Keema Muttar (or minced lamb with garden peas) Curry

It is possible that you have come here looking for the old recipe for Keema Muttar and are currently scratching your head and thinking "I'm sure this isn't the one!".  Well, you would be right.  I made the old recipe recently and hated it.  I can't help but think I'd written something down wrong, or remembered something wrong (probably those multiple spoons of tomato puree), but the end result was horrid.  It makes me wonder how many of you also tried it and thought the same thing!  I do hope you'll tell me, if that happens in future!

Anyway, I read many, many recipes for Keema Muttar and came up with a new one which I've been refining over several different attempts (as these rather random photographs will attest).  The last incarnation was deemed "this is your best one yet!" by my hubby.  As I happened to agree, it was time to include the recipe on the blog in place of the old unsatisfactory version.

This one doesn't contain any tomato puree, you may be happy to note.  I certainly was.  LOL

This one was "the best one yet!"

I've a couple of points worth noting for you, the first of which is that if you like your curry on the milder side then make sure to remove the pith and seeds from the inside of the chilli before chopping it up.  For the same reason, you may wish to reduce the curry powder down to a mild version and likewise reduce the amount of black pepper and ginger you include.  Made as the recipe states, you'll wind up with a curry that will make your nose run and may even demand some mango chutney alongside as it's a frisky one!  I like to serve a cucumber & mint raita - which I really must blog the recipe for - which does a brilliant job of calming the beast.

Secondly, the amount of peas you include is entirely up to you.  I like a moderate amount of peas, but not too many.  Please don't leave them out entirely or it isn't a Keema Muttar, it's a minced lamb curry.  LOL

Righto then, it's time to head for the kitchen!  

KEEMA MUTTAR (or MINCED LAMB WITH GARDEN PEAS) CURRY   (Serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp coconut oil
500g minced lamb
a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt
half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped finely
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 red or green chilli, chopped finely
half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2 large vine ripened tomatoes, core removed and diced
5-6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 heaped teaspoonfuls of your favourite medium curry powder
half a teaspoonful of ground coriander
a flat teaspoonful of ground turmeric
1 teaspoonful of ground ginger
1 tablespoonful of Maggi tamarind sauce
300ml water (approx)
50g (approx) of frozen garden peas
2 tablespoonfuls of fresh coriander leaves, chopped.

Method :

Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan over maximum heat and, once the oil is liquid, add the minced lamb.  Fry, stirring and turning the mince, until the mince has all changed colour and any liquid has been steamed off.  Add the sea salt and black pepper and stir through.  Once the lamb has just begun to caramelise, remove from the pan into a bowl using a slotted spoon to retain the oil and rendered fat and set the mince aside.

If there is a lot of fat in the pan, spoon some off until you are left with around 2 tablespoonfuls.  Add the onion, garlic and green chilli and stir to combine.  Fry over a medium heat, stirring often, until the onion is transparent and the garlic is fragrant.  Make sure not to burn any of the garlic, to avoid any bitterness.  Part way through cooking, add the cinnamon and stir through.

Next, add the tomatoes and continue frying until the tomatoes have softened and begun to break up.

Add the curry powder, ground coriander, turmeric, ginger and tamarind sauce to the pan and stir through.  Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until the powders are all well combined with the mixture.

Return the mince to the pan and stir through, making sure to combine the ingredients well and coat the mince with the spice mixture.  Add the water (you may need more, so keep a little extra on hand) and gently stir through.  Allow the mixture to come to a steady simmer for some 20 minutes or so.  As the curry simmers, the sauce will thicken and reduce to your favoured degree.  Some like their curry to be quite dry in which case you won't need any additional water, others prefer a saucier curry.  Keep an eye on the sauce as the curry cooks and be prepared to add a little more water from time to time to keep the sauce how you like it.

A few minutes before you are ready to serve, add the garden peas and fresh coriander (retaining some for garnish) and stir through.  Try not to add the peas too soon, or they will lose their fresh green colour.

