Category: rosemary

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butter rosemary

home made whipped rosemary butter

whipped rosemary butter home made

So why is this post about butter of all things? I recently stayed at The Cricketers in Clavering. You can read my review of the accommodation and restaurant here.

Before the starters came a plate of bread and butter was laid out, and Chris always says you can judge a restaurant by their bread and butter. The butter was superb, light and airy packed with herby flavour. I just had to recreate it.

If you’ve never made your own butter, it’s very simple. Depending on equipment you have it might be long-winded, but not difficult. Just beat up some double cream for a bit until you have a solid lump and there you go. Give it a try!

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home made whipped rosemary butter

Course Condiment
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 400 g
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 500 ml double cream
  • Maldon sea salt
  • fresh rosemary

Instructions

  • If you have a food processor or blender, use it. Otherwise get a clean jam jar with a lid. Also, put a couple of wooden spoons or spatulas in some iced water. This will help with shaping later - you can use your hands but it gets very messy very quickly.
  • Put the cream in your processor / blender and leave on a medium speed. It will whip up, get thicker and then turn into an overwhipped fluffy mess. Keep going, scraping down the sides if necessary. After about 15 minutes, very suddenly it will turn into a clumpy mass with a liquid sloshing about. You've now made butter, and the liquid is buttermilk. If you're doing this in a jam jar, just shake it continually until this happens (you may need to take it in shifts with a friend!).
  • Knead and squeeze the butter to squeeze out as much buttermilk as possible. You're now ready to shape the butter using your wooden spoons, folding in salt and rosemary to taste (I used a large pinch of salt and 1 sprig of finely chopped rosemary). You can use your butter straight away or pop in the fridge storing as butter. Keep the buttermilk for baking scones or soda bread. To make whipped butter, read on.
  • Take your butter out of the fridge 30 minutes before use. Beat with a spoon until loosening, and slake with a tablespoon of buttermilk to lighten up. It'll turn fluffy like buttercream icing, and is ready to use.
Categories
food lamb pork rosemary stock thyme tomato

slow cooked pork and lamb ragu

I had a great big clear out of the freezer and unearthed heaps of lamb and pork. Great big lamb shanks and chunks of pork all solid as rock and crying to be used up. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a slow cooked pork and lamb ragu. Kinda traditional style, but I used a few Knorr flavour pots to kick things along. If you don’t have stock pots, add about 6 cloves of crushed garlic and a tablespoon of dried Italian herbs such as oregano, basil, or parsley. I didn’t even have an onion in the house so I didn’t bother.

After a brief sear I pretty much chucked everything in a pot and left it to cook on a low oven for 14 hours. I would’ve used my slow cooker but it wasn’t big enough! Step forward my largest Le Creuset casserole dish to house the meat mound.

The rich meaty smell filled the house, the kind of smell that drives everyone mad with hunger, the kind of smell that brings people in off the street to investigate.

Happily there was some cheese and broccoli bake in the freezer too to make a mean topping. A bit like a shapeless lasagne al forno.

I could eat this sort of stew all day. Thankfully it made buckets of the stuff so much of it returned to the freezer for another day! You don’t have to make the absurd quantities I have. Scale it down to sensible proportions as required and you’ll have all the pork and lamb ragu you need. Make sure that pasta’s al dente and you add back to the sauce to combine for the last minute or so.

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slow cooked pork and lamb ragu

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 4 lamb shanks
  • 8 pork osso buco
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 4 tins tomatoes
  • 1 litre beef stock
  • 1 Knorr garlic flavour pot
  • 1 Knorr mixed herbs flavour pot
  • 2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  • Set the oven to 100C. Get a (very) large casserole dish over a high heat. Season the meat on all sides and brown in batches, removing to one side. When all the meat has been seared, return the meat to the pan with all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil and then transfer to the oven. Cook for 14 hours, or until the meats can be pushed apart with a spoon. Shred the meat and serve with pasta.

Want more slow-cooked lamb? Check out Nazima’s pulled lamb. Mouthwatering!

Or maybe Jeanne’s oxtail ragu. Immense!

