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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"Pressels" - a new contender in the pretzel market!

Look what turned up today!  A giant, over 2ft long, box containing this black and white box, which in turn contained these three 175g bags of "Pressels" a new, tiny, thin and intriguing alternative to your standard pretzel.

Originating in New York - although produced in Israel - they are now being imported by a company in Essex.  I originally made a comment about air miles, but have been kindly corrected in that they float over to Essex by boat!  So we're talking nautical miles, instead. 

Well, how do they taste?  I've only tested the "Original" (blue bag), so far and I can quite categorically say that they are flipping moreish.  In fact, it is difficult to stop eating them and get on with writing this piece!

Note the size comparison!

Now their selling point is that they contain 75% less fat than ordinary crisps.  However, what they do contain (and they don't shout about this) is palm oil (the farming of which is a leading cause of acreage loss in the habitat of the orangutan, not to mention that it is a significant saturated fat which as you know, we're supposed to be steering clear of).  Tut tut and a black mark.  Purely on these two points, I would have to simply be unable to live without them, to purchase them - and as they're only a pretzel snack, I'm afraid I can live without them only too easily.

However and on the other hand, they contain no artificial flavours, no preservatives, no MSG and no added food colours.

So, while a 25g serving (see the photograph below for what that looks like) amounts to 98 calories with just 1.4g of fat, when you look at carbohydrates, they have a relatively high figure of 17.8g of carbs with 1.3g of that being sugars.  

Just as an interesting point and for those of you to whom this applies, they also carry the "Pareve" sign, which indicates that they are produced relating to a foodstuff made without milk, meat, or their derivatives, and therefore permissible to be eaten with both meat and dairy dishes according to dietary laws - and specifically Jewish law, as they are made in Israel.  Well, that's something new I learned today.

So, it's fair to say that a "healthy" option they are not.  However, as a "I can't put this bag down, these are so nice" snack with drinks, they're the business.  If you're interested in having a better look at them, go to the website at Pressels.com.

I guess it's very much up to you, your conscience and your waistline as to whether you try them if you find them, but be warned - once you start ...... ~rustle rustle~

Beer & bacon pasta cheese - don't look if you're calorie counting!

Well now, that was a great brainwave, if ever I tasted one.

We were due to have "macaroni cheese" at some point during the week, but although the intent was good, the body was weak and we wound up having pizza instead.  I know, what can you do, eh?  So, inevitably, this gave me time in which to think "Goodness, but this is dull.  What can I do to liven up our standard macaroni cheese recipe?" - which as we all know is sometimes the beginning of the end.

However, in this instance, it worked out brilliantly.

Do you remember my making some beef, ale & cheese soup, way back last year some time?  Well I suddenly remembered this recipe and how well the beer combined with the melted cheese - and it was a short hop from there to combining beer into the cheese sauce for the pasta.

Now I always add bacon to my cheese sauce for a macaroni or pasta cheese, as we're confirmed carnivores who feel a bit short changed if a meal doesn't include meat somewhere along the line.  Plus, bacon goes so well with cheese.  Now, I can confirm that bacon goes very well with an India Pale Ale and cheese, in a sauce.  Oh yes.

Ordinarily, I'd have sweated off an onion and included that, but we had run out of onions owing to the last two having turned to slush when I wasn't looking, so that was a non-starter.  So to include the onion flavour, I rummaged around in the herb cupboard and added a half a teaspoonful of the onion granules that I normally use in barbecue sauces.

As for the healthiness of this dinner, I can quite categorically deny any element of healthiness.  However, as to flavour, well yes it has that in spades.  It also has that soft, warming, filling, comforting thing that anything involving cheese and pasta will deliver - especially on a cold, damp day like today.  Add to all that the bacon - and we all know that a bit of bacon makes everything better - and the crisp, crunchy herby breadcrumbs sprinkled on top and you've got a sure fire winner.