Serve with Basmati rice, naan bread and a cucumber & mint Raita.  Don't forget to garnish with a sprinkle of the chopped fresh coriander, just to make it look pretty!

Printable version

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

Harissa Lamb Flatballs in Flatbread with Hummus

Well, that title describes the basics of it, anyway!

For those of you who are wondering what the heck a "flatball" might be, it is basically a flat meatball, a burger shape, a small circular "cake" shape.  Now I have an unreasonable hatred of the word "patty" ..... arrrgh, I hates it, hates it I tells ya!  So I won't be using that one, but that's basically what a flatball is.

So, having explained that, let's talk about the dish.

In the past, I have made all sorts of different variations of this dish of which the Harissa Lamb in Flatbreads with Tzatziki and the Kibbeh Meatballs in Pitta Bread are great examples.  However, there is a certain clumsiness involved in trying to eat either a flatbread or a pitta bread that is stuffed with small ball shaped items that are constantly trying to escape.  More often than not, with me, they do escape - right down my cleavage.  Which is a neat trough for them to land in, but can be embarrassing when it comes to retrieval - and boy, that Harissa really does leave a stain!
 

Flatballs .... see?  :)

This is why, when I was thinking about doing the Harissa paste/Lamb mince thing again, I decided to go with the flatball option, instead of a meatball shape.  The good news is, that it works and works beautifully.  Each flatball sits nicely and behaves itself well as you munch your way through.  There is inevitably the occasional bid for freedom, but it is a whole lot easier to keep under control than having three or four wilful meatballs in your sandwich.

Basic hummus - recipe from "Jerusalem"

The day before making the flatballs, I had made some hummus.  Now I remember making hummus previously and although it wasn't a drama to make - just chuck everything in the food processor and blitz - it wasn't exactly wonderful hummus.  Then I received Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's cook book "Jerusalem" for Christmas.  (You are going to get SO fed up hearing about it!).  In this they have a recipe for basic hummus, but using soaked dried chick peas - so hummus very much from scratch.  They also have a novel way of preparing the chick peas that leaves them extremely tender - more so than tinned - and beautifully flavoured.  I won't go into the recipe here as the next time I make some I want to photograph the process and blog it for you.  However, if you're anticipating making some soon - the recipe can be found here so you can try it for yourself - it is well worth doing.
 

Be aware that they spit absolutely EVERYWHERE!  lol

I wanted to use some of my home made hummus in the flatball recipe, but don't feel you have to.  By all means buy in a good reliable hummus (Sabra is our favourite) to use instead.  If you buy in some dipping ammunition (carrot sticks, apple slices, pitta bread, oatcakes - you get the idea), you can make very good use of the leftovers one evening, with a glass of wine.

The Tzatziki is simplicity itself to make, however I did give it a little bit of extra glamour by adding a spoonful of soured cream (I had some looking for a home to go to), baby cucumbers diced very finely (I adore those baby cucumbers) and mint from the garden.  But again, if you don't fancy making it or don't have the time/ingredients - just buy some.  Life is to short to be agonising over bought -v- home made tzatziki .

Now don't be tempted to leave the rocket out of the mix.  I know it's not the cheapest thing to buy (although it has come down in price just lately), but you can use up the remainder as an additional salad leaf - and it can be used to great effect in sandwiches at lunchtime, too.  The rocket adds that textural crisp crunchiness that is so important when all the other ingredients are soft.  Plus, its lovely peppery flavour goes so well and adds that extra dimension to the overall flavour.

Due to the flatbreads providing the carbohydrate input, I didn't think we needed any additional carbs, so served the flatbread/flatballs with a simple salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby red peppers and red onion.  It really didn't need anything more than that to make a perfect evening meal.

