Category: onion

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cheese food onion pastry

cheese and onion tart

raymond blanc's onion tart

Raymond Blanc has recently trotted around France cooking for locals. In A Very Hungry Frenchman Raymond acted as part guide, part tourist in a manner similar to Two Greedy Italians. I couldn’t quite figure out whether Raymond was well known in his home country or not – sure he has a spot in Paul Bocuse’s Les Halles de Lyon but little clues other than that. The program was very entertaining if a little long, with Raymond giggling his way through the food and showing his affable passion. Each programme showcased a different region.

In his Alsace episode this recipe for an onion tart stopped me dead. I thought it looked the business so I had to give it a go. Not content to leave it alone, I added cheese to the pastry to add another layer to the flavours. I was recently sent some Old Amsterdam cheese, not a brand I’d previously heard of. Trying it raw out of the packet I was knocked out by it’s punchy flavour, like a soft, tangy parmesan with a cheddar-like texture. I’ll definitely be picking some more of this up.

The tart itself is quiche-like, set with eggs and packed with sweet onion flavour. I didn’t have the deluxe variety Raymond was celebrating so used a mixture of regular brown and red onions. It’s a dense and tasty tart, and I was very pleased to have the cheesy pastry as an accompaniment; cheese and onion is a classic combination for good reason and the saltiness crumbled beautifully next to the onions.

It’s a lovely recipe for a Sunday lunch or cold as a part of a picnic. I served mine with salad and a lemony avocado dressing (the dressing from this one).

Based on this recipe by Raymond Blanc

Cheese and onion tart (serves 4 – 6):

For the pastry:

200g plain flour

70g Old Amsterdam cheddar, grated (a strong cheddar would also work)

30g unsalted butter, diced

1 egg

For the filling:

100g bacon lardons

450g mix of red and brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

50g butter

Nutmeg

1 tablespoon flour

100ml milk

100ml creme fraiche

3 eggs, beaten

  1. First prepare the pastry. Pulse the flour, cheese and butter with a pinch of salt in a food processor until you get breadcrumbs. Add the egg and maybe a splash of milk to bring it all together. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least half an hour before using.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and gently fry the onions for 15 minutes until soft and golden.
  3. Roll out the pastry (Raymond recommends rolling it between two sheets of cling film, great tip!) and lay into a baking dish. Prick all over with a fork and blind-bake for 15 minutes until golden. Brush with a little of the beaten egg to glaze and bake for a further 2 minutes.
  4. Add the lardons to the onions and fry for a couple more minutes. Tip in the flour and stir well for 2 more minutes. Add the milk and stir vigorously to make a thick oniony paste. Add the creme fraiche and stir a little longer, then remove from the heat. Add the eggs to incorporate, season well then pour into the pastry case. Bake for 30 minutes until golden, then allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving in thick wedges.
Categories
beef chilli coriander cumin food onion oregano tomato

11 minute chilli

I’m a big fan of chilli, I’ve probably cooked it more than anything else. I particularly like ones that sit there and blip away under their own steam for hours. I was looking forward to cooking a chilli tonight.

But I’d had a rotten evening. Little Miss Spud was rotten sick and was in no mood for going to bed. There were many changes of clothes (for me and her), things to wash, bottles to fetch… Eventually she dozed off, and it was time to cook. I reached for the takeaway menus… but didn’t. I had planned on doing a chilli and gosh darnit, a chilli I was going to make.

I floated the idea on Twitter about cooking a chilli in 10 minutes. “Not enough time”, scoffed Gary Dickenson. “It can’t be done!” wailed Food Urchin. “Keep us posted” urged Simon Loves Food. Well, that was that – no turning back now. I had to do it.

The problem is to develop those flavours does take time. There needed to be some sneaky shortcuts in there to amp it up and cut down the cooking time, hence the ingredients list is fairly long – but generally full of store cupboard stuff. The hard bit is that it’s one of those dishes where you keep adding stuff but by bit and each part needs to come back to the simmer. So I drew together some ideas that I’ve flirted with before: frying mince to release the oils and then add the onion to that, and creating a thick tomato paste packed with flavourings to form a flavour base. So I cooked these parts separately and combined them at the end.

And I have to say it was really tasty, and really worth it. Of course it’s not the same as a slow-simmered chilli ticking away for hours, and it would’ve been nice to stick some kidney beans in there (I just didn’t have any to hand) to nod back to the ‘usual’ recipe. But it’s a good alternative and great for busy weekday evenings. Oh, and it came out at 11 minutes rather than 10, but I can live with that.