Just don't make this for dinner if you're counting your calories.  Like I am.  ~koff~  Oops.

BEER & BACON PASTA CHEESE   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tsp & 1 tbsp olive oil
12 rashers thick cut smoked back bacon, diced
10g & 20g salted butter
50g dry breadcrumbs
half a tsp dried parsley
half a tsp dried thyme
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp plain flour
350ml India Pale Ale
450ml semi skimmed milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
half a tsp onion granules
quarter of a tsp freshly grated nutmeg
300g mature cheddar cheese, grated
50g parmesan cheese, grated
40g Leerdammer (or similar) cheese, grated
15g Philadelphia cream cheese
200g pasta - small tubes work well.

Method :

1.  Heat a large frying pan and add the diced bacon.  Fry until the fat has rendered, any water has burned off and the bacon is beginning to turn golden.  Remove the pieces from the pan with a slotted spoon, so as to drain the fat back into the pan and reserve.

2.  Add the breadcrumbs to a bowl and mix in the parsley, thyme and a small pinch of sea salt, along with a good quantity of black pepper.

3.  Melt the 10g of salted butter into the bacon fat and, once melted, add the breadcrumb mixture.  Fry on a moderate heat until the breadcrumbs have taken on the fat and are turning golden.  Do not allow them to burn, so keep them moving.  As soon as they begin to sound sandy and crisp, remove them from the pan.

4.  Take a large saucepan and fill two thirds full with water, which should be brought to a boil and the pasta cooked according to packet instructions.

5.  In a medium non-stick pan, melt the 20g of butter and add the tbsp of olive oil.

6.  Once the butter is melted, add the flour and stir well for 2-3 minutes.

7.  Take the pan off the heat and gradually add the beer, stirring constantly, until you have achieved a smooth textured thick sauce.  Reserve any beer that may be left over.

8.  Swap to adding the milk gradually, returning the pan to a gentle heat to retain the temperature of the contents and stirring very well to prevent the sauce becoming lumpy, until you have a thick coating consistency.  You may not need all the milk, or you may need a little more.

9.  Add a tiny pinch of sea salt, a good quantity of black pepper, the Dijon mustard, onion granules and nutmeg and stir through.

10.  Add all the cheeses and warm through on a gentle heat until they are all melted and combined thoroughly.

11.  Add the cooked bacon and stir through.

11.  Taste and if necessary add a little more pepper - you can add cayenne if you like the heat that it brings.  Add a little of the remaining beer, just to freshen up that beery flavour.

12.  When the pasta is done, drain well and return to the pan.  Pour two thirds of the sauce onto the pasta and quickly stir through.  Serve swiftly into warmed bowls and add a drizzle more sauce over the top.

13.  Sprinkle with the seasoned crispy breadcrumbs.

Serve with garlic bread or a side salad, or just as it is!

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Spiced Blackberry and Apple Lattice Pie

First of all, a very belated happy Christmas and a happy new year to you all!

I do apologise for being so belated and missing out on posting seasonal goodies, but I've been laid up with a sad case of cellulitis which led to an additional case of gout, in my left leg and ankle.  Not surprisingly, I've done quite a bit of staring at the same four walls from the dubious comfort of my bed, whilst hoping that the painkillers will work for a bit longer.

I'm not quite back on two feet yet - let's say it's one and a half feet, currently - but I do have a nice backlog of yummy things that we ate before I succumbed, to pass on to you.

So, initially, let's go a bit random for Rhubarb & Ginger and talk about dessert pies.  Well, to be specific, a spiced blackberry and apple lattice pie of much loveliness.

The very best time to be making this pie is in the Autumn, when the blackberry vines are laden with fat fruits.  However, as we now have the convenience of that wonder of the kitchen, the freezer, those fat fruits can be picked and frozen so that you can enjoy this pie whenever you so please.

