Best ever Moussaka - with a little bit of help!

Now, before going any further, if you've come here looking for the original version of my recipe for Moussaka and are aghast to find it has been replaced by this one - do let me know and I will reinstate it.  You see, in my opinion, this new recipe is such a totally different kettle o' lamb deliciousness, it quite outstrips the old recipe.  Although, having said that, this recipe carries an awful lot of the previous incarnation along with it - just with a few tweaks and twists that have made such a difference.  So anyway - to horse!  Or kitchen.  lol

You'll be wondering what makes the big difference.  Well, firstly, I've got a new way of preparing the aubergines that works so beautifully well.  Instead of brushing the aubergine slices with olive oil and having them absorb half a bottleful, I am now taking advantage of that wonderful thing, the low calorie cooking spray.  In my case, a 1 calorie coconut oil version.  Spray the tray, lay the aubergine slices on, spray each slice, sprinkle with salt and pepper and into the oven they go.  They come out beautifully toasty, sweet and soft without being greasy in the slightest - which of course, then cuts the amount of oil your Moussaka is dealing with.  Perfect.

Secondly, I've included some garlic.  Now don't go looking all horrified, what I'm looking for here is flavour and it's only one clove.  Some traditional Moussaka recipes ask for it, some shun it completely.  Believe me, it makes a difference so go for it.

My third big improvement is that I have been using a pre-prepared bechamel sauce, to which I add two egg yolks and a good amount of nutmeg, plus as much seasoning as is required.  Yes, I have a taste just to test how much seasoning to use.  Now if you're hale and hearty and able to make your own bechamel by all means be my guest and do so.  If, however, you're like me and a short cut to deliciousness can only result in your not feeling so trashed later on in the day, then buy some.  I heartily recommend Lidl's Italiamo Besciamella as being one that is a gorgeous texture and delicious flavour.  A great starting point for any white sauce!

Now comes the big discussion point.  To potato or not potato.  For me and for all that I love potatoes, they are not welcome in my Moussaka.  I reckon that potato was only included because the price of a) lamb and b) aubergines became prohibitive and to make the dish more of a meal, potatoes were introduced.  I can respect that - I've done things like that myself, over the years.  However, I can't help but think that a true Moussaka should be just meat (and sauce), aubergines and bechamel sauce with nutmeg & cheese.  However, if you're trying to feed a big family and sliced potatoes will help make your Moussaka go further, then use them.  (It helps to add them to the aubergines being baked in the oven to par-cook.  Makes sure they cook through in the Moussaka).

There are two ingredients that it is important you don't skip.  One is the wine - absolutely essential.  Two is the teaspoonful of mint jelly.  The sweetness of the jelly helps to round out the acidity of the wine and as we all know, mint and lamb are a combination made in heaven.

Now I've used Grana Padano cheese for my Moussaka, but that is by no means set in stone.  I would have used Kefalotyri if I could have found any, or Parmesan if my son didn't hate the stuff.  To be honest, I dare say a good mature Cheddar would do the trick as you don't use very much.  So, I shall leave the cheese up to your own taste - but don't leave it out!  It is essential for getting that beautiful golden crust on the finished article.

Yes, this recipe takes time and yes, it makes a prodigious amount of washing up, however you can easily combat both of those points by making the dish up to the point of putting it in the oven and set it aside (even overnight, if needs be!) until required.  (I make mine in the morning, ready for eating that evening).  You just pre-heat the oven and in it goes.  As for the washing up, well hopefully you'll have had time to deal with that in the meantime, making clean up after dinner itself a relatively simple matter.

Choices of things to serve alongside your Moussaka include garlic bread, chips (a.k.a. fries) and of course, the ubiquitous side salad or even better a Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion and feta cheese sprinkled with dried oregano.  Delicious.

Oh and another plus point (as if you needed another one), is that it freezes really well.  So make an enormous dish and freeze half for another day.  Can't do better than that!