This sort of food is perfect teenager fuel.  My own personal teenager - son & heir - was so in love with these that I'm sure he'd be happy no matter how many times I served them in a week.  They have everything a teenager loves - meat, spice, richness and can be eaten with the fingers.  From a Mum's perspective, they provide all the nutrients that your teenager needs in order to grow well, plus the additional benefits of fibre and fresh food - all of which can be difficult to get into a teenager.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and if you have youngsters in the family, I'd suggest making some flatballs that have less or no Harissa in them and cooking them off first, so that everyone can have what looks like the same meal and the little ones can feel all grown up.  We had two each, but for a smaller appetite I'm quite sure that just one - with the accompanying salad - would be sufficient.

Oh and the other big advantage of this meal, is that it is simplicity itself to put together.  How simply marvellous!  A meal with virtually no guilt burden.  Hurrah!

HARISSA LAMB FLATBALLS IN FLATBREAD WITH HUMMUS   (feeds 3-6)

Ingredients :

For the tzatziki :

150g greek yoghurt
50g sour cream
2-3 baby cucumbers or a 2" chunk of cucumber with seed removed, diced finely
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped finely
1 tsp mint sauce - the vinegary one
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

For the flatballs :

500g minced lamb, fresh from the fridge and very cold
3 tsp Harissa paste (or to taste)
half a red onion, finely diced
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp fresh finely chopped mint
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
6 flatbreads (I used sundried tomato & onion flavour ones, but plain would do fine)
200g hummus
50g rocket.

Method :

To make the tzatziki, spoon out the Greek yoghurt and sour cream into a bowl and mix together.  Add the chopped cucumbers, mint and mint sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, then leave to let the flavours mingle.

In a large bowl, combine the minced lamb with the Harissa paste, red onion, chopped mint, dried rosemary, egg yolk and a good pinch each of salt and pepper.  Mix well so that the ingredients are well combined.

Smooth the top of the mixture, then divide into six by - with the tip of your spoon - drawing a line across to halve, then divide each half into three with two more lines.  This should ensure that you get roughly the same amount for each flatball.

Spoon out one sixth of the mixture into the palm of your hand and shape it into a flatball - or burger - shape approximately a half inch thick (or less), making sure to press it together to prevent any breaking apart later on in the pan.  Place it on a chopping board and continue to shape the remaining five.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderate to high heat, then gently place three of the flatballs into the pan.  Don't try and cook all six together, as this will overcrowd the pan and they'll just poach - which you don't want!  As soon as they are in the pan, leave them alone.  Don't be tempted to turn them, move them or fiddle about with them at all.  When you can see a line of browned lamb creeping up the side of each flatball and the underside is lovely and golden brown, then turn them carefully onto the uncooked side and leave them alone again.

Once the line of browned lamb has met up with the other side and both sides are golden brown, the juice has stopped flowing freely (but hasn't disappeared altogether) - which takes around 15-20 minutes - remove the flatballs from the pan and place onto kitchen paper and put somewhere to keep warm while you cook the remaining three.  You will know when they are cooked through, as when pressed on top they will provide some resistance.

Once all the flatballs are cooked, toast the flatbreads lightly to warm them up.

Take a flatbread and spread the whole of one side with a good layer of hummus.  Lay a small bunch of rocket on top of the hummus, followed by the flatball and finish with a good spoonful of the tzatziki.  Fold the unladen side of the flatbread over and serve with a simple salad and a napkin for the fingers!

Printable version

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.

Printable version

Really Lamby Shepherd's Pie

I really enjoy writing my blog here - I'll say that straight away.  However, sometimes I find that I'm looking for excuses to not get on with it - which is what has just happened.  "I'll just check my Facebook pages", or "wonder if I've any new email" or the favourite, "I'll just show my face on Twitter (and so waste another hour)".  I kick myself every time I do it, as I just lose writing time - but getting started seems to be so difficult to do!

