Category: lamb

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food lamb onion potatoes

nigel haworth’s lancashire hotpot

I have a “go to” Lancashire hot pot recipe that I like very much, cribbed from Rick Stein some years ago. It’s very tasty, but like many others I was bowled over with Nigel Haworth on the Great British Menu this year, who blew the competition away with his hot pot. (One word or two? I just don’t know. His recipe is here.

I’ve simplified it slightly for home cookery – cut down on the varieties of lamb and reduced it down to just the neck fillet. I also used a jar of pickled cabbage – I can’t better those results. No herbs either, which is a big surprise. I also worried about the lack of liquid in the meal so bunged together an easy gravy of roast vegetables deglazed with lamb stock.

It was very tasty, and I can see why it was such a winner. Rich, gamey lamb, sweet onions with a crunchy potato topping – what’s not to like? My only slight concern was that the recipe isn’t clear about when to use a new pan for frying off the different parts. I browned the lamb in the same pan as it eventually baked in, and it caught round the edges, making it black and sticky. These bits were nice but a touch over. Doing it again I’d use two pans for frying lamb and onions, then put the part cooked elements back into a separate casserole dish for baking. Starting off from cold it will have less chance to blacken. That said, it’s delightful. Pair it with pickled cabbage for a tart contrast.

Nigel Haworth’s Lancashire Hotpot:

500g lamb neck fillet

1 tablespoon flour, seasoned

1 large onion, sliced

25g butter

1 large potato, sliced into 2mm rounds

Preheat the oven to 160C.

  1. Toss the lamb in seasoned flour and fry in a pan to brown all over.
  2. Fry the onions in butter and a large pinch of salt until softened.
  3. Toss the potato slices in a little olive oil with salt and pepper until well coated.
  4. Lay the lamb in a casserole dish, put the onions on that and top with the potato slices. Bake in the oven for 2 hours.
  5. After 2 hours, brush the potato top with melted butter and bake in the oven uncovered for a further 30 mins or until the potato is golden brown. Serve with pickled cabbage.
Categories
food lamb potatoes

lamb and potato pie

A savoury pie topped with potato, just the ticket. Pieces of lamb neck sweated with onions, tomato puree and lamb stock, then topped with sliced potatoes for a topping.

Categories
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.

Categories
food garlic lamb lemon prosciutto rosemary

italian roast lamb

I was really in the mood for artichokes alla romana again, and had the thought of lamb but more so. Even though it’s mid-Summer, I was craving some roast lamb. So to go with the artichokes I put an Italian spin on the meat. I whizzed up rosemary, garlic, lemon zest and prosciutto with some oil and then smeared all over my pierced joint. A while in the oven and a pungent, flavourful piece of meat was enjoyed. Iwas very pleased with the cut too – I planned a leg but my butcher only had absolute whoppers. What he did have though was a boned & rolled shoulder, which although I didn’t expect both speeded up the cooking time and gave me a nice crevice into which to cram the tasty stuffing.

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Italian roast lamb

A fragrant and tasty roast lamb dish.

Ingredients

  • Leg or shoulder of lamb
  • 3 slices of prosciutto or Parma ham
  • Leaves of 2 rosemary stalks
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 fat garlic cloves

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 230C.
  • Whizz the prosciutto, lemon, garlic and lemon zest in a processor. Add olive oil to slacken to a mushy paste.
  • Pack the stuffing / baste around the meat, poking into any nooks or crannies. Stab the meat with a knife if necessary.
  • Put the meat in the oven and turn down to 170C.
  • Cook until done to your likeness - 1hr 30mins for this one.
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