MOUSSAKA (serves 4)

Ingredients : 

2 large aubergines, sliced thinly

low calorie cooking spray

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 large onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped
500g minced lamb

1 tsp ground cinnamon

half a tsp dried thyme
2 vine ripened tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp of lamb stock powder (or 1 lamb stock cube)

200ml red wine

1 tsp mint jelly
500ml carton of Lidl Italiamo Besciamella (or other equivalent)

2 egg yolks
1 tsp grated nutmeg

grated Grana Padano cheese for sprinkling.

Method :

Preheat the oven to 180degC/350degF/gas mark 4.

Line two large baking trays with silver foil and spray with cooking spray.  Place the aubergine slices onto the baking tray and spray liberally with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with sea salt & black pepper then bake for 20 minutes or until they feel cooked through when a knife is inserted. They should hopefully have some browned areas, which adds to the flavour.  Set aside to cool.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and add the onions & garlic. Cook gently for around 15 minutes, stirring often, until golden and soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the minced lamb to the pan and fry on the highest heat, stirring often, until browned and slightly caramelised. Remove some of the fat that will have accumulated (if necessary) and return the onions & garlic to the pan.

Reduce the heat to moderate and add the cinnamon, thyme, tomatoes and tomato puree.  Stir to combine and cook on for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the lamb stock powder or cube and the red wine.  Bring everything to the boil and cook briskly, stirring often, until the red wine is reduced by half. Season with the mint jelly, salt and pepper to taste.

Using a lasagne dish, layer the aubergine and mince, starting with mince.  You should have sufficient for three layers of mince and three of aubergine, finishing with an aubergine layer.

Tip the bechamel sauce into a bowl and stir in the egg yolks, nutmeg and some black pepper.  Pour the sauce evenly over the top of the aubergine & lamb mixture and level the top surface.  Sprinkle liberally with the grated Grana Padano cheese.

Now, at this stage, you can leave the Moussaka to one side until you are ready to bake it.  It will cope with being refrigerated until the next day, if you so wish.

Making sure the oven is pre-heated to 180degC/350degF/gas mark 4 and the Moussaka is at room temperature, bake the Moussaka for around 45-50 minutes, until the top surface is golden and the edges are bubbling.  Remove from the oven and allow to settle for some 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Serve with chips (fries) or garlic bread and a side salad with olives and feta cheese.

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The best Game Pie, made for Farmer's Choice (Free Range) Ltd

Tucked away - nay, nestled - in our freezer for the last few weeks has been a pack of mixed diced Game, (being venison, rabbit, pheasant, partridge and wood pigeon), just waiting for the stars to align and for me to come up with a recipe.

Those lovely people at Farmer's Choice (Free Range) Ltd were kind enough to respond to my promise of a good Game Pie recipe and very obligingly supplied the necessary, for which, my thanks.  (Follow the link here which will take you to the relevant page of their website).  However, none of us quite reckoned on just how good this good Game Pie recipe would be.  It was more than good - it was (to quote my hubby) "a triumph".

Now bear in mind that I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to Game.

Yes, I've cooked several wild rabbits with success in the past, I've had a very bad experience with someone else's pheasant dish that was so high it was inedible and consigned two Mallards to the bin that just didn't even bear description.  So I think you could considered my experience somewhat chequered.

Undaunted, however, I had a vision of a Game Pie in my imagination and that vision was just busting to be made real.  Not a raised Game Pie (a sort of wild meat version of a pork pie) but a good old fashioned country style, hearty, stick to your ribs kind of pie.  One with a golden crispy crust that hides the cornucopia of deliciousness below.  All I can say is that I just wish I had this kind of vision more often, as the actuality exceeded expectation by a factor of many - and the expectation was pretty darned high to begin with!

I dare you to identify any one piece ... lol

I had the picture of the pie mapped out in my head from an early stage.

What I was lacking, were the links and balances between ingredients which would result in a great combination.  My starting point is always "what does the primary ingredient taste like?".  Now I have tasted venison before, but only in a sausage.  Rabbit I'm well versed in, pheasant - not so much, partridge was a new one and wood pigeon I've had once previously and loved.  So I had an idea of how the meats would taste, but only an idea.  (Incidentally, I had no compunction in eating wood pigeon having had many tubes of niger seed go down their gullets instead of into the intended goldfinches.  I considered it payback).  I knew I wanted BIG flavours, flavours that were easily accessible by most home cooks and a nice selection of herbs.  After that, it was open season.