I've got into the habit now, of typing out the ingredients and method to a new recipe on the evening that I've made it.  Simply because the old grey matter ain't what it was and I have trouble remembering what I did, otherwise.  I thought that might break the "stark white empty page" thing that goes on when I sit down to write (or type, that should be), but no.  It's still the same - prevarication R us.

So, having said that, here I am in full blogging mode and perfectly happy about it.  Bizarre.  Please submit answers to my condition, on a postcard.

Now then.  When I made my Rich Beef Cottage Pie the other week, it went down so well with the assembled throng - that's you, that is - that I resolved to make my Really Lamby Shepherd's Pie so as to complete the pairing and to drive home the differences between the two.  You see, not everyone who reads this blog originates from the U.K. and so there has been some confusion expressed over what is a Shepherd's Pie and what is a Cottage Pie.

So, for those who are still scratching their heads - it's easy.  Shepherd's Pie (think shepherds tending their sheep) is made with lamb mince - and Cottage Pie (think cottages and cows) is made with beef mince.  You can put just about anything in your pie after that, without changing it from either the Shepherd's or the Cottage variety.

Now, when I began thinking about how to make my Shepherd's Pie really, really lamby, it dawned on me that there aren't that many (and in our local Asda, that'll be none) lamb gravy products out there.  I had the benefit of the Knorr Stock Pots for the Cottage Pie, but didn't have any lamb versions as they don't yet exist!  Even on the Knorr website's collection of recipes, Marco Pierre White appears to use chicken stock for lamb - which is something of a missed opportunity, I'd have thought.

I did have the benefit of some Essential Cuisine Lamb Stock Powder though - and cannot stress in strong enough terms, how much of a boon this stock powder is, when you're cooking lamb.  Yes, you can get lamb stock cubes - but I've yet to be able to find low salt versions in lamb.  The Esssential Cuisine one isn't a low salt version - it's just naturally low in salt.  So there's no having to be cautious about the seasoning - and finding out when it's too late, that you've overdone the salt because of the stock cube, or even worse (which has happened to me) find that the stock cube alone has made the dish too salty.  As I've said before, being a powder, it is an easy matter to just add a teaspoonful more if you find your gravy needs a bit of a flavour boost.  I am very definitely going to be ordering some more of these stocks, when I need to - and it's rare for me to take on a new product like this.  In fact, I think the only other time it's happened was with the Mic's Chilli El Loco BBQ sauce - which we're now completely wedded to.

Minced lamb at the start of the process

So right from the word go, when making this Shepherd's Pie, you need to be thinking about how to achieve the most flavour from the ingredients you have.  It is no good getting right to the end of the process, tasting and thinking "oh dear, that's a bit pale pink, what can I do now?" because by then it's far too late.  Right from when you're cooking the onion, think about what would increase the flavour layers throughout the dish.  In fact, if you take the onion as a good example - you can fry the onion until it's transparent and it will be acceptable in the dish.  However, if you have patience (or time) enough to be able to fry it right through to being golden brown and beginning to caramelise, then you already have a rich, well-developed flavour right there.

Minced lamb, demonstrating the level of caramelisation

It is the same with the minced lamb.  When the recipe calls for the mince to be "browned", don't just take the mince to the point where it has changed colour and has lots of water and fat bubbling around it - and don't drain off that water and fat at that stage.  Yes, the meat has browned and yes, I can understand your wanting to reduce the fat content by removing the grease - but hang on for a bit longer.  If you wait until all the water has evaporated and the mince starts to really fry in its own fat, then begins to caramelise (you need to have the heat really quite high for this and to be there alternately turning and leaving it to fry - no dashing off to the loo, or you'll come back to a disaster involving charcoal), you'll wind up with so much more flavour originating from the star of the show - the lamb mince.  Equally, don't be tempted to take the mince too far into caramelisation, or it is unable to soften once the gravy is added.

Before.  Pallid, but delightfully ridged.

This is why my Shepherd's Pie (and indeed the Cottage Pie) takes around an hour to cook and assemble, then three quarters of an hour minimum in a moderate oven.  It is not a "quick" dish.

