Month: September 2009

tomato and shallot salad

tomato and shallot salad (with an pancetta omelette)

I made another omelette (though with pancetta instead of chorizo this time, all smoky and perfumed) and wanted some sort of side salad to balance it out. I hit upon the idea of juicy tomatoes paired with sharp raw shallot. I didn’t want the onion too raw so I allowed them to break down a little in vinegar for a little while to take the edge. I used a combination of vinegars here, the rice one for a subtle acidity without too strong a flavour to itself, and balsamic for a sweet richness. The harsh onions paired with sweet tomatoes hit all the right buttons as a side to a rich dinner.

Tomato and shallot salad:

2 tomatoes, sliced

4 shallots, sliced

1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Place the shallots in a bowl and cover with the rice vinegar. Allow to marinate for 20 – 30 minutes to tenderise.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Season to taste.

food garlic juniper lamb mint

churro lamb

Yet another taste of Jamie’s America, and yet another Navajo treat: churro lamb. This obviously isn’t actually churro lamb but I hope Jamie Oliver will consider tasty Essex lamb good enough!

The secret to this roast lamb is in the pre-roast baste, which is a really unusual but tasty mix: juniper berries, mint and garlic with plenty of salt and pepper. Mixed with oil I rub this all over a shoulder of lamb, which is then roasted in a hot oven for about 1hr 20 mins, until tender and juicy. I make sure the lamb rests well, if you don’t you get tough and tasteless meat. Let it relax! While it’s resting, I can’t resist picking at the tasty blackened bits sticking to the top of the joint!

While that rests I prepared a salsa and white beans. For the beans I warmed cannelini beans with white wine vinegar and oregano. The salsa was a mix of shallot, parsley, tomato, pepper and chilli in white wine vinegar and olive oil.

Served together it was a pleasing contrast to the usual Sunday roast: rich and interesting lamb yes, but with creamy and filling beans, topped with a spiky and refreshing salsa. If I’m honest the chilli was a step too far, but the combination was very exciting.

Tags jamie oliver

chocolate cinnamon food sugar

churros with hot chocolate

This was another foray into Jamie’s America. Sticking with the Navajo theme, the idea of little balls of fried batter with hot chocolate for dipping was too much to resist. Churro comes from the breed of lamb that the Navajo farm, and the dumplings are supposed to be shaped like sheep’s horns!

It starts with butter and water boiled together and then flour added with baking powder and salt, with an egg beaten in to bind. That’s your batter made. This was then deep fried for 3 minutes until puffy and brown, then tossed in cinnamon and caster sugar for sweet-spicy flavour. The chocolate was made with boiling full-fat milk and cinnamon, mixed with a little cornflour and sugar until thickened. When it was the right consistency I added chopped dark chocolate and whisked like billy-o until I had a gloopy sweet sauce.

My gripes were three-fold: the chocolate while tasty was too thick and unctuous. It was more like chocolate custard. Next time I might forgo some of the cornflour. Also, the churros were a little doughy in the centre – I tried making smaller ones but the problem was still the same. I’d probably aim for something more like a doughnut recipe next time to get a lighter filling. Thirdly I used nearly every pan in the house! There’s so many things happening concurrently I needed pots and pans galore. (And therefore washing-up galore – ugh).

That said, it was very tasty and pushed lots of sweet / rich buttons, and I can really imagine this being a hit on bonfire night when everyone’s wrapped up warm, or possibly Christmas time as a fun snack. I’ll bring this one out again – with a few modifications.

Tags jamie oliver

bacon cheese egg food onion potatoes

navajo breakfast

This is the first recipe I’ve tried from Jamie’s America, Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook exploring the US coast-to-coast in search for true Americana, away from burgers and fries. I’ve started with the Navajo Breakfast, something dead easy and reminiscent of many a western breakfast; potatoes, bacon, onion, eggs… fairly ordinary stuff. It’s a pretty hefty breakfast though, only worth contemplating on a busy Saturday!

I start by frying a sliced onion with some bacon, then adding red potatoes that have been sliced on the ‘wide’ bit of a box grater. I continued frying these until soft and then seasoned. Then I chucked in some beaten eggs mixed with a little cayenne pepper, and once the eggs had set oozed the lot on to some toast. Not quite content with my cardiac state I added a little grated cheese on top. Totally satisfying and very tasty, this will come round again another breakfast time!

Tags jamie oliver