Category: lamb

potatoes boulangere

Nothing teaches you more than sitting there in person watching a pro do what they do best. There’s far communicated more in the tiny details of their actions while they’re in the zone than they could ever write down and explain to you. I’m a hopeless golfer but the few pro tournaments I’ve been to have been fascinating, for observing how a professional sizes himself up, mentally rehearses and pivots their body. And I felt like this when I was up close with Jean-Christophe Novelli while he prepared a simple, rustic dish.

I was invited to Jean-Christophe’s cookery academy by the British Potato Council. He is fronting a campaign promoting the thousands of varieties of potato out there that go ignored. The Many Faces of Potatoes is a great site packed with recipes, nutrition, and most intriguingly the Master Spud competition. Devise a quick, easy and brilliant potato dish and you could be in a TV advert with J-CN himself. An unusual prize!

I was there with Ute, Uyen and Selina, who all seemed to possess amazing cameras. My cameraphone felt conspicuous. I’m fairly convinced I came across as a massive potato geek, but then if you call your blog “Roast Potato” you have to play the game I guess. First Jean-Christophe explained how potatoes important to his life growing up, and how they so easily formed the basis of almost every meal. He then went on to say how wonderful and delicious the ingredient could be when treated with a light hand. He pointed out that recipes for mashed potato containing 1kg of potato to 200g butter are bound to taste nice, but then where has the potato flavour gone! He took great pains to ask not to peel them, as precious nutrients are contained there. I have to admit I was surprised just how nutritious potatoes are. But that’s the point of the campaign -to raise the potato’s status beyond that of just a carb or starch in the meal.

We were then treated to a platter of different potato varieties to really show them off. There was steamed Anyas, bright-red Rudolphs, rustic Desiree and many more. My favourite was the Marabel made into a golden and fluffy mash. The taste was amazing, nutty and buttery yet prepared with only a touch of seasoning. Most shockingly of all this variety is exclusive to Asda!

Then Chef Novelli prepared this wonderful potato dish below. It’s sticky, warming, hearty and dead easy to prepare. I really recommend it for this time of year when it’s still chilly in the evening and lamb is dirt cheap. It celebrates all the ingredients in it and tastes absolutely beautiful.

After the cooking demonstration I pressed Jean-Christophe for his perfect roast potato recipe, which he gladly shared with me. It’s a little unconventional, so I will definitely be trying it out – and of course blogging it – very soon. Watch this space!

Make sure you give the Many Faces of Potatoes site a browse and find a few more varieties for your cupboard.

Thanks to Food Urchin for recommending me to go in his absence!

Lamb boulangere (serves 3 – 4):

300g lamb neck fillet, sliced into medallions

½ head of celeriac

2 onions

2 Vivaldi potatoes (available from Sainsbury’s)

4 cloves of garlic

Sprig rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped

Spring thyme, leaves picked

About a pint of chicken stock

About 50g block low-fat cheddar*

Heat a little oil in a large lidded casserole dish. Season the lamb all over and quickly sear. Put the lid back on the casserole while it sears to retain heat and contain moisture.

While the lamb sears finely slice the celeriac, onion and potato. Jean-Christophe used a mandoline, but in the spirit of Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals I used a food processor for speed and consistency. Add these to the pan along with the herbs and stir well to allow the flavours to mingle. Again, pop the lid back on.

Squash and peel the garlic and add that to the pan as well. After a minute or two, add enough chicken stock to the pan to barely cover everything. You want enough to be soaked up a little, not to dilute what’s already there. Lid back on and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

The veg should be knife-tender by now. Use a fish slice to lift off a chunk of the stew, poke the whole cheddar block (don’t bother slicing or grating) in and let the stew drop back on top of it. Let the stew cook for another 5 minutes and check for seasoning. Serve a big scoop of it with some green veg on the side.

*A low fat cheddar is preferable as the oils should remain contained within the cheese and not split in the casserole.

Tags jean christophe novelli

bread harissa lamb oregano parsley tomato

leon meatballs

I was overjoyed to discover there was a Leon on my “doorstep” – Bluewater to be precise. Well it’ s not in London, so that’s a start. The family and I went there and tried out a bunch of things. It was little unconventional but healthy, hearty and good fun. The hands-down dish of the day was the meatballs, who have been praised by all sorts, including some Gordon Ramsay chap.