After.  Just hand me a fork and leave me to it.

Now if there's ever a flavour match that's made in heaven for lamb - it's mint.  Unless you're repulsed by the flavour of mint, please don't be tempted to leave out the teaspoonful of mint sauce (that's the vinegar-based version, not the sweet mint jelly).  The difference that this hint of mint adds to the Shepherd's Pie is just incredible.  Again, you see, it adds another layer to the flavours.  It's another layer that your taste buds pick up at a different moment to the others, which helps the overall flavour of the Shepherd's Pie to travel for longer across your palate.

Who'd have thought anyone could wax this lyrical about the humble Shepherd's Pie, eh?

Om, nom, nom - mashed potato

Oh, and one last word about a very fundamental part of the pie - the mashed potato.  I heartily recommend the lovely Maris Piper potatoes for this as they're wonderfully floury and with the addition of a little milk or cream, a hunk of butter and liberal salt & pepper, they make a beautiful mash.  Don't be tempted to stint on the butter for the mash, as you aren't using cheese (as you would for a Cottage Pie) and it's the butter that will cause the mash to brown in the oven.  Nobody wants a pallid Shepherd's Pie, now do they?

So there you are - my tips for an amazingly Really Lamby Shepherd's Pie. Yum.  I wonder if I could get away with making another one this coming Sunday? 

REALLY LAMBY SHEPHERD'S PIE    (serves 4)

Ingredients :

500g lamb mince
1 onion, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and diced finely
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced finely
4 chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 large tsp mint sauce (the vinegary kind)
3 large tsp lamb stock powder or 2 lamb stock cubes (in which case, don't use any additional salt)
600ml hot water
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
sea salt & black pepper
2 tsp cornflour.

For the mashed potato :

4-5 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
a large knob of butter
2-3 tbsp single cream (or milk will do)
sea salt & black pepper.

Method :

1.  Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the chunks of potato.  Replace the lid and simmer until the potato chunks fall easily from the point of a knife.  Drain them well and replace into the warm pan.

2.  Whilst the potatoes are still hot, add the butter, cream (or milk) and a good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.  Mash until the potatoes are smooth and creamy.  Set aside (trying not to eat too many of them!).

3.  In a deep frying pan, add the minced lamb and dry fry on a high heat until all the water has evaporated, the fat has rendered down and the meat is beginning to caramelise (around 10-15 minutes).  Remove the meat to a bowl and set aside.  Drain off all but 1-2 tbsp of the fat.

4.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion to the lamb fat in the pan.  Fry gently, until the onions have turned transparent, then have begun to gain colour, then have turned golden brown and are beginning to caramelise, all of which should take 10-15 minutes.

5.  Add the cherry tomatoes and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes or until the tomatoes are softened and beginning to fall apart.

6.  Add the celery, carrot and mushroom and increase the heat slightly.  Cook until the vegetables have softened slightly and are beginning to take on a little colour.

7.  Reduce the heat back to medium and re-introduce the meat to the pan.  Stir to combine.

8.   Add the tomato ketchup, mint sauce, lamb stock powder and water.   Stir gently to combine and bring to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the flavours are well combined.

9.  Add the parsley and some pepper and stir to combine.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if needs be.

10.  Place the cornflour into a small bowl and add the minimum amount of water to get it moving as a paste.

11.  Remove the pan from the heat and add half the cornflour mixture, stirring furiously to prevent it coagulating into a solid mass.  If you stir successfully, the mixture should begin to thicken.  Add as much of the remainder of the cornflour as is necessary to achieve your preferred texture.  I like my mixture to be quite thick.

12.  Taking a deep casserole dish, decant the meat mixture into the dish and smooth the top.

13.   Add small blobs of mashed potato across the top of the meat mixture, taking care not to press the potato down into the meat.  When in the oven, the meat mixture will expand and marry up properly with the potato, so if you press it down now, you may well find your potato disappears in the oven!  As a final flourish, run a fork lightly over the top of the potato, creating a rough texture that will brown easily in the heat.