A couple of rashers of smoked bacon were a definite, so the next question was what vegetables would go nicely and look appealing in the pie?  Good old favourites onion, garlic, carrot and celery always make a great start to a good flavoured gravy and sliced carrots add colour.  Mushrooms are excellent for flavour and baby button mushrooms look delicious, too.  I knew I wanted to use red wine, so I was looking for something to combat the acidity that the red wine would bring.  Carrots were a good start, but I needed something that would echo the earthy, whilst balancing the acidity with sweetness.  Something that would go well with Game.  Something like ... chestnuts.  Having had the chestnut idea, it led on to considering prunes.  Prunes - just a few cut in half - would lend their deep sweetness, fruity flavour and dark colour to the equation perfectly.

It was all coming together nicely.

The last question was regarding herbage.  My dislike of thyme is well documented and I felt it was too easy to just opt for that.  It's rapidly becoming today's Herbes de Provence.  Way back in the eighties, that hideous stuff was in just about every Delia Smith recipe that had been documented and as such I'm sick to death of it.  The same goes for thyme and .. whoops, narrowly avoided an anti-thyme rant.  *phew*

I remembered my two front-door herbs, rosemary and bay.  (So called because they are either side of my front door).  Both would be perfect with the wild flavours of the Game and I liked the idea of those straight away.  My mind was wandering along pine nut routes when I suddenly remembered Juniper berries.  They would provide a gorgeous aromatic quality, along with a subtle citrussy fruitiness that would be hard to pin down but very "there".  Oh yes, it was all coming together beautifully.

The pastry was an unspoken given, in that I would be using my superb (and it IS superb, I kid you not) butter/suet pastry.  Just the sheer fact that it contains suet qualified it for the job, but the deliciously crisp lightness of the end result was absolutely spot on.

I added a few more ingredients over the course of the cooking process - the spoonful of tomato puree both for colour and fruitiness, the Knorr stock pot for its invaluably deep, dark colouration and excellent flavour - and I can safely say that each and every ingredient became as important as the next in the production of the pie.

Yes, it is basically a day-long labour of love to make this pie - but oh my gosh it is worthwhile.  Taken in stages, the process becomes an easy matter which I grant you is time consuming, but not difficult.  If you're looking for a dish with which to impress (and you could easily prepare the pie filling ahead of time and freeze it - which would make things a whole lot easier) you don't need to look much further.

"The nicest pie - both filling and pastry - I've had in many a long year" was my hubby's verdict. I think he liked it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I have a few Cook's Tips for you.

The most important thing is not to rush this pie.  Give yourself a complete day in which to produce it if you're intending on making it all in one day, as it does take time.  Cutting the oven time short will only result in a potentially tough or undercooked filling that has none of the deep, developed flavours that a long oven bake will bring.

Don't make the pastry until the filling is made.  That way the pastry has a shorter time to wait and won't deteriorate in the fridge.

Don't be tempted to add the pastry to the pie until the filling is, at worst, luke warm or at best, stone cold.  Any significant heat will instantly melt your pastry, which will dissolve distressingly before you can get it into the oven.

Lastly, don't be scared to add a good deal of black pepper.  It gives a lovely warmth to the sauce that lingers on the tongue like a delicious echo.

You're also in luck that August is currently within Game season  - so invest in some mixed Game and tuck it away for a rainy day that can only be salvaged by the application of delicious Game Pie.  Your family will thank you.


GAME PIE     (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
10g butter
500g mixed Game, diced  (I used venison, rabbit, pheasant, partridge & wood pigeon)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 large carrot, half finely diced, half sliced small
1 stick celery, finely diced
2 rashers back bacon, diced
10 small round shallots
150g small button mushrooms, left whole
3 bay leaves
1 tsp fresh rosemary
8 juniper berries, crushed well
200ml red wine
1 heaped tsp tomato puree
1 Knorr rich beef stock pot
500ml water
10 semi dried prunes, halved
100g chestnuts.