Blackberries freeze incredibly easily and defrost really well, so you've no excuse.  Come next autumn, send the entire family out with a plastic container to go and seek blackberry loveliness.  Of course, the other advantage to freezing blackberries is that it will kill any wigglies that may be residing in your fat fruits.  A quick and gentle wash before you freeze them (laid out in one layer on a baking tray is the best way.  You can decant them into a freezer box once frozen and that way, they don't stick together) and a bit of an inspection once defrosted and said wigglies will be a thing of the past.

My blackberries came from my Aunty Joyce's garden and are enormous!  They definitely needed making into a pie, so as to maintain their shape and integrity.  It would have been criminal to have mushed them into a coulis or some such.

It was only as I was making the pastry, that I suddenly thought about the spicing aspect.  After all, I would spice an apple pie - and having made spiced blackberry compote before, I knew everything was compatible.  I think it gave an interesting edge to the fruity flavours that made the pie taste especially home made - which is very satisfying.

Now, as regards any Cook's Tips, the main one I have for you is not to skip the microwaving of the apple pieces.  You see, the apple - particularly if it is a Braeburn - will take a lot longer than the blackberries to cook and you don't want rock hard apple beside soft blackberries.  However, the good thing about Braeburns is that they don't dissolve to mush.  If you don't have a microwave (and I know not everyone does), then put the apple into a pan with a tablespoonful of water and cook on a medium heat until softened.  After that, treat them like the microwaved versions.

Naturally, you don't HAVE to make the top of your pie latticed - you could just lay a piece of pastry across and create a normal type of pie if you don't have the time or inclination to do the latticing.  However, it isn't difficult and - so long as the fruit is cool - only takes a few minutes longer.  It does look good, too!

Likewise, the almond pastry is not essential either, but it does go so well with the fruit and the almonds give the pastry a lovely sandiness that texturally is interesting on the tongue.  However, if you want to make an ordinary sweet shortcrust, who am I to say you nay?

Whatever way you make this pie, the combination of the spices, apples and blackberries are just incredibly homey and scrumptious.  I doubt you'll have much left!

SPICED BLACKBERRY AND APPLE LATTICE PIE    (serves up to 6)

Ingredients :

165g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25g ground almonds
55g sugar, plus 3 tbsp for the fruit, plus a little for sprinkling
120g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
2 medium eggs, used individually
2-3 Braeburn apples
A good quantity (as many as will fit!) of blackberries
1 tsp ground cinnamon
half a tsp grated nutmeg
quarter of a tsp ground cardamom.

Method :

1.  Make the pastry by stirring the almonds into the flour and adding the sugar.  Stir through.  Rub the butter into the mixture until you have what look like breadcrumbs.

2.  Add one egg - bit by bit - until you have a soft not sticky, dough.  You may not need the whole egg for this.

3.  Form the pastry into a disc, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to rest for at least 3 hours.

4.  Cut the pastry into two sections - a third and two thirds.  Using the two thirds, roll out and line the pie dish with the pastry, making sure you have no air bubbles.

5.  Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans, then bake at 180degC/350deg F/Gas 4 for 20 mins, then remove the baking beans and bake again for 10 mins until the pastry is dry and sandy.

6.  In the meantime, sort the blackberries.  You want to remove any that might have mildew or damaged areas.  Peel the apples and cut into small chunks and place in a bowl, then microwave until they are softened and just beginning to break down.  Leave to cool a little.

7.  Once cooled, add the blackberries.  Add the spices and sugar (use your intuition as to how much sugar you will need.  If the apples and blackberries are particularly tart, add a bit more) and toss gently to coat evenly.

8.  Tip the spicy fruit into the part baked pastry, along with any juice.

9.  Roll out the one third piece of pastry and cut long thin strips.

10.  Using the second egg, egg wash around the edge of the part baked pastry, then lay the strips on top of the fruit, interweaving them as a lattice and press down on the ends to "glue" them to the part baked pastry and trim off the excess.