14.  The pie can now wait until you are ready to put it in the oven.  Alternatively, place into a pre-heated oven (turn it on just before stage 3 above - 180degC/350degF/Gas 4) for a minimum of 45 minutes or until the gravy is bubbling up around the edges and the potato has browned.

Serve with steamed vegetables.

Printable version
  

Shepherd's Pie - succour during a week's failures in the kitchen.

This photograph makes my mouth water in a most unseemly way!

I've told you all what a dire week of cooking results I had, last week, so I won't go on about it again.  However, if you can imagine how sad, demotivated, anxious and lacking in confidence having a whole week's-worth of failed recipes would make you - I was right there.

This Shepherd's Pie, originally, was intended to be a Moussaka which hubby had volunteered to cook.  However, as hubby had spent the day wearing himself out doing battle with our garden, the thought of having to tackle all the processes required for a Moussaka was more than he wanted to commit to - and I don't blame him!  So, as he's a dab hand at a Shepherd's Pie, I needed some serious cheering up and he had some great ideas on making this Shepherd's Pie a cut above the average, Shepherd's Pie is what we wound up with.  Oh, and what a Shepherd's Pie it was.

Now you mustn't forget that Shepherd's Pie is my idea of food heaven.  So if I wax lyrical about this one, don't be surprised.  However, to say that it came at a perfect moment and in perfect form, isn't putting it mildly.

Oh pie dish of much promise!

I'd spent the previous couple of days being almost constantly hungry.  Now I know that being hungry isn't going to kill me - in fact, it'll probably do me good.  However, it is miserable to be hungry all the time and I needed something to stop that niggly hungry feeling that just makes you consider all sorts of naughtiness when you should be being good.  This Shepherd's Pie did that in spades.  Honestly, if I could have carried on eating it, I would have.  In fact, I considered going back for some more later on that evening (but resisted).  Well, I resisted only as long as breakfast time the following day, when a plate of Shepherd's Pie, a fork and myself met over a warm computer keyboard for ten minutes of sheer indulgence.

By the way - my friend Marilyn and myself aren't the only ones who enjoy a plate of cold Shepherd's Pie, are we?  Poor hubby had to sit in a different room to me as I ate my breakfast.  Oh, but it was good.  Naughty, but oh so nice.

Now I know I've already posted about Shepherd's Pie, but haven't ever given a recipe.  This recipe is not only gorgeous, but infinitely reproducible - so here you are.  You don't HAVE to use the red wine, you can use a little stock instead, but it definitely adds a little je ne sais quoi to the recipe - and you don't want to miss out on that, now do you?

SHEPHERD'S PIE    (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

4-5 potatoes, peeled and quartered

a large knob of butter

500g minced Lamb
4 banana shallots very finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stick celery, very finely diced
1 carrot, very finely diced
1 tsp dried thyme
half a tsp dried basil
2 tbsp tomato puree
500ml of good lamb or vegetable stock
half a glass red wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Heat a large saucepan two-thirds full of salted water until it boils.  Once boiling, add the potatoes and cook until tender (when they fall from a knife inserted into the middle).

2.  Once tender, drain them well, add the knob of butter and some seasoning and mash until all the lumps are gone.  Set aside.

3.  In the meantime (while the potatoes cook), heat a deep frying pan without any oil and dry fry the minced lamb until nicely browned.  Remove the lamb mince using a slotted spoon and set aside to keep warm.

  

4.  Turn your oven on to pre-heat to 200degC/400degF/Gas6.

5.  Return the pan, complete with lamb fat, to a high heat adding a little olive oil if necessary and then fry the shallots, garlic, celery and carrot.  Once the shallots are softened and showing a little colour, add the red wine and cook on a high heat until the wine has reduced by half.