For the pastry :

150g plain flour
50g vegetable suet
50g cold salted butter
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Carbonated mineral water as necessary.

1 egg yolk to glaze.

Method :

In a deep frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the butter.  When the butter is frothy, add the game and sear over a high heat with a tiny pinch of sea salt and a good pinch of black pepper.  Just get two or three sides of the meat coloured, then remove to an ovenproof casserole dish, using a slotted spoon.

Add the chopped onion, garlic, carrot (both sizes), celery and bacon to the pan.  Season with a small pinch of sea salt and black pepper.  Fry over a moderate heat until the onion is transparent and the bacon fat has begun to render.

Add the whole shallots and button mushrooms and increase the heat under the pan.  Fry until everything has gained a little colour - around five minutes, or so.

Add the bay leaves, rosemary and crushed juniper berries and stir through.

Add the red wine and tomato puree, stir through and allow to boil rapidly for 2-3 minutes, then reduce the heat to moderate and add the beef stock and the water.  Stir through again to ensure the stock has melted properly.

Simmer the pan contents for 10 minutes, then taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper, as necessary.

Add the prunes and chestnuts.

Decant into the casserole dish and gently stir to mix the game through.

Cover the casserole dish and place into a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/Gas 4 for 2 hours.

Once the cooking time is up, decant the casserole contents into your pie dish, cover lightly and set aside to cool.

Make the pastry by gathering all the ingredients except the water (and egg) into a large bowl.  Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and suet, until you have a cross between breadcrumbs and cornflakes.  Add around 100ml of water and stir with a knife.  You will probably need a little more water, but what you are looking for is that the pastry dough just clings together and is damp, not wet.  Do not knead the dough at all, just pat and push it together then place onto a sheet of cling film and wrap tightly.  Rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

When your dough is rested and your filling lukewarm, roll out the pastry to just bigger than the size of your pie dish.

Using a pastry brush, brush egg yolk around the lip of the pie dish.

Carefully lift the pastry on top of the pie, so that it overhangs the edge.  Using the tip of a knife, press down all around the edge then trim off the excess.

Brush all but a small amount of the remaining egg yolk over the surface of the pastry, taking care to go right to the edges.

Cut out some leaves or other decoration from your leftover pastry and lay them on top of the egg wash.  Brush egg onto the leaves.

Take a sharp knife and cut some holes into the pastry to allow the steam to escape.

Place into a pre-heated oven at 180degC/350degF/Gas 4 for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is crisply golden and the filling is bubbling hot.

Serve with buttered new potatoes and vegetables of your choice.

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Pork, aubergine & porcini ragu - natural umami!

I have a very embarrassing confession to make. I can't remember what inspired hubby to make this Italian style, porky, auberginey, mushroomy deliciousness - not because I am singularly forgetful (which I am!), but because he made it *blush* on the 26th January 2013.  Yes, it is now the 8th of March 2015.  *hangs head in shame*  I'm a bit behind with some ~koff~ of my blog posts.

Because these "forgotten" posts (which aren't really forgotten, but have just slipped on by in the rush of other things) are burning their unsung presence into my brain, I have decided that I must bring them to the forefront of existence.  Hence, I am going to do my best to remember at least something of the why's and wherefores of their creation, but the more important thing is to get them out there where they can be enjoyed by others!

I do recall that hubby was really keen to make a dish which did justice to the wonderful woody, rich flavour of the porcini mushroom and who who better to pair it with than with pork?  After all, both of them live in wooded areas (well, given the chance the piggies would!).  The aubergine, we felt, would give the ragu a smokiness and subtle creaminess - and so it proved.  My memory of this ragu is of a really intensely mushroomy, savoury, umami-filled forkful that was both satisfying from a comfort food angle and complex from a flavour angle.  It wasn't a simple combination of flavours, but one that developed on the tongue depending on how much of what was in your forkful.  Now you don't find that every day!