11.  Give the lattice a good egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar.

12.  Bake at the same temperature as earlier, for 25-30 mins until the pastry is golden, cooked through and the fruit is softly cooked.

13.  Leave the pie to cool until just warm, then serve.

Printable version

Turkey Tortilla Bake

I don't remember when I spotted the original recipe on BBC Good Food - which you can find here - but it was some time ago.  I bookmarked it, thinking it bore further investigation and only recently rediscovered it when I was having a bit of an American/Mexican thing going on with the menu plan.

You will, no doubt, have gathered that I tend to gravitate towards simple recipes.  Ones that don't require much "dotting about the kitchen", doing this bit over here and that bit over there - basically, because I just don't have the legs for "dotting about".  So I go for recipes that demand a) some preparation of ingredient activity, i.e. chopping, grating, etc. and b) some "putting in a pan in order, stirring and heating" activity.  Those sorts of recipes are just great for when my legs aren't behaving too well and trundling around the kitchen dragging my perching stool behind me is too much to contemplate.

Sometimes, however, these recipes that are reputed to be "simple" are rather more "dull" than "easy to make".  Once you have a bit of cooking time under your belt - I don't like to think how long I've got racked up now - you can spot these dull recipes before they ever reach the stove.  However, occasionally, one will still slip through the net.  So, when I was reading this recipe through and seriously contemplating cooking it, I was evaluating whether a) I had got the ingredients already, b) how much the required extra ingredients would cost and c) what the end result would be of combining all these ingredients.  Well, a) was good - I'd got almost all of the ingredients already, b) was "eminently affordable" and c) was "could do with a bit of help".

So.  What to do, to help the flavours along and boost this from what appeared to be a potentially mediocre flavoured dish, to something that would deliver a good old flavoursome meal.

Well, for starters, it was billed as being a "chilli con carne" with a tortilla top.  So, if you're making a chilli con carne, where's the garlic?  Got to have garlic!  The chipotle chilli paste they used would deliver quite a strongly smoky flavour, whereas I had just chipotle chillis and not paste.  So to bolster that smokiness - and a chilli has to have paprika in it - I thought I'd add some sweet smoked paprika.  Better to use sweet than hot smoked paprika, I thought, as I didn't want to overdo the peppery heat.  However, if you're into chillis that leave you feeling like one of Daenerys Targaryen's dragons, then by all means step up the chilli effect.

A chilli needs some herbage, in my opinion, so as my herb of choice at the time was oregano, that got included on the ingredients list.  Now thinking about the tomato side of things, tomato puree and tomato ketchup were a given - both of which aide and abet the whole tomato thing that goes on with chilli con carne.  The tomato puree richens the flavour base and tomato ketchup adds that tasty mix of spicy flavours and subtle sweetness.  If you have never put either of them into your chilli con carne, I recommend you give it a go one day.

After that, it was just a simple matter of bolstering the chicken/turkey flavour combo by adding some of Essential Cuisine's yummy chicken stock powder.  A half a low salt stock cube would do at a pinch, or a teaspoonful of chicken bouillion powder - but be careful that the stock you use doesn't taste too much of the stock vegetables and not enough of chicken.  It's the savouriness of the chicken flavour that you're after here.

So having decided to use that lot, the original recipe didn't really bear much resemblance to its new and improved version.

However, do you see how easy it is sometimes, to take what appears to be a jolly good idea of a recipe, but one that might not deliver on flavour - and with a few thoughtful additions and/or changes, upgrade it to something special?  I sincerely hope that is what happens to recipes of mine that you find here.  I'd love it if you took the recipe and did something different with it - and everyone approved.  Let me know if you do, as I'm as open to suggestions as the next person!

The end result of the recipe below, is a richly tomato flavoured, interestingly spiced but not challengingly hot, tasty and satisfying weekday dinner.  We loved it.  I'd have been very happy to have had any leftovers for lunch the following day, but regrettably, we ate the lot.  I really liked the tortilla chip layer on top, with the melted cheese that held it together.  The heat from the chilli layer below stopped the cheese from setting up hard and everything went beautifully with everything else.

