Category: carrots

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carrots celery milk onion pork

aromatic melting pork

aromatic melting pork

I love pork joints a lot, but I’m in danger of doing the same thing over and over again: bung it in the oven and roast. Nothing wrong with that, but surely there’s more out there?

Lucky for me The Ginger Pig Meat Book plopped through my letterbox, packed with great ideas grounded in everyday cookery. The Ginger Pig Butcher’s isn’t somewhere I was familiar with before this book, but after reading their story I was smitten. Almost the first third is taken over to their philosophy, their approach to rearing and the disasters and triumphs along the way.

It’s also got some my favourite things – those side-on diagrams of livestock, with all the cuts and joints labelled for butchery. I love these illustrations, giving me a wry smile at the fascinating variety from each animal. Have you heard of pig’s slipper, or jew’s fillet on a cow? I know I hadn’t.

I had a pork shoulder joint in the freezer needing a bit of love, so the recipe here for aromatic melting pork jumped out at me. It’s simplicity bowled me over, as did the use of milk rather than stock for the braising liquor. After hours of cooking it falls to pieces, with chunks of moist, succulent veg round and about. It’s an old-fashioned belter, I heartily recommend the dish – and the book!

Thanks to Octopus Books for the book.

Aromatic melting pork (serves 4):

1 pint milk

1kg boned and rolled pork shoulder

4 onions, peeled and quartered

4 carrots, peeled and halved

4 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed

3 celery sticks, halved

2 sprigs marjoram

2 sprigs thyme

2 strips lemon peel

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. In a large casserole heat the milk until it’s just about to boil, then chuck everything in the pan. Make a cartouche out of greaseproof paper, then fit the casserole with a tight-fitting lid an pop in the oven.
  2. After an hour turn the heat down to 150°C. Cook for another 1½ – 2 hours until the pork can be carved with a spoon. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before slicing up and serving with the veg, spooning over the juices.
Categories
carrots lamb mint mustard potatoes tomato

spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy

 

 

I thought I’d tried all the Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals that I wanted to, until the photo-ninja Nga commented about the spring lamb recipe… I couldn’t believe I’d missed it! So I tore off to try it.

It’s a relatively simple recipe, with seared & roasted lamb, and a big bowl of pots ‘n’ veg boiled up. But it’s a great way to multi-task without actually too much effort, and the result is dis-proportionately good. If you’re at all skittish about whether you can manage the 30 minute thing or not, give this one a whirl as it’s not too busy (I should point out that Jamie did a fondue in with his full recipe but that was simply microwaved chocolate and chopped fruit). Well worth a go.

Jamie recommends rack of lamb and neck fillet here. I find rack of lamb really hard to find now, hardly anyone stocks it and it’s very expensive when you do. Lamb chops aren’t as fancy but very tasty. A rack of lamb is a cut of meat from the rib section of a lamb. It is made up of a row of bones with meat on the top and sides. The rack of lamb is a popular choice for roasting and grilling but can be pricey.

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Spring lamb, vegetable platter, mint sauce and chianti gravy

A refreshing yet wholesome dinner.
Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Keyword quick
Servings 4
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the lamb:

  • 4 lamb chops
  • 3 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • White wine vinegar
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes on the vine

For the gravy:

  • 4 rashers smoked bacon
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • ½ glass red wine

For the veg:

  • 400 g baby new potatoes
  • 4 carrots
  • Stalks from a bunch of mint
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 300 g fine beans
  • ½ Savoy cabbage

For the mint sauce:

  • ½ a lemon
  • Leaves from a bunch of mint
  • 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Instructions

  • Get the oven on 220C, a frying pan and saucepan over high heats and get that kettle a-boilin'.
  • Add some olive oil to the pan. Season the lamb all over and pop it in.
  • Wash the potatoes, chop the carrots into nice chunks and add to the saucepan. Cover with boiling water and toss in the mint stalks and stock cube.
  • Turn the lamb well and make sure it's browned all over. While it's finishing bash the garlic and rosemary together in a mortar and pestle. Season, add the mustard and spread the lot over the  lamb. Transfer the lamb to a roasting dish with the tomatoes and slam in the oven for 9-14 minutes until done to your liking (for me, internal temp of 55°C before resting). Keep the frying pan on the heat and add the bacon, chopped.
  • Re-using the mortar from before, add the mint leaves with vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt and a splash of water from the veg pot. Mix it together for the mint sauce.
  • Add the red wine to the frying pan to deglaze the pan, scraping around. Add the flour and rosemary to the gravy pan, and stir for a minute to coat everything in flour. Add a few ladles of cooking water. Cut the Savoy into thin wedges and add to the boiling pot with the beans.
  • The lamb should be done about now, so get it out of the oven to rest for a minute while you sort out the veg. Once the beans are tender, drain the lot and return to the pot. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper and the juice from the lemon. Toss well and serve. Cut the lamb into chops, check the gravy for seasoning and get stuck in!