I have a few Cook's Tips for you with regard to this one :

Firstly, when you're char-grilling the aubergines, always oil the aubergines and not the pan.  Aubergines are total sponges and will soak up as much oil as you want to give them, so make sure to brush on just enough to help them to cook, or you'll end up with a greasy ragu.

Secondly, with regard to soaking the Porcini mushrooms.  When it comes to adding them to the dish, take care not to disturb the bottom of the soaking liquid.  Porcini's are renowned for containing little pieces of grit which will sink to the bottom of the bowl as the dried mushroom softens.  Pour the liquid gently and leave the last little bit in the bowl and you will be as sure as you can be, that your ragu will be grit free.

Lastly, be aware that as the ragu sauce reduces, the intensity of salt and pepper will change accordingly, so be sparing with the salt to begin with.

We didn't serve ours with any Parmesan cheese for sprinkling, but if you particularly enjoy a dash of Parmesan, then by all means feel free.  The flavours can certainly cope!

I have just received notification that this recipe has been awarded "Recipe of the Day" by eRecipe.com!  ~curtseys and composes a winner's speech~



PORK, AUBERGINE & PORCINI RAGU    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

Olive oil
500g minced pork
1 large aubergine, cut into 7mm slices and chargrilled
2 banana shallots, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in a little boiling water
3 chestnut mushrooms
75ml red wine
500ml pork stock (or 1 pork stock cube, dissolved in 500ml water)
400g tinned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried sage
half a tsp smoked paprika
half a tsp dried basil
half a tsp dried rosemary
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and black pepper to taste.
 
Method :
 
1.  Firstly, prepare the aubergines.  Using a blisteringly hot griddle pan, barbecue or cooker grill, cook the aubergine slices until they are softened, ideally with dark griddle marks.  Once cooked, place onto a plate, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.
 
To make the Ragu :
 
2.  Dry fry the minced pork in a large wok or deep frying pan until lightly browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.

3.  Add a little olive oil to the pan and cook the shallots, chestnut mushrooms and garlic until soft but not coloured.

4.  Return the pork to the pan and turn the heat up to high.  Once the pan is sizzling, add the red wine and stir for five minutes to allow the majority of the alcohol to cook off.

5.  Add the tomato puree and stir well to combine with the pork for a couple of minutes.

6.  Now add the paprika, herbs, tinned tomatoes and stock.  Bring the pan to a lively simmer before adding the porcini mushrooms along with their soaking liquid.

7.  Season with the Worcestershire sauce and simmer until the ragu sauce has reduced to a thick consistency.  Once at your preferred consistency, taste for seasoning and add more if necessary.

Serve with freshly cooked pasta.

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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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Wine testing and tasting : Gallo Family Vineyards' Summer Red

A few days ago, I was asked whether I would be interested in reviewing some of the Gallo Family Vineyards' wine.  Now, I had to come clean and say that I have worked with them in the past - particularly with regard to their utterly fantastic (to my taste) Moscato.  I absolutely adore that wine and it is right up there with Asti Spumante as my favourite.

From which, you will gather that I am no wine buff.

In fact, I am not one of these white wine quaffing, metro, London kinda gals.  I'm much more of a cup of tea, some orange squash or a gin & tonic if I'm pushed, kinda gal.  The sheer fact that I have come to like Moscato quite so much is a complete revelation, to me as much as anyone.

As such, I hadn't shown much interest in the Summer Red.  Well, it was red for a start - and there's only one red wine I've ever had an interest in, which I won't go into here for fear of taking the gilt off of the Summer Red's gingerbread.  Because it does deserve to have its gingerbread gilded.

Now all you wine buffs out there can just leave now, before you start snorting down your noses and saying things about "blended" and "too sweet" and "girly drink".  I just don't care about all that.  In the Summer Red, I have discovered a red wine that I can drink - not in quantity, I can't drink anything alcoholic in quantity - and enjoy.  It doesn't make my toes curl with its tannins and dryness, it doesn't make my face transmogrify into a prune at its sourness.  Yes, it is incredibly sweet, but I like that.  It's very much after the fashion of a dessert wine - and if I want to lengthen the drink by adding soda water, or lemonade, I don't feel as though I'm committing a crime by doing so.