6.  Return the meat to the pan and add the herbs and the tomato puree.  Cook for a few minutes to mellow the tomato puree before adding the stock.

7.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook until the mixture reaches your preferred consistency.  I like to reduce quite a long way so that the mixture can support the mashed potato.

8.  Pour the mix into a suitable dish and top with the buttery mashed potato.  Fluff the mash with a fork and then place into the oven for at least 30 minutes, until golden and toasty on top and with evidence of the gravy bubbling up around the sides.  Rotate the dish in the oven halfway through cooking if your oven cooks unevenly (like mine does).  If you like a thicker crust on your potato then feel free to leave in the oven for as long as required.

9.  Serve with a selection of vegetables or a good robust salad and have a nice comfy armchair handy for that after-dinner satisfied slouch.

.

"Turn the meal plan for this week over to me" he said ...

... and because I don't particularly like Bernard Matthews Turkey Steaks, I didn't.  *chuckle*

However, I did let hubby take the lead on this week's menu plan - only reserving the right of veto over things like putting two major carbohydrates together in a tart case.

My very favourite meal when we lived in Germany

I think we've wound up with an interesting combination of meals.  Although, our first choice for Tuesday (Bockwurst & Kartoffelsalat - a german sausage with german potato salad) had to be dropped at the shopping stage.  For starters, we couldn't find the Jelly potatoes that we've been lapping up (they're only available in some Tesco stores, which obviously weren't the four we went to) and secondly, the supermarket(s) we were in hadn't ever heard of Bockwurst.  ~rolls eyes~

So we wound up with pizza.  Desperation struck, I'm afraid.

Retro - but flipping gorgeous!

Regrettably, I think we're going to have to re-think Sunday's Beef Olives, too.  We weren't sure what cut of beef to get - and decided upon Sirloin - but the price for the quantity we're going to need - even downgrading the cut - is just prohibitive.

I'd quite like to do a pot roast of Brisket or maybe a Chicken, but done in the Slow Cooker.  I'm really not sure about that one yet, I will have to ponder it further - but I've got time for that.

So, what does the menu plan look like?  Why, like this ...

Tue : was Bockwurst & Kartoffelsalat, became pizza

Weds : Rissoles, baked Sweet Potatoes with chilli lime cream, plus peas.

Thurs : Hearty Pasta Soup and Soda Bread

Fri : Smoked Haddock & Fennel Tart with Greek salad

Sat : Chicken kebabs with salsa & greek yoghurt in pitta bread

Sun : Beef or Chicken with potatoes of some kind, broccoli, carrots & peas.

Mon : Meatballs and pasta.

Because the majority of the dishes are hubby's ideas, he is inevitably doing a fair amount of the cooking.  It is difficult to take an idea and not convert it to your view of "how it should be" as he will obviously have a picture in his mind of how he wants the dish to turn out.  As we don't have the technology to be able to download these pictures for public consumption, he's going to have to cook them!

How I imagine Rissoles to look

Case in point being tonight's Rissoles.  Now I can't ever remember eating a Rissole.  Not the kind of Rissoles that he has been speaking about - made with lamb or beef mince, coated in seasoned flour and fried.  For hubby, however, this is part of his childhood and not only does he have a picture in his head, but also the memory of a flavour - which I have neither.  I'm intrigued to find out about these Rissoles, having heard a fair amount about them over the years!

Because of their potential for being high fat, we've decided on having a baked sweet potato with the lovely chilli/lime cream dressing.  For all that it's sour cream based, I'm quite sure there's less fat involved than using a great dollop of butter - and with the green peas to accompany them, hopefully a balance will have been struck.

