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.
This meal represent a confluence of good fortune: I receive a job-lot of Total Greek Yoghurt one minute and a copy of Leon Naturally Fast Food the next. I’ve never been so instantly bowled over by a cookbook, it’s extremely wedded to the way I cook and makes perfect sense. It’s beautifully presented in a scrapbook style, and packed with a very real voice. It’s utterly charming.
I was drawn to the pot-roasts, and had a curryish state of mind going in. So this seemed like the one to use as a starting point. I’ve added a few bits and pieces.
It was very satisfying, but personally I underseasoned it. It will be utterly delicious the next time.
Indian chicken pot roast (serves 4):
4 chicken quarters
300ml 0% Total Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 potatoes, sliced into thick discs
1 lemon, sliced into thick discs
1 onion, sliced into rings
1 large bag of spinach
Brine the chicken in enough water to cover with 8% salt for 6 hours. Afterwards, rinse under a cold tap and pat dry.
Mix the yoghurt and spices together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Marinate the chicken in this lovely pink mix overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of a large lidded casserole dish. Lay the onions on this, then the lemon slices. Season well, then plop the chicken on top of this with any leftover marinade.
Bake for 1½ to 2 hours, until the chicken is done. Get the chicken out carefully with tongs, tip the spinach in and pop the chicken back on top. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and is tender.
Another roast potato recipe for the repertoire. These are from Jamie at Home. But these are very different, perfect for a barbecue and a lovely, smoky, intoxicating flavour. You need to use a great big whack of balsamic and it’s going to get cooked the hell out of it, so use the cheapest you can. Watch out when you open the oven early on, the acrid whiff of boiling vinegar can really catch in the back of the throat. It’s a dead good recipe though, and a pleasant change from normal potatoes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bring some potatoes to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes.
While the potatoes drain leave a little oil in a baking tray with the thyme and garlic in the oven to get warm. When your potatoes have drained add them to the baking tray with the onions. Drown in balsamic.
Roast for about 45 minutes, tossing every so often to coat all well. Season before serving.
I took a good look at Judy Joo’s recipe, and dived into the challenge. Being a forthright so-and-so, I made a few adjustments. I understand they are at the heart of the dish but I had no chance of finding dangmyeon, or sweet potato vermicelli, in my corner of Essex. It’s hard enough finding an Asian store of any description, so I hope the panel will forgive me substituting fine egg noodles (if I ever see some on my travels, I will grab them and give ’em a try). On a more personal level, I love it when beef has that black-brown seared crust on, and worried that this recipe might lose it. So I chose to sear the beef very quickly over very high heat, then leave it to rest alongside the omelette before adding back at the end. By resting it here, those lovely steak juices would wander off and get leeched by the egg, so double win there.
All told, it was a lovely plate of noodles. Dark and rich, with plenty of fresh vegetable crunch. The omelette and beef were nice little nuggets of treasure hidden away amongst it all. Thanks guys! So what’s next?
Jap chae (serves 2):
200g rump steak, thinly sliced
For the marinade:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For the noodles:
2 nests fine egg noodles, broken up
2 tbsp soy sauce
Everything else:
2 eggs, beaten
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red onion, sliced
1 small carrot, julienned
12 oyster mushrooms, sliced
½ red pepper, julienned
Handful baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Mix the marinade ingredients together, pour over the steak and leave for at least half an hour.
Boil the noodles as per packet instructions, drain and rinse through with plenty of cold water. When cool to the touch pour over the soy and let it soak in.
Get a pan on medium low and spread the egg thinly over the base of the pan. When it sets flip it over, cook briefly, roll it up and put to one side.
Get the pan up to ferocious heat and add a splash of oil. Sear the beef quickly for about 45 seconds on either side and remove to the same plate as the omelette to rest while you get on with everything else. (I couldn’t bear to lose that leftover marinade so poured it over the resting noodles).
Keep the heat high and add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Keep it moving the whole time and it shouldn’t catch. Add the red onion, carrot, mushrooms and pepper and continue stir-frying at pace. Fry for 3 – 4 minutes more until they vegetables start to go tender, then add the spinach and beef. Slice the omelette into strips and add those too along with the noodles and the rest of the ingredients.
Cook for another minute or two until everything has been warmed through and the noodles take on a glossy appearance.