Perhaps Helen’s more traditional beef ragu is up your street? Delicious!

Leftover ragu? Try Kavey’s recipe for stuffed courgettes. Brilliant!

Categories
food nori rosemary seaweed

roast lamb with a nori crust

Anchovy is a well-known flavouring for lamb. It melts away into the meat seasoning it inside and out (check out Heston Blumenthal’s recipe for roast lamb with anchovy). I’d managed to get myself some excellent English lamb leg from Sainsbury’s. British lamb is bang-on season at the moment so should be enjoyed now. But come Sunday I couldn’t decide what to season it with.  Then it struck me that I had some nori seaweed sheets in the cupboard. Seaweed is salty and rich and chock-full of umami so sounds a lot like anchovy to me. So what about a roast lamb with a nori crust?

Image copyright FineFoods.fi

If you haven’t come across nori seaweed before, it’s usually used as a wrapper for sushi parcels. The classic maki is a roll of rice and other fillings, parcelled in a paper-thin sheet of nori. You buy them in a pack of A4-ish leaves, usually placing them on a bamboo mat before rolling.

I ground up the nori with rosemary and garlic – the classic lamb pairings – in a food processor. Making an oily paste I worked it into deep slashes into the meat. Before cooking I did have a warning from MiMi…

Taking this on board, after a brief sear I popped it into a roasting bag which kept the lamb moist, plus it provided some excellent juices with which I could make the potatoes boulangere you can see pictured next to the lamb.

The nori gave it a strong grassy perfume. Really quite herbal – almost mint-like. It was quite unexpected. But the taste was really rich and savoury, just as you would expect.

So if anchovies really turn you off, try some nori – available at most larger supermarkets – and see what an interesting seasoning it makes.

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roast lamb nori crust with rosemary

A different take on roast lamb, using seaweed to season the meat.
Course Main Course
Keyword lamb, seaweed
Servings 6
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg lamb leg joint
  • 2 sheets nori
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 150C. Get a heavy roasting tray over a high heat.
  • Prepare your lamb by making several centimetre-deep slashes across the surface. In a food processor combine the nori, rosemary and garlic along with a pinch of sea salt and plenty of black pepper. Whizz up until it makes a dusty breadcrumb, then add enough olive oil to make a slushy paste. Rub the paste generously all over the meat.
  • Add the lamb to the pan and brown on all sides. This should only take a couple of minutes. Transfer the leg to a roasting bag and put back into the tray. Roast for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until the thickest part of the lamb has come up to 68C (for medium lamb, how I like it) when tested with a meat thermometer.

This is sponsored post for Sainsbury’s to promote best British produce. With a little help from Japan!

Categories
food lamb leftovers potatoes rosemary stock worcestershire sauce

l & p (lamb & potatoes)

This recipe is a take on a boulangere, potatoes simmered in stock. Made with leftover roast lamb coated in Lea & Perrins what else could I call it but “L&P”, lamb & potatoes. It could be made just as well with beef and slipping a few bits of veg in there wouldn’t go amiss. I served mine with peas in mint butter, and a blob of pickled red cabbage.

I’m not sure I don’t ever have a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce in the cupboard. When an instant acidic, savoury pep is required a few splashes brings something to life. When there’s leftovers tasting a little flat or sad, L&P is a great standby.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out the Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce YouTube channel. And here are those Sorted chaps making a spaghetti bolognese with it.

Those links up there are sponsored, but don’t let that distract you from a great lamb & potatoes recipe.

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l & p (lamb & potatoes)

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 250 g leftover roast lamb
  • 750 g white potatoes thinly sliced
  • 1 sprig rosemary very finely chopped
  • About 10 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
  • 400 ml hot chicken stock

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180C and get a frying pan over a high heat.
  • Add a dash of oil, add the rosemary and the lamb and stir fry for a minute. Splash over the Worcestershire sauce and kep shaking and stirring the pan to coat the meat in a sticky glaze. When the lamb is sticky, remove from the pan.
  • In a baking dish put a layer of half of the potatoes and season well. Add the lamb over the top, then another layer of potatoes and season again. Add the stock until just reaching the tops of the potatoes, cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
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