Notes

The lamb can be any cut of lamb you like that fries quick, or would work pretty well with beef steaks - though the mint sauce wouldn't work for me then. It's your dinner though!
Categories
beef carrots peas potatoes sweet potato

cottage pie with vegetable mash topping

I’ve been trying out Sainsbury’s ‘Feed Your Family for £50’ meal planner lately, and this recipe is a real crowd-pleaser: tasty mince with piles of mashy veg on top.

Have you tried any of the recipes or the whole Meal Plan? If so let Sainsbury’s know. Very soon they’ll be giving you the chance to win a £50 meal plan and put it to the test, feeding your family for a week, see the Sainsbury’s site and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for details.

Cottage pie with vegetable mash topping (serves 4):

1 onion, peeled & finely chopped

350g lean beef steak mince

400g sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 4cm chunks

300g carrots, peeled & chopped

300g potatoes, peeled & cut into 4cm chunks

30g Butterlicious spread

380g Basics frozen British Garden peas

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled & finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato purée

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

200ml beef stock (1/2 stock cube)

  1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion for 5-10 minutes, until soft, adding in the garlic for the last minute. Turn the heat up to medium/high, add the mince and cook for 5 minutes. Stir through the tomato purée and mixed herbs, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, until thickened. Add the peas at the last minute.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Cook the sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes, until soft. Drain and mash with the Butterlicious.
  3. Spoon the mince mixture into a 1.5 litre-baking dish and top with the mash. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the top is crispy and browned.
Categories
beef butter beans carrots celery potatoes salad

30 minute beef hash with baked potatoes, green goddess salad and butter beans

I got in from work the other day and Mrs. RP beseeched me with a desperate look in her eyes: “make this. MAKE THIS NOW!” So here’s 30 minute beef hash.

She was gesturing at the TV; Jamie Oliver had just made ‘super-fast beef hash, jacket potatoes, goddess salad, lovely butter beans & bacon’ on 30 Minute Meals. I admit it looked the business. 1 PVR and a flick through the book later, and I was ready. Not quite so manic as previous 30 minute recipes, this one also isn’t too harsh on the washing up. How long did it take? 31 minutes. I’ll take that – I had to stop briefly and try and calm my daughter down, distraught at the distinct lack of Mr. Tumble on the TV. I’m certain I could get it under 25 minutes next time having been through the motions once.

It’s real comfort food; nice big carbs and large flavours. The Worcestershire sauce is particularly satisfying, packing lots of gutsy savouriness. I also felt really nourished eating it – I think it was the amount of carrots and celery in the mince mix.

Jamie’s original recipe can be seen on his site here. I made a couple of minor substitutions based on what I had to hand.

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Jamie's 30 minute beef hash

Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Keyword quick
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 4 baking potatoes
  • 500 g beef mince
  • 4 rashers of smoky bacon chopped
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • rosemary a few sprigs
  • 6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 red onion
  • 3 sticks celery
  • 2 carrots
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tin butter beans drained
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 1 handful lamb's lettuce
  • ¼ iceberg lettuce shredded
  • 1 avocado
  • 300 ml sour cream
  • 1 lemon
  • parsley chopped

Instructions

  • Get the grill on screaming hot and stick a baking tray under it to get nuclear. Stab the potatoes all over, pop in a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Microwave for 14 minutes.
  • Get a pan on to quite a high heat, chuck in the mince along with a dash of olive oil and seasoning. Fry and stir, browning all over. Meanwhile get some bacon frying gently in another pan.
  • When the mince has browned, coat with the Worcestershire sauce and add the garlic, thyme and half the rosemary. Whack the onion, celery and carrot into a food processor and get them sliced up, then add those to the beef too.
  • When the bacon is golden add the beans and tomatoes to that pan and simmer away.
  • The potatoes are probably done now; prod with a knife to check they're soft in the middle. If they are, slather with olive oil, the rest of the rosemary and some salt and pepper. Toss to coat then pop under the grill to crisp up.
  • Turn to the salad now: whizz up half the avocado with half the sour cream, lemon juice and a little seasoning to make a lurid green dressing. Chop up the other half of the avocado and mix with the lettuces.
  • The beef should be done by now, all crispy and craggy. Add most of the parsley and check for seasoning. Check the beans for seasoning - dash of vinegar perhaps? Rescue the potatoes, cut them open and dollop over the rest of the sour cream and parsley. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve the lot to hungry, lucky people.
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