, until slightly softened.

5.  Add the butter, rosemary, dried mint, a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6.  Stir to combine and allow to sweat and cook through a little more until the vegetables are somewhat transparent and softened and the herbs have become aromatic.

7.  Increase the heat under the pan, add the red wine and bring to a lively boil for some 2-3 minutes.

8.  Add the lamb stock, cranberry sauce, Worcestershire sauce and chopped parsley leaves.  Stir through and reduce the heat under the pan, back to moderate.

9.  Once the flavours have had 5 minutes or so to mingle, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  I doubt you will require more salt, but I needed to add more pepper at this stage.

10.  Place the flour into a small bowl and wet down with water until it forms a loose, pourable paste.

11.  Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add the paste in a thin stream to the sauce, stirring very well and constantly.  Continue to stir until the paste has been accepted into the sauce.

12.  Pour the sauce into the slow cooker, giving everything a little stir to ensure everything is coated.  Replace the lid and cook for a minimum of 7 hours, returning to turn the shanks in the sauce, every 2 hours or so.  Depending on the size of your shanks, you may need to turn the slow cooker up to medium as you go.

13. When the cooking time is up, ladle the sauce from the slow cooker to a saucepan.  Turn the slow cooker to low in order to keep the shanks warm and run a slotted spoon through the sauce, returning any vegetables you may catch to the slow cooker.

14.  If necessary, you can skim any fat from the surface of the sauce, then bring to a gentle boil and allow it to reduce to a thicker, glossier appearance and an intensified flavour.  This is entirely to taste, so when you are happy with your sauce, you are ready to plate up.

Serve the shanks on buttery parsley mashed potatoes with the vegetables from the slow cooker, a selection of fresh vegetables and the gorgeous sauce poured over the shanks.  Heaven!

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Tapas meatballs in tomato & fennel sauce

It has been a long old trail to this recipe, if I'm honest.

I now have a reputation (in the family - not globally, you understand), for being a master meatball maker.  This is something of a turnaround from the days when I would suggest meatballs for dinner and be greeted with lukewarm interest and the remark "well, you're not very good at meatballs".  Let me tell you, though, that there have been many meatballs passed under the bridge between then and now.

I'm pretty sure that I told you in another meatball post how I really wanted to create a tapas-style meatball, able to be eaten on its own - tapas style - with a glass of wine and maybe some bread as accompaniments.

Well, with tonight's "I really must make something with that lamb mince and that fennel, before they both go off" dinner, I think I achieved it.

I used lamb mince for its superb flavour, but I'm sure it would work as well with pork mince.  Beef might be a tad too flavoursome for the fennel, but I imagine that turkey would work, although you'd lose some of the savouriness of the flavour.  Anyway, give it a go with whatever you've got - and let me know!

I recently made some lamb meatballs that involved fresh mint and grated carrot.  Now I was a bit dubious about the grated carrot, but I liked the idea of the sweetness it would bring, plus the added moistness.  One of the big problems with meatballs, is keeping them moist and juicy.  Nobody likes a dry, pasty meatball.

So when I was contemplating what to do with this lamb mince in conjunction with the fennel, I remembered the carrot meatballs and how successful they were.  Carrot was a definite, but I pondered on adding some of the fennel to the meatball mix.  Maybe if I grate some of the tougher, woody stems?  No - they probably wouldn't cook quickly enough even with being grated.  It needed something smaller and more tender.  The bulb I was definitely going to slice and put in the sauce - which left the green, ferny, frondy bits that taste so good in a much milder way and are more of a herb than the bulb.  If I chopped them finely, they would be perfect in the meatballs!  Sorted.

The recipe I used for the meatballs with carrot, also rolled them in seasoned flour which when browned gave the meatballs a lovely tasty coating that then dissolved a little in the sauce, thickening it as it went.  This solves the problem of "do I reduce the sauce further, or do I serve it thinner than I wanted, or shall I thicken it somehow?", so that method was a definite here too.

The sauce couldn't be any easier.  It gave me an excuse to use two cloves of garlic (we could use some garlic about the place, as we have cold and sore throat germs floating around!) and use up a long lost rasher of bacon.  Incidentally, the bacon - because it is cut into such fine strips - just melts away into the sauce lending it a special kind of saltiness and smokiness that you can't get any other way.  Yummy.