I served the Turkey Tortilla Bake with a small garden salad and some gorgeous home made guacamole.  Any excuse to have guacamole always goes down well with hubby and I.  I think any kind of salad would go well with the bake and if you were feeling carbilicious, you could even put some potato wedges with it for an extra fill up.

Remarkable as it may seem, I don't have any Cook's Tips for you with this one!  It really is simplicity itself to make, with very few areas where a novice cook might potentially trip up.

TURKEY TORTILLA BAKE    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
500g turkey mince
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp paprika (unsmoked)
half a chipotle chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp chicken stock powder (or half a stock cube)
100g tinned sweetcorn
220g tinned red kidney beans 
lightly salted tortilla chips
150g mature cheddar cheese, grated (or to taste)
jalapeno chilli slices (if you like them!)
1 tbsp fresh chopped chives for garnish.

Method :

1.  In a deep flameproof casserole dish, cook the onions and garlic in the oil for 8 mins until soft. Stir in the mince and add a bit more oil, if needed. Turn up the heat and cook for 5-10 mins, stirring occasionally, until the mince is browned and just beginning to turn golden where it contacts with the pan.

2.  Stir in the cumin, smoked paprika, chipotle chilli and oregano.

3.  Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, chicken stock powder and half a can of water, and simmer until the ingredients have combined nicely. Mix in the beans and sweetcorn, and bring to a lively simmer - stirring regularly - to reduce the liquid until the sauce is thick, piping hot and the mince is cooked.

4.  Heat the grill. Take the pan off the heat and quickly put the tortilla triangles randomly but evenly on top. Scatter over the cheese (and jalapeno slices if you like them) and grill for a few minutes until the tortillas are crisp, taking care that they don’t burn.

Sprinkle with a few chopped chives (which I didn't have, at the time) and serve.

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Sticky Marmalade Chicken - the one that (almost) got away!

Now, this is a bit of a departure for me where blogging recipes is concerned.  Ordinarily, you see, I would get on with consigning a new recipe to paper almost as soon as I've put my knife and fork down.  However, I first cooked this dish quite literally years ago - when I was blogging on Multiply.  I cooked it again a few times over the years and in the meantime, started Rhubarb & Ginger.  However, when I came to look for the recipe in the Recipe Index, I was astounded to see that I hadn't included it here!

Thank goodness - because I can't remember where I found the original recipe - I still had a copy of all my Multiply pieces and was able to find the recipe.  I copied it over to Rhubarb & Ginger and then real life got in the way and I just didn't get around to blogging it properly.

So here I am fulfilling those good intentions of all those years ago - and getting on with it.  I think that really does take the biscuit for procrastination, but perhaps we should skip lightly over that.

Now because I've cooked the recipe several times, I have had the benefit of trying it with both salad and cooked vegetables.  I think - for all that the photographs are of the cooked vegetables version - my favourite version has to be the white rice and salad one.  The use of the marmalady sauce as a dressing through the salad (so note, not a lettucy salad as the sauce/dressing is warm and will wilt anything less robust than rocket, spinach or watercress far too quickly) is just such a satisfying thing.

This is one of those dishes that you think is going to taste one way - but then it turns out to taste completely different.  When imagining how it would taste, I forgot all about the garlic, chilli and thyme and the effect they would have.  Although, I do think that how it tastes depends entirely upon what marmalade you use.  If you go for a strongly flavoured, not so sweet one like the Oxford Vintage, then you'll wind up with a very strongly flavoured dish.  However, something like Golden Shred will give you a much sweeter end result that you may find requires a dash of lemon juice to add the required acidity and is perhaps better for a younger palate.  So in a way, you can tailor the results depending on what marmalade you use.  I reckon that Rose's Lime Marmalade would be awesome with a dash of lemon juice, lemon zest and a sprinkle of ground ginger - however, I haven't tried that thought yet!

