Category: thyme

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food lamb pork rosemary stock thyme tomato

slow cooked pork and lamb ragu

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 garlic potatoes rosemary thyme

roasted new potatoes

For all the different things I make on this blog, I do still love a roasted potato as often as I can. Usually fluffy varieties are the ones, but a new potato can be a great alternative if treated right. Although to be honest slathering anything in rosemary, garlic and thyme is often a good idea.

Really though, I made these as a vehicle for ranch dressing. When relatives come back from the States they bring food gifts like sweets, and the occasional sachet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. It’s MSG-tastic but when made up with mayo and milk makes a creamy, thick and delicious dip that goes well with crudites, salad potatoes, crisps, salad, chicken, green veg… it’s really good stuff.

Roasted new potatoes (serves 4 as a side dish):

250g new potatoes, scrubbed and halved

3 cloves garlic, squashed

3 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Heat a large lidded casserole on a hob and add a little oil and a knob of butter. Add the herbs and garlic, fry for 30 seconds and then add the potatoes. Turn several times in the flavoured oil to get them started, then cover and transfer to the oven.
  2. Roast for 35 – 45 minutes, turning occasionally until browned and fudgy in the middle. Serve with ranch dressing.
Categories
bread food mushroom parfait pate thyme walnut

mushroom parfait with orange jelly and walnut bread

Sometimes, things don’t turn out the way you expect. You feel cross with your self inside and yet you’ve presented something perfectly acceptable, it’s just you know it should be better.

I was commiserating just this point with a friend at a Jubilee party this weekend. She’d made cupcakes, of the supremely fine-crumbed and meltingly-soft icing kind, but was grumpy at the fact that her cake toppers and decorations hadn’t arrived, and had to make do with other finishings. Of course I and everybody said they were fantastic (the squirt of jam on the inside was genius!) but she couldn’t look past it. Equally with what I’d brought – it was supposed to be Heston’s infamous Meat Fruit, inspired by Cumbria Foodie’s brilliant recreation. I’d already planned to change it up with making a mushroom version as opposed chicken liver, but I couldn’t quite get the spherical moulds in time. It was never going to be orange-shaped but I wanted to persevere with the rest of the recipe anyway.

It was difficult at first, as I’d moved it from chicken livers which must be prepared in a certain way for safety reasons; yet mushrooms don’t have the same concerns. So how do you transfer the mushroom flavour into a parfait effectively? I surfed around for parfait ideas but I couldn’t move for sweet recipes which start with an egg and sugar sabayon – far too sweet for this. After a little more research I found a baked eggs and cream technique which when added to a reduced mixture would capture the texture and flavour I was after. I could allow it to be rich as the orange jelly would have a welcome tang against the smooth pate. I was very pleased with how it turned out; creamy and woody with the citrus cutting through it.

And to accompany I made some walnut bread. In hindsight this would’ve been perfect wholemeal but it did the job.

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mushroom parfait with orange jelly and walnut bread

What to do when you can't make meat fruit. Makes 6 parfaits and 1 750g walnut loaf.
Servings 6 parfaits
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the parfait:

  • 40 g dried mushrooms
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ onion diced
  • 150 ml port
  • 150 ml Marsala wine
  • A few sprigs of thyme
  • 300 ml double cream
  • 2 eggs

For the orange jelly:

  • 5 satsumas
  • 40 g liquid glucose
  • 4 sheets leaf gelatine
  • ½ teaspoon orange food colouring

For the walnut loaf:

  • 500 g strong bread flour
  • 7 g yeast
  • 25 g butter diced
  • Salt and sugar
  • 300 ml warm water
  • 30 g walnut pieces

Instructions

  • Combine the mushrooms, garlic, onion, port, wine and thyme in a jug and leave to infuse overnight.
  • Place the satsumas into a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 2 hours. Strain off the liquid into a bowl containing the gelatine. Mash the oranges with a fork and push through a sieve. Add the glucose and then stir in the gelatine until dissolved. Pour a layer of this mix into your moulds (I recommend silicone ones to remove them easily afterwards). Pop this into the fridge until needed.
  • Preheat the oven to 160°C. Pour the mushroom mixture into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until you have about 100ml of liquid left at the bottom of the pan. Pour this into a blender and whizz to a paste. Crack in the eggs and pour in the cream and keep whizzing until smooth. Sieve this mix into silicone moulds and place this into a tray half-filled with boiling water. Place this into the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until the tops just start to brown. When cooked remove from the water and place into the fridge until needed.
  • For the bread mix together all the dry ingredients, rub in the butter and add the water until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place. Work the dough again and form into a loaf shape. Slash the top of the loaf a few times and cover with a teatowel. Leave for 20 minutes to settle and preheat the oven to 220°C. Pop the bread in the oven for 30 minutes or until hollow sounding when knocked. Remove to a wire rack to cool before serving.
  • To serve, slice the bread and turn out the parfaits.
Categories
chicken food onion paprika peppers thyme tomato

karo tacos

There are times when Twitter is completely inspirational, and tonight was one of those times. I knew I wanted tacos (who doesn’t love tacos? It’s like eating crisps and pretending you’re a grown-up), and had chicken ready for them. But how to season? I’d made them a dozen times. Casting around on Twitter, @karohemd came up with the nub of this recipe, and it’s him I dedicate this sweet-spicy dinner treat to him. Thanks Ozzy!

Karo tacos (serves 4):

3 chicken breasts, diced

1 clove of garlic, finely diced

1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Zest of ½ an orange

1 onion, sliced

3 peppers, sliced

½ teaspoon coriander

1 tin cherry tomatoes

12 tacos

  1. Put the chicken in a bowl along with the garlic, paprika, thyme, vinegar, a splash of oil and salt & pepper. Combine and cover to marinate for at least an hour, more if you have time.
  2. Get a large pan over a lowish heat and add some oil. Add the onions and peppers and stir-fry for about 10 minutes, or until the veg starts to soften. Add the coriander and some seasoning and stir well.
  3. Throw in the tomatoes and raise the heat. Simmer briskly to reduce some of the tomato liquid (tacos don’t work too well with soggy fillings!). Heat the tacos according to the packet instructions.
  4. Now push the veg to the sides of the pan to make some space, then fry the chicken alongside everything. When the chicken is coloured all over stir everything together and continue cooking until the chicken is done. Serve with guacamole, salsa, jalapenos and all those other yummy Tex-Mex garnishes.
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