The real joy of this wine, though, is its flexibility.  Let me introduce you to "Summer Red jelly with Cherries".  Oh yes.

Now you know me.  I'll always try to get the most I can out of everything that comes my way - and a bottle of wine is no different.  I didn't want to just neck the whole bottle - which would have been lovely, but not exactly putting the stuff fully to the test - so I had been pondering on how to use it.  To my way of thinking, it is far too sweet to use in a savoury dish.  So I decided to re-create a dessert I used to buy from Marks & Spencers, some 20 years ago - which was a little pot of raspberry jelly with a disc of cake, a few raspberries and a blob of cream.  Sounds plain, but it was really lovely.

What if I were to make the jelly with the Summer Red?  A red wine jelly.  Mmmn .. now you're talking.  The disc of cake would be easily provided from a plain sponge cake that has some robustness to it - a Madeira would be ideal.  Should I go with the raspberries, or would another fruit be better suited to the flavour characters of the wine?  The flavour profile given on their website is "With a ripe and juicy taste, this wine has delicious flavours of raspberry, pomegranate, and cherry."  They're not wrong either, but the one that caught my attention was the cherry, which to me was very "up there" on the palate.  Black cherries - oh yes, mhhmmn.  :: nods ::  That's definitely the one - and I know a local supermarket that sells packets of frozen unsweetened black cherries.  Perfect.

Now right up until the moment of putting the dessert together, I hadn't quite formulated in my mind what I was going to do about making up the quantities for the jelly.  I knew I had 500ml of wine left - which I was using sheet gelatine with - however 500ml of wine wasn't going to go around 3 people as a jelly.  I needed to be closer to 1 litre.  So, do I use apple juice (which might be too sweet) or just water (which might be too bland and wash some flavour away) or some other flavour jelly?  For all that I'd seen cherry flavour jellies in the shops, it was a long old shot that we'd find one - and I didn't want to introduce raspberry (which I'd been trying to get away from), or strawberry into the mix.

For your information!

By some divine flash of intervention, when hubby was mooching around the supermarket, he spied - on the World Food aisle - a sachet of black cherry jelly crystals.  Now, bearing in mind that he doesn't speak Polish (well, apart from one word - "paczek" - meaning "doughnut".  Very important that!), he did well to recognise what it was he was looking at!  He brought it home and we were all set.  (Hahaha!  See what I did there?).

So, crossing my fingers that all would be well, I poured the wine into my measuring jug (500ml, as I'd thought) and topped it up with water, to a litre.  Into a saucepan that went, to be heated to simmering point so as to lose a little of the alcohol and be warm enough to dissolve the gelatine and crystals.  In went the soaked gelatine sheets, which behaved beautifully and dissolved neatly, then the cherry jelly crystals - cross your fingers - which also dissolved beautifully.  *phew*

From there, it was a simple matter of cutting out the cake discs and weighing them down with a large spoonful of defrosted unsweetened cherries.  I used unsweetened owing to the degree of sugar that is apparent in the wine.  I was after a "grown up" jelly here, not one for children's parties.  Pour on sufficient jelly to cover the cake and fill the glass dish, after which it is a bit of a steady carrying job (which it would seem I can't do, so I had a number of goes at it, involving replacing the cherries and cursing the cake disk soundly) to get it into the fridge to set.

Once set, it is an incredibly easy job to just add a small amount of creme fraiche, then more cherries and grate some dark chocolate over the top.

The "cook's notes" I have for you are to aim to buy one of the bar shaped Madeira cakes, rather than a round, complete cake.  The bar sized/shaped ones are just perfect for cutting out the right sized disc without too much waste.  Of course, if you have an obliging teenager, you won't have cake waste for long.  Another tip is to resist buying a cherry Madeira, as there is quite enough sugar in the dessert without adding another sugary dimension with candied cherries.