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed it - and its a 100% definite do-it-again.

If you decide to go with the rice version and want to be totally cheffy, you can make mounds of rice by lightly oiling the inside of a cup and packing the rice into it. Turn it upside down and bingo - cheffy mounds of rice!

The cooked vegetable version is good (and probably better, as we're in December and it's frosty outdoors!) however I'd stick with veggies that are compatible with Chinese style food.  Things such as broccoli, green beans, carrots, peas - you can dress them up however you like, maybe add some chilli to your broccoli or (as I have done in the photographs), sesame seeds and a little butter to your green beans.  However, be sure that your family enjoy citrus flavours with their potatoes!  Not everyone enjoys this combination, although I think it's the proverbial bees knees.

Something else to bear in mind (I suppose these are the Cook's tips!) is the size of the pieces of peel in the marmalade, in relation to everyone's preference.  My friend Marion, for instance, would need a marmalade that was totally bereft of "fishes", as she calls them.  For me, the bigger the pieces, the better! 

So there you are.  Do have a go at this one - it's taken for ever to get to you and it really didn't deserve it!

STICKY MARMALADE CHICKEN    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, each cut into 3 similar sized pieces
sea salt & black pepper
2-3 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp olive oil
300ml chicken stock
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
4 tbsp fine-cut well flavoured orange marmalade
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or half a tsp dried
juice of a quarter of a lemon, if necessary, to taste.

Method :

1.  Place the chicken into a bowl and add the seasoning and cornflour.  Toss the chicken until liberally coated.

2.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, add the chicken pieces.  Fry for 8-10 mins,  until golden on all sides.

3.  Reduce the heat, add the garlic and chilli and cook for 1 minute more.

4.  Add the stock, marmalade and thyme.  Stir through until the marmalade has dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  

5.  Remove the chicken and reserve to keep warm.

6.  Boil the mixture hard to reduce to a syrupy sauce, serve the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken.

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Catalan Butifarra sausage pasta with chestnuts - thank you, Quiet Waters Farm

Wow.  These are by far and away the best sausages I have ever had the very great pleasure of sampling.  However, having said that, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.  As my Dad would say, "start at the beginning".

My lovely friend Marcus Bawdon, he of "Country Woodsmoke" blogging fame and a mean old barbecuing pal (if you've not been to his blog, do go - but be ready to salivate a LOT), has been singing the praises of Quiet Waters Farm and their produce, particularly the sausages, a fair amount just recently.  So when I spotted - on the Quiet Waters Farm Facebook page - a competition to win some of their sausages, I was quick to slip a late entry in and crossed my fingers.

Lo and behold - and much to my surprise - I trotted in as one of the runners up and won three packs of sausages!  Yay!  I even had a choice as to which sausages I would like and went for the Catalan Butifarra (a delicate balance of black pepper and sea salt in a pork sausage), the Toulouse (garlic and white wine) and the Siciliano (fennel, garlic and lemon).

Now because of Marcus' bigging them up on his blog, they had an awful lot to live up to.  However, I trust Marcus and know that if he says something is great - it's probably a little bit better than great.  So I was super excited to receive and try these sausages.

They arrived on the day they were supposed to, tightly packaged and still frozen inside a polystyrene box that made it very easy to put them straight into the freezer.  Because we'd arranged the day of delivery, I had been able to include them in this week's menu plan and had opted to try the Catalan Butifarra ones first.  Now I had also done a little research about the Butifarra/Botifarra sausage in general and discovered that there are a number of different kinds of Butifarra sausage that originate from different areas of the world - hence the slight difference in the spelling.  Having the "Catalan" bit there in the name enabled me to pinpoint the research and establish what the primary flavours were likely to be and what, generally, people put with them.  Of course, it goes without saying that whatever the general method of cooking and serving was, I would wind up doing something different.  However, I learned that these sausages are often eaten with broad (or fava) beans - so earthy type flavours - and did not necessarily require pan frying, as they were often simply placed into a stew type of dish and allowed to cook gently for a long time.