Now, a cook's tip is to watch the amount of salt you use in the seasoning of the flour and the meatballs.  Because you're using the bacon and if you're using a stock powder or cube that isn't reduced salt, you need to rein your salt sprinkling back.  This is why I recommend to taste before serving and adjust then if necessary.  You can't take it out if there's too much there to begin with!  I used the beautiful Essential Cuisine Lamb Stock powder which is naturally low in salt and saves any need for worrying.  Check out their website, as the fabulous stock powders really aren't expensive and last for absolutely ages - well, apart from the chicken version which disappeared at the rate of knots!

Son and heir was out on a sleepover and missed this one.  He's going to be very cross about that when he finds out, as this was his perfect kind of dinner.  Hubby thoroughly enjoyed his, even though he is poorly at the moment (see earlier comment about sore throat germs) and ate the lot, which he was seriously dubious about doing before he tasted it.  As for me, well I was busy congratulating myself over - finally - making the elusive tapas style meatballs, but I did pause to note that it tasted as good as I wanted it to - if not better.

TAPAS MEATBALLS IN TOMATO & FENNEL SAUCE    (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

600g lamb mince
1 medium carrot, top & tailed and grated
sea salt & black pepper
1 onion, chopped fine
1 rasher of smoked bacon, cut into fine strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 bulb of fennel, sliced finely and
1 tbsp fennel frondy tops, chopped finely
2 tbsp seasoned plain flour
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
500ml good quality tomato passata
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp of powder or half a cube of lamb stock
100ml cold water.

Method :

1.  It is very worthwhile making sure you have all the vegetables prepared before you roll the meatballs in flour, to avoid the meatballs sticking catastrophically to their plate.

2.  In a large bowl, add the lamb mince, the grated carrot and the frondy parts of the fennel.  Season with a little sea salt and a lot of black pepper and mix with your hands, making sure the component parts are all well combined.

3.  Place the seasoned flour onto a large plate and begin to roll your meatballs.  Larger meatballs will feed less people, smaller ones more people, so it is up to you what size you make them.  Place each meatball onto the plate, roll in the flour and continue until you have run out of meatball mix.

4.  Heat the rapeseed oil in a deep frying pan and add enough meatballs so that you aren't overcrowding the pan.  You want the heat to stay moderately high so as to cook the outside of the meatballs, without burning and without stewing in their own juice.  Cook the meatballs in batches, if necessary.  It is not necessary to cook them all the way through at this stage, so remove to a clean plate as they are done.

5.  Without wiping out the pan (you don't want to lose all that flavour), add the onion and bacon and cook on a moderate heat until the onion is transparent.  This should take 3-4 minutes.

6.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring well, for a minute.

7.  Add the fennel slices and stir to combine.  Cook until the fennel is beginning to demonstrate some softening.

8.  Add the tomato passata, tomato ketchup, water and stock powder or cube.  Stir well to combine, then put a lid on so as to allow some steam to escape but keep the heat in (half cocked, I call it!) and allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

9.  Your sauce should have reduced a little and thickened a little.  Try the fennel to see whether it is soft and cook on for a little longer if not.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

10.  Serve into warmed bowls, with bread for dipping and a side salad if you wish.

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Lancashire Hotpot

I'd been looking forward to making this dish ever since I grasped the nettle with both hands and put it on the Menu list!  Now I know that hubby has some "issues" with hotpots (mainly the potatoes on top never cooking right and the fact that they can be greasy) but this one issued an additional challenge to me, owing to the inclusion of kidney in the recipe.

I had chosen one of James Martin's recipes and I knew it required some tweaking, largely because it included 100g of dripping or butter!  There was no way I was using either of those - none of our hips require additional padding - but I didn't want to lose any of the flavour.

Additionally, because (as I've mentioned previously) I have two fat-phobic diners in the house, I was using lamb mince so as to avoid any horrible blobby and gelatinous bits of fat floating to the surface.  So, I dry-fried the mince to release all the fat which I poured off and left the mince in the pan (without stirring) so that the bottom layer gained that lovely crispy texture that they call "caramelising", but I call "flavour".  *chuckle*

I left just enough fat in the pan to fry the kidneys and the onion/carrot mixture, then lifted them out with a slotted spoon, to leave as much fat in the pan as was possible.  It seemed to work, as there was only a small amount of fat floating on the top - and most of that came from the butter I'd brushed onto the potatoes.  It was easily removed (and put in the dog bowl, lol).