Picture c/o BBC Good Food website

The Hearty Pasta Soup is my choice and it is a BBC Good Food recipe that I've known about for (literally) years and have put on the menu a couple of times, but each time it's been bumped off and I've never got to make it.  So, I'm having another go.  I was hoping to be able to get some of the walnut & blue cheese tortelloni (which is double yum) to be included in the soup, but  - probably because I was after some - there was none in the shop.  I settled on a spicy sausage tortellini that I'm hoping will have some flavour.  So many of these filled pastas are just little knots of flavourless Plasticine, but I'm hoping that due to the "spicy" aspect these will be different.  I'm looking forward to it - and I will be making some soda bread rolls to eat with it.

Eggs, versus ...

Friday's Smoked Haddock and Fennel Tart is a concept that came about through exhaustive brainstorming one evening.  I do so enjoy making tarts and can't quite decide - in this instance - whether to go down the "eggy quiche" route with it, or deviate into a "white sauce" route.  I know both the fish and fennel will be happy in a thick white sauce that has the fish poaching milk used in it along with maybe some herb or another (possibly parsley & the ferny fronds from the top of the fennel) and perhaps a light sprinkling of cheddar over the top that will melt when baked in the oven (sounds gorgeous).  However, the eggy quiche route is a much more reliable route to the final product.  You know, I can feel an inexorable pull towards the white sauce going on.

....... white sauce?

I think (hope!) that it would be nice when paired with a Greek salad of large sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives and red onion with a sprinkling of Feta cheese - but is that too much cheese for the fish?  Hmmn, possibly.  We might have to lose the Feta, if so!

Saturday's Chicken Kebabs is another brainchild of hubby's.  He's envisaging strips of chicken that have been marinaded in lemon, thyme & olive oil, laced onto skewers with alternating pieces of courgette, cherry tomatoes, mushroom, aubergine and possibly apple.  He's proposing to grill them (maybe in the char grill pan, I'm not sure) and then once done, release them into a pitta bread.  Slosh on some Greek yoghurt and some suitably tasty salsa and you're done.  Sounds pretty darned yummy, to me.


I touched on Sunday's dinner earlier - and since then I notice that our local butcher is doing whole chickens for around £2.50!  Even if they're tiny little things, for that price we could get two.  I'm contemplating having a crack at jointing the chicken(s), which is something I've never done but would be interested at having a go at.  I'm assuming it'd be easier with a smaller chicken and I know my "Big Knife" (as it's known) is man enough for the job, it just depends on whether I've got the oomph to push it through a chicken!

Monday's meatballs and pasta is going to be an interesting one.  Yes, I've been having a bit of a meatball fest just lately - but I spotted a bag of frozen meatballs in Asda the other day, for a very affordable £1.55 for 500g of cook from frozen.  Now my guess is that these are going to be parlous as best and inedible at worst, but they've just got to be tested.  They purport to be 80% beef and have an encouragingly short ingredients list that doesn't appear to contain anything that would make your eyebrows lift in horror.


I'll be making a lovely powerful tomato sauce (possibly with a little chilli) to put them in and we'll have some grated cheese to sprinkle over the pasta.  It's rather like having your favourite curry the first time you use a new Indian takeaway, just to test what they're like.  Before I try doing anything startling with them, let's try them with a bog-standard sauce and get their measure.  I'm sure you'll hear, whatever the results are!


Apart from that, I still have three types of packeted rice pudding to try out (we tried the chocolate one the other day) and report back on.

I am STILL intending on cooking the Dorset Apple Cake - and had better get cracking on it, because the Bramleys I bought for it are slowly getting older and older!


I've also entered a Watercress Soup competition - so I'll soon be trialling a few recipes before deciding on my potential competition winner.  It's a good job son & heir is out for 5 lunches out of 7, as he'd probably leave home if faced with successive bowls of watercress soup for lunch!


Something else that's going to require some thought is what to cook for National Pie Week!  I'm considering steak and kidney, at the moment.  I do love a good steak & kidney pie, but it needs to contain loads of lovely pieces of kidney as well as be in a luscious rich beefy gravy.  Goodness, I've just made my own mouth water!  It is just such a good job that you can't put weight on by just thinking about food - I hope.

.