So, "earthy flavours" eh?  Immediately - and that'll be because of the time of year - my thoughts flew to chestnuts.  I adore chestnuts and so do piggies, so chestnuts were a definite.  Naturally, chestnut mushrooms were hot on their heels and would be just perfect, but I needed something that would give colour and sweetness whilst retaining that "close to the earth" theme.  Peas were no good, sweet yes but earthy?  No.  Butternut squash was the answer, but because it can be slightly bland I thought I'd roast it to gain that lovely intensity of flavour that roasting a butternut can bring.

So I'd got my main ingredients, but as of yet no sauce.  Pasta has to have sauce.  I also had no input from any herbs - and I love herbs.  The obvious choice for herbs was a pesto - and I debated red pesto versus green pesto versus home made herb pesto but with a nod towards the fact that I'd quite like you to be able to reproduce the recipe, I went with a common or garden basil and pine nut, green pesto.  The pesto would give the background herb flavour that I had in my imagination, whilst saucing the pasta - but I wanted more than just a potentially greasy pesto.

At this stage, I was still envisaging the contents of the sausage pan being mixed into the pasta prior to serving.  Right up until I had a flash of inspiration and considered saucing both the sausages and the pasta, but with different sauces that would combine sympathetically in the bowl.  Aha!  We're onto something now.  It was a simple matter of adding a small amount of quite intensely flavoured vegetable stock to the sausage mixture, which would deglaze the pan and gather all those lovely sausagey, savoury flavours that would otherwise be lost.  Then, serve the pesto pasta into the warm bowl and add the sausage component next, with its light sauce that would trickle through the pasta just perfectly.  A small sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley over the top to underline the freshness of the herb flavours and a light grating of parmesan for its umami and salt and I was there.

All this just totally relied upon the sausages being ace for pork flavour and not exceptionally fatty.  Now flavour is a subjective thing and all I could do was hope, however the fat content of the sausages I knew about, as in talking to Quiet Waters Farm on their Facebook page, I'd established that the fat ratio ran at around 75/25 percent lean to fat.  Well that sounded okay to me - I'd just keep an eye on the fat that was accumulating in the pan and use as little as possible to begin with, then prior to adding the stock, if there was too much I could easily remove some by spooning it off.  Perfect.

You see, I had thought about this recipe before attempting it.  Just a little bit.  *chuckle*

Oh my goodness - or ERMAGHERD! - it worked and it worked absolutely beautifully.

These Catalan Butifarra sausages are incredible.  There is a claim on the website that "we know you will not have tasted anything quite like them before" and they are absolutely right.  After I had tasted a piece during the cooking, I described them to hubby as having a porky flavour that is more roast pork than sausage pork and that they are quite intensely porky.  He got a bit concerned at that, as he hates (with a passion) sausages that taste of "old pork".  You know how pork can sometimes taste really "piggy" more than porky.  Well not these babies.  Having tasted their succulent gorgeousness, he declared himself both surprised and relieved at the cleanness of the flavour.  The black pepper is slow to rise to the surface, behind the gorgeous richness of the intense pork that is subtly supported by the sea salt.  However, when it does, the flavours just dance across your tongue.  The robustness of the sausage is everything you would hope it could be - even without their natural casings to contain them (which I removed), there's no falling apart, no mushiness (that'll be the lack of cereal, then!), just firm, succulent, tasty sausage.  Oh happy days.  Hubby even went so far as to declare that they were the best sausages he had ever sampled (and he's a sausage connoisseur, let me tell you) - and I agree.

Having done "the fancy thing" with the Catalan Butifarra, we both then had a terrible hankering for a couple of them, pan fried, in between two slabs of doorstep Farmhouse bread, with lashings of real butter, HP sauce and a huge mug of builders' tea.  Which, at some point, just HAS to be done. 