11 minute chilli (serves 2):

400g beef mince

Two cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin of tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 onion, peeled and sliced into half-moons

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano

A large handful of tortilla chips

150ml boiling hot beef stock

Mushroom ketchup

Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (or other chilli sauce you like)

  1. Preheat your oven to top whack, and get two frying pans over a high heat.
  2. Add a splash of oil to both pans. Pop the mince in one of them and let sizzle and stir occasionally to colour all over. Meanwhile in the other pan crush in the garlic and 10 seconds later throw in the tomatoes, puree, and paprika. Keep stirring this too when you have a minute. Both pans should be bubbling fairly furiously.
  3. When the mince is coloured all over it will probably have released some fat. Throw the onions into this along with the cumin, coriander, chilli powder and oregano. Add a pinch of salt and keep stirring.
  4. Scatter the tortilla chips in one layer and pop in the oven for a couple of minutes to warm through and become really brittle.
  5. Now add the beef stock to the mince and again keep stirring and shaking. By now the tomato paste should be quite thick and pulpy, so add this to the mince mixture.
  6. Keep the heat high as you bring it all together and allow it to reduce naturally. Add a shake or two of both mushroom ketchup and hot sauce and check for seasoning. When you’re happy with it serve with the tortillas, grated cheese, soured cream, guacamole, etc. etc. whatever things you like to serve with chilli.
Categories
coriander cumin curry lamb onion turmeric

curried lamb breast with onions

Flushed with the success of Simon Hopkinson’s stunning lamb breast dish, I felt the only way it could be improved is with the addition of curry spices. The Indian flavours I felt would surely go well with rich lamb. At the same time I stumbled upon other people doing the same dish, such as Girl Interrupted Eating. She’d chosen to do this in the slow cooker so I thought I’d do the same. I asked if she’d fried the onions off beforehand, as in my experience onions aren’t good at breaking down in a slow cooker. However in my haste I got on and cooked them off anyway, before Becky could reply that she didn’t!

Mine turned out very nice – warming and spiced and just breaking through the fatty lamb. It kinda tasted like it had been baked in mango chutney. Juicy and filling, not what you’d call a light dinner! Good fun though.

Print

curried lamb breast with onions

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 800 g lamb breast
  • 3 onions sliced
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger peeled
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 large bunch of fresh coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 6 curry leaves

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your slow cooker to low.
  • Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and sear the lamb on each side. Put to one side while you fry the onions gently.
  • Remove the leaves from the coriander bunch and reserve for later. Put the stalks on a chopping board with the garlic and ginger and chop together to a chunky paste. When the onions have softened add the coriander / garlic / ginger mix. Fry for a minute and then add all the spices, frying for another minute.
  • Add half the onion mix to the slow cooker, pop the lamb on top then add the remaining onions. Add a splash of water and pop the lid on for about 6 hours, or until the lamb can be pushed apart with a spoon.
  • Remove the lamb to the side for one minute so you can remove any bones or gummy bits of skin 'n' stuff that lamb breast can have. Pop a sieve on a saucepan and put the onions into the sieve. Put the lamb and drained onions with a sprinkle of salt back into the slow cooker while you work on the reserved liquid.
  • Simmer the liquid until reduced by half, add a dash of white wine vinegar and the coriander leaves. Dish up the lamb and onions, spoon over the sauce and serve with crispy cauliflower.
Categories
lamb onion parsley

lamb breast baked with onions

As previously mentioned, I love Simon Hopkinson’s Good Cook series. And I love lamb breast recipes. So my only reservation is seeing Simon do this brilliant recipe is fretting that the price of lamb breast would go up. Lamb breast is dirt cheap, seriously cheap, so what we don’t need is a primetime BBC programme showing how amazing lamb breast can be.

And amazing it is. Rich, heady, falling-apart lamb with luscious, sharp onions is an absolute dream. Try it now.

Simon Hopkinson’s original recipe can be found here.

Lamb breast baked with onions (serves 4):

1.5kg lamb breast

1.5kg onions, sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 anchovy, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
  2. Season the lamb in a hot, lidded casserole pan until browned all over. Remove from the pan and put to one side. Add half the onions to the pan, lay the lamb back on top then cover with the remaining onions and the bay leaf. Top with a circle of greaseproof paper and bake for three hours, until the lamb is tender.
  3. Turn off the oven heat and remove the casserole dish. Discard the bay leaf and put the lamb in a roasting tray. Cover with foil and leave in the oven while you finish the onions.
  4. Put the casserole dish over a low heat and add the anchovy and vinegar. Stir through and season to taste, so it’s sweet, salty and sharp at the same time. When it’s ready turn off the heat and add the parsley. Serve the lamb with a nice pile of juicy onions alongside.
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