The kidneys were so delicious in this!  It was the first time I'd ever tangled with kidneys and I figured that if I could cut up liver (which I can, without any difficulty), then I could remove the core from a kidney and cut it up.  I was praying that they wouldn't turn out to be terribly bloody, which fortunately they weren't and the core came out incredibly easily - which left a lot to be said for my terrific knife, rather than any skill on my part.  After the quick fry and then two hours of cooking in the casserole dish in the oven, they were as tender as could be and completely delicious.

I served the hotpot with broccoli, swede batons and peas.  Both son and his friend (who stayed for tea as a last minute thing) loved the dish, the friend declaring it "gorgeous!" and saying he'd make sure to tell his Mum & Dad about it.  *chuckle*  Well, you can't ask for better than that!

LANCASHIRE HOTPOT

Ingredients

500g lamb mince
2 lamb kidneys, core & fat removed and diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
500ml lamb or chicken stock (lamb is best)
2 bay leaves
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
a small knob of butter, or a tsp olive oil.

Method

1.  Pre-heat oven to 180deg C (fan)/gas 3.  Heat a frying pan and fry off the lamb mince.  Once it is browned, drain the fat off (leaving around 1 tbsp) and allow the mince to caramelise on the underside of the layer.  Turn over and repeat the caramelisation 2-3 times, then remove with a slotted spoon to the casserole dish.

2.  Fry the kidneys quickly in a hot pan, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the mince.

3.  Add the onions and carrots and fry for some 10 minutes or so, until they have become golden and are softened.  Drain off the remaining fat.

4.  Add the flour, allow to cook out for a minute or so, then add the worcestershire sauce and the stock (I added it in two instalments, stirring well all the time).  Bring to the boil and allow the gravy to thicken.

5.  Add the mixture to the mince & kidneys and mix through.  Then arrange the sliced potato over the top and brush with a little melted butter or olive oil.  Season the potatoes with salt & pepper, cover, then place the casserole dish in the oven for around an hour and a half.

6.  Remove from the oven and spoon off any liquid fat that has risen to the surface.  Then increase the temperature of the oven to 220 deg and replace - without the lid - to allow the potatoes to brown.  You can do this under the grill, if you'd prefer.

Serve!

Scotch Broth

I won't wax lyrical about this soup, as I intend writing about it in my blog post for the Bournemouth Echo's "Taste" pages and don't want to bore you by repeating myself, as happened last week.

Suffice to say, that this soup was a considerable experiment which worked brilliantly!

I adapted the recipe from a Readers' Digest tome - "Farmhouse Cookery - recipes from the country kitchen".  I will add that I didn't take 3-4 hours to make mine, as I didn't use a kilo of scrag end of neck!  *chuckle*

SCOTCH BROTH

Ingredients :

(In truth, apart from the lamb, pearl barley and onions, I bet you could make this with any vegetables you have to hand.  However, I followed the recipe as closely as I was able - so here it is.)

500g lamb mince (you could easily use casserole lamb, just cook the lamb with the onions and stock for around 1hr or until it is fairly tender, before adding the vegetables.  I used mince, as one member of my family is fat-phobic).
1 litre lamb stock
125g pearl barley
125g peas (the recipe recommends dried peas, soaked overnight. I used frozen.)
Bouquet garni
Salt & pepper
1 large leek, cleaned and sliced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely chopped
A half a medium Swede, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
125g cabbage, finely shredded
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Cornflour, as necessary.

Method :

1.  Dry fry the mince until starting to frizzle and caramelise, drain the fat, remove and set aside.

2.  Fry the onion in a little of the lamb fat, until softened.

3.  Re-introduce the mince, then add the stock, barley, bouquet garni, leek, swede and carrots and simmer for as long as it takes for the vegetables and barley to be cooked.  (10+ minutes, for the barley).  Skim off any fat that rises to the surface.

4.  Add the cabbage and peas, adjust seasoning (I found it needed quite a lot of salt and pepper) and continue to simmer until the cabbage is cooked.

5.  Thicken with cornflour.

6.  Garnish with parsley.

Serve with crusty bread and a lot of time to eat it in.  You can't hurry the eating of this soup and it would be perfect for bonfire night when you're outdoors and need something hearty and warming.

Son's review is : "It was all good, except for the pearl barley".  But then, this was his first go at Pearl Barley!