This is probably the chavviest thing I have ever cooked. But by God it made me smile. It’s a minted lamb patty and onion bhaji, wrapped in a naan and dolloped with curry sauce.
I can’t claim credit for inventing it – but after receiving a voucher for a local Hungry Horse and a spare afternoon, I decided to pop in. Described on the menu as the “Bollywood Burger” I couldn’t resist such an audacious setup. I was amazed how interesting it tasted, and well worth trying at home.
Minted lamb naan burger (makes 4 burgers):
300g lamb mince
Big bunch of mint, finely shredded
1 onion, sliced into half moons
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 shop-bought flat onion bhajis (or make ’em, if you’re so inclined)
4 naan
Pre-heat the oven to 150°C.
Grab a quarter of the mint and combine in a bowl with the onion and a pinch each of salt and sugar. Tip over the vinegar and leave to sit while you do everything else.
Mix the lamb mince with the remaining mint and season well. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar if you have it. Combine and form into patties.
Pop the bhajis in the oven to crisp up and chuck the naan in too to warm through.
Get a griddle pan on hot and fry the patties on each side until cooked to your liking. I prefer a little under, about 6 minutes each side.
Scrunch the onion salad with your hands to remove the excess juice and pop on to your plates.
Slip the bhajis and a patty inside a folded naan. Serve with curry sauce and mango chutney.
Another slice of pure joy from Leon 2. This Greek-inspired family recipe is a delight, and I particularly enjoy the use of macaroni as a carb. The tiny pasta tubes bring out the kid in me. The original recipe called for dried mint but I tend not to use it and went for the mostly authentic dried oregano instead. And we haven’t even mentioned the lamb: rich, soft and sweet. Try instead of a roast one week, it’s almost zero maintenance. I served mine with some steamed Savoy cabbage and it was wonderful.
PS. I recommend not falling asleep halfway through cooking – it does need the occasional baste!
Put the onions in a baking tray and mix with the tomatoes. Fill one of the tomato tins with water and slosh that in too. Poke the lamb all over with the tip of a sharp knife. Break the garlic into bits and stuff into the holes, then cram some torn mint on top. Pop this on top of the tomato mix, season like billy-o and slam in the oven.
Cook for about 3 - 4 hours, or until the lamb is tender. Baste frequently to make a lovely cakey crust on the lamb, and you may need to add water from time to time to stop the whole thing drying out.
About 20 mins before the end of cooking, throw in the macaroni and oregano, stir about and put back in the oven. Continue to add water through this cooking time as necessary.
Serve by hacking the lamb into chunks with a big scoop of tomatoey onion pasta.
The latest series of Great British Menu has been hit and miss. Tweaks to the format were needed, but there’s still too much footage of chefs stomping around damp fields saying things like “lovely sheep, that” and then butchering it. Tad repetitive, no? And a further knockout stage (obviously what was missing, though at least there’s something on the line in the superfluous Monday – Thursday shows) just gives the opportunity for an experienced chef to look superior and aloof.
Anyway, Richard Davies, despite not going forward to cook for the judges and seemingly not bothering to even think about what he was going to cook until seconds before firing up the Aga, put up a lovely looking dessert: a mint mousse. Yummy, I thought. I’ll have some of that. However not being a winner his recipe doesn’t hit the BBC website. So off a-Googling I went.
I couldn’t find a blasted mint mousse recipe anywhere. Plenty of choc-mint mousse recipes yes, and not a bad thing as I could happily devour a gallon of the stuff. But no just mint mousses. So I was left to my own devices. I went for a folded cream/egg white mix, which gave a smooth, bubbly texture, and decided to line them with crushed Oreo cookies. They have a mental image when I eat them, the white icing suggesting they will be mint-flavoured even though they are nothing of the sort. Topped with a sweet praline it was one of the nicest desserts I’ve ever made.
Mint mousse (serves 6):
10 Oreo cookies, crushed well
20g melted butter
3 egg whites
10 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint essence
400ml double cream
10 mint leaves
1 teaspoon caster sugar
For the pistachio praline:
100g caster sugar
Large handful shelled pistachio nuts
Make the praline first: melt the sugar in a pan with a splash of water. This will take a couple of minutes. Allow the sugar to colour and turn a sticky brown colour. When this happens, stir in the nuts and a pinch of sea salt, and immediately spread out thinly on to a baking tray or flat surface to cool (I recommend a silicone mat if you have one). When cool, blitz to a powder and store until needed.
Combine the Oreos and butter and layer into your serving dishes. Push down to compact the biscuit and leave a level top. Refrigerate.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the sugar slowly, continuing to whisk. Eventually you’ll get firm, glossy peaks.
Combine the cream and peppermint and whip the cream until fairly stiff (slowly falls off the whisk when held up). Fold the meringue into this gently. You may want to taste at this point, adjusting the sugar and minty flavours as desired.
Pipe or spoon the egg/cream mixture into your serving dishes, and refrigerate until needed (it’s OK to eat straight away but tastes much better chilled).
To serve, pound the mint leaves and a teaspoon of sugar together to make a vivid green pulp. Lightly drizzle this over the mousses, sprinkle over some praline and garnish with a mint leaf.
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.