The chocolate that I used was a fancy schmancy one - dark chocolate with cherries and chilli - but there really is no need to go beyond just a plain dark chocolate.  All that is required is the flavour of the dark chocolate - and there is such a small amount used, that additional flavours tend to get lost.

These jellies are far better made in individual glasses, rather than a big bowl.  I did both - for research's sake - and here's the result of the big bowl ...

.... not good.  In an individual glass dish, you are far more able to weigh the cake discs down with cherries, which prevents them from floating to the top and getting right in the way.

Oooh, I've just had a thought!  This dessert would be truly mind blowing, if you were to use fresh Picota cherries when they're in season!

So how did it eat?

Oh my word.  It was one of those desserts that you take your first taste of and look out of the corner of your eye at your companions, then nod gravely up and down, whilst groaning an appreciative "mmmmmnnnnnn....".  Yup.  It was THAT good.

I asked my son whether he could taste the wine.  He gave me a withering look and said "oh yes, I think so!", by which I take it to mean that my ambition of creating a grown up jelly were realised.

Would I buy the Summer Red again?  Oh yes.  I'd buy two - one to drink and one to make jelly with.  *grin*

SUMMER RED JELLY WITH CHERRIES   (serves 5-6)

Ingredients :

500ml Gallo Family Vineyards Summer red wine
500ml cold water
5 sheets of gelatine
1 sachet (or sufficient for 500ml) cherry jelly crystals
480g defrosted black cherries, juice retained
1 Madeira cake, cut into 1cm thick slices
2-3 squares of dark chocolate, for decoration.

Method :

1.  Pour the wine and water into a saucepan and set over a low heat to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

2.  While the wine mixture is heating, place the gelatine sheets into some cold water to soften.

3.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the soaked gelatine sheets, stirring well to encourage them to dissolve.

4.  Once you are sure the sheets have dissolved, add the jelly crystals and stir again until they have dissolved.  At this stage, you can include any juice that has come with the cherries.  It is worth giving the pack a slight squeeze (without squishing the fruit) just to encourage the juice.

5.  Place to one side to cool slightly, whilst you cut out your cake discs.  Try to size the disc to fit whatever individual receptacle you are using.  My discs were approximately 2" and I used a scone cutter.

6.  Place a disc of cake into each individual bowl and add a generous spoonful of cherries, to weigh it down.

7.  Pour on a couple of tablespoonfuls of jelly, just enough to soak the cake through, which will also prevent it floating to the top.

8.  Continue to fill the bowl to your own personal preference, leaving room for the decorative cherries etc.

9.  Place into the fridge to set.

10.  Once set, add a teaspoonful of creme fraiche, some more cherries and a grating of dark chocolate.

You might also like to serve some additional creme fraiche alongside, for extra creamage!

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Today's dinner : An emergency Sicilian!

Son & heir's plans changed suddenly and instead of being out this evening, he and a friend were going to be in for dinner after all.  This meant that what we had planned to have - a night off from cooking, complete with prawn cocktail baguettes - was abandoned and I had to get thinking about what to make instead!

It had to be something easy, with not much preparation, as following on from a busy and slightly stressful day yesterday (yes, going out for lunch is stressful, these days), I knew I'd be feeling it today.

Good old pasta.  You can't go wrong with it, it's so easy to make - whatever you put with it!  I decided upon the Sicilian Pork Ragu with Chocolate that we all love.  All you need to prepare is an onion and some basil, so it was perfect.  You can find the recipe for this quick and stress-free lovely at http://jennyeatwellsrhubarbginger.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/sicilian-pork-ragu-with-chocolate-co.html

The ragu was a little wetter than usual, largely because the pan decided to act like Mount Vesuvius and send little super hot globules of sauce flying in all directions.  I'm really not sure why this one decided to do that and others haven't, but it made simmering the sauce virtually impossible.  I really must buy a splatter guard.  I don't really want to go and see the state my cooker is in!

Dessert was a shop-bought lemon tart with additional raspberries - and hubby went a bit mad with the squirty cream and sprinkles.  He reckons everything is made better by the addition of sprinkles.  He may even be right!