Now, having got all the superlatives out of the way, let's have a think about any "Cooks Notes" I might have for you.

Firstly, if you should invest in some of these wonderful sausages (whoops, another superlative slipped in), which I heartily recommend, then you can follow the recipe as written.  However, if you're intending on using another type of sausage, go for as high a percentage pork as you can afford.

Secondly, when cooking the shallots it is important not to think "the pan is a bit dry, I'll add more oil".  No, add a splash or two of water, so that the shallots steam for a while before returning to frying.  You can do this several times, without any fear of loss of flavour.  The most important thing is to keep the oil to a minimum.

Thirdly, as with the oil, you need to keep the salt to a minimum.  The sausages have a natural saltiness in their recipe and you have the potential to make the whole thing over salted if you take into account the stock, the salt in the pasta water, the salty pesto and lastly the saltiness of the grated parmesan - so you definitely don't need any additional salt.  Tie your hands behind your back of you think you're likely to over season!

If you fancy it, to up the gorgeousness, you could add some porcini mushrooms along with the chestnut mushrooms - and use their soaking water to make the vegetable stock mixture.  They would add another layer of earthy flavour along with making the recipe a little bit more special.

So there you have it!  I cannot recommend these sausages enough - do, please, to go the Quiet Waters Farm website (just click on the name) and check out their Farm Shop where you'll find the hundreds of different type of sausages that are on offer.  The next ones to cross my cooker will be the Toulouse - and I can't wait!

CATALAN BUTIFARRA SAUSAGE PASTA WITH CHESTNUTS   (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil, split into 3 tsp
half a butternut squash (the thin end is best)
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
200ml warm water and 300ml warm water
1 pack of 6 Quiet Waters Farm Catalan Butifarra sausages, skinned and broken into small pieces
5 chestnut mushrooms
1 tsp vegetable stock base
250g pasta (spirali is good)
2 tbsp basil and pine nut pesto
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
parmesan cheese, for grating
sea salt and black pepper.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 220degC/425degF/Gas 7.

2.  Cut and peel the butternut squash, then slice into small bite sized cubes.  Put one tsp of olive oil into a bowl with the butternut pieces, add a touch of seasoning and stir until the pieces are all coated in the seasoned oil.

3.  Tip the butternut pieces out onto a baking tray and roast for 20-25 minutes.

4.  Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water, add a pinch of salt and place on to boil.

5.  In a large frying pan, add the last two tsp of olive oil and the finely chopped shallots.  Do not add any salt, as between the butternut and the sausages, you already have a fair amount of salt there.  Sweat the shallots down for 5-10 minutes or so, if you find the pan is a little dry, add 100ml of warm water to add a little steam which will hurry them along a bit, without the threat of excessive colour.

6.  Once the shallots are softened, but not coloured, add the broken sausage pieces.  Increase the heat to keep the pan going, otherwise the cold sausage pieces will reduce the heat in the pan and everything will just boil instead of fry.  

7.  Once the sausage pieces have started to colour, add the mushrooms to cook alongside.  Cook everything until the sausage pieces have changed colour and are just cooked through.

8.  Once the water in the saucepan has boiled, add the pasta and cook to manufacturer's instructions.

9.  Back to the sausages.  Add 300ml of warm water and the vegetable stock base.  Stir to combine and cover the pan.  Reduce the heat and simmer for as long as it takes for the pasta to cook, then remove the lid and stir.  If the contents are particularly wet, leave the lid off to evaporate some of the liquid while you deal with the pasta.  If there is just enough liquid to form a glossy sauce, replace the lid - you're ready to go.

10.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well and add the pesto.  Stir through.

11.  Serve the pasta into warmed bowls, then add the sausage mixture on top.  Then sprinkle on a tsp of chopped parsley and grate a little parmesan over the top.

12.  Sit, eat and enjoy.

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