I was ecstatic to discover the recipe on the Guardian website. Trying it myself, it was a recipes of ups and downs. The sauce was a disaster, calling for 1½ tablespoons of harissa. Even taking it down to a teaspoon was still volcanic. Maybe I possess the hottest harissa on the planet, I don’t know. The sauce was ruined though, burning hot. The meatballs themselves was lovely though – the clever bit is torn-up soggy pitta breads, giving a earthy, toasted flavour that’d be really hard to put your finger on if you didn’t know what was in them.

So meatballs = yes, sauce = no.

(Incidentally, the leftovers made for a mean moussaka the following week topped with grilled aubergine and bechamel!)

Want more ideas for leftovers? Or what to cook with the things lurking at the back of your fridge? Check out Gumbo, a recipe search engine that I recently discovered. Gumbo helps you discover new recipes using the ingredients you have in your kitchen, thereby reducing your food waste. What a great way to make the most with what you already have.

Leon meatballs

Servings 6 people

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the meatballs

6 pitta breads
120 ml milk
1 kg minced lamb
A small bunch of parsley finely chopped
A small handful of mint finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves of garlic chopped

For the sauce

30 ml olive oil
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon harissa
A handful of basil chopped
A handful of parsley chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl, add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning.
Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
On a griddle pan, brown the balls quickly - it's all about colouring them and not cooking them through ... five minutes total cooking time with about three turns on the griddle.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the crushed garlic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right.
Lastly, stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check.

Tags allegra mcevedy

lamb spinach

lamb saag balti

After the success of a recent curry, I had leftover onion base and balti paste. To ring the changes I had a lamb and spinach version, and it was delicious. I really recommend the Waitrose onion curry base, it’s a brilliant time-saver and packed with taste.

Lamb saag balti:

½ jar of onion curry base

2 tablespoons Patak’s balti paste

1 red pepper, diced

2 lamb leg steaks, diced

1 pint chicken stock

1 tablespoon double cream

1 bag of spinach leaves

In a little oil, fry the onions and paste together for a minute until really sizzling. Add the lamb with a pinch of salt and stir well to coat.

Once the lamb has coloured on all sides, add the pepper and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes to get the flavours mingling.

Add the spinach and allow to wilt down for a couple of minutes, stir through the cream and serve with fresh coriander.

butter beans carrots garlic harissa lamb

spicy lamb steaks with garlic butter bean mash and roast carrots

Post author By Gary @ BigSpud
Post date October 31, 2010
3 Comments on spicy lamb steaks with garlic butter bean mash and roast carrots

I was fortunate enough to be sent some lovely bits and bobs by the Welsh lamb board, and asked to write up a recipe. It was an easy ‘yes’ from me, as I am a massive fan of Welsh lamb, with it’s rich meatiness and deep savoury grassy notes. And this lamb was truly delicious, some of the best tasting lamb I’ve ever had. I’ve served it here with some spice; the strong lamb flavour can stand up to some heat and bashing around.

For a change I matched it with some butter beans mashed with some garlic. The simmering takes the edge off the garlic’s harshness – do give it a try.

For more Welsh lamb recipes, go have a snoop around Eat Welsh Lamb.

Spiced lamb steaks with mashed butter beans and roast carrots (serves 2):

For the lamb:

2 Welsh lamb leg steaks

1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ a grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the carrots:

5 carrots, halved

5 agen prunes, roughly torn

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the bean mash:

1 tin butter beans

4 cloves garlic

Large sprig of rosemary, leaves picked

Juice of half a lime

To serve:

1 tablespoon creme fraiche

¼ teaspoon harissa paste (or as much as you can take!)

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Get some water on to boil and chuck the carrots in. Par-boil for about 6 minutes, or until just tender.

Meanwhile, get a frying pan over a very high heat (ideally, use a pan you can transfer to the oven). Season the lamb well on both sides and rub in the paprika, thyme and nutmeg. Smear in some oil and pop in the frying pan. Fry for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Flip it over and put the pan in the oven. Depending on the size and thickness of your lamb these need to go in for about 12 – 15 minutes. Make sure you allow the lamb to rest out of the oven for about 5 minutes before serving.

When the carrots are tender, add them to a roasting dish with the prunes and cumin and toss in a little oil. Pop in the oven along with the lamb. These will take about 20 minutes, but do give them a stir half way through cooking to coat in the flavours.

While the lamb and carrots are in the oven, get on with the butter beans. Pop the whole tin, juice and all, in a saucepan and bring to the boil along with the garlic cloves and rosemary. When the beans are tender (about 5 – 6 minutes), turn off the heat and add the lime juice. Check for seasoning and mash it up a little. Ideally you’ll have some squished beans and some whole beans. Keep warm while you finish everything else.

To serve, stir the harissa into the creme fraiche and put on the side as a dip.