Sauce for Lamb

My favourite butcher's had a delivery of British lamb, so I greedily snapped up as many different cuts as I could carry! Here's a little sauce recipe I threw together the other evening.

Ingredients

Any cut of lamb

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup red wine

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp chopped chives

1 cup beef stock

2 tsp butter

salt & pepper

Method

1.In a medium saucepan melt the butter

2.Add the onions, stir until softening

3.Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil

4.Turn down the heat and simmer gently for 3-4 mins

5.Pour over the lamb and roast in the oven until nice and tender

Serves : N/A

Preparation time : 5 mins

Cooking time : 15 mins

Love Le Creuset

Out of all my kitchenware my Le Creuset casserole dish (found at a mere 10€ at local brocante) has to be my favourite. It really does make all the difference to a dish. If you don't have one I insist you put it on your Christmas list! Tonight I felt I'd neglected it over the summer so I whipped it out and whipped up and chicken casserole.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tblsp olive oil

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp worchestershire sauce

1 pint chicken stock

2 tsp herbes de provence

6 chicken drumsticks

Method

1.In a medium casserole dish heat the oil on the hob

2.Add onions and garlic

3.When the onion and garlic starts to soften add the tomatoes, chilli powder and worchestershire sauce

4.Stir constantly over a medium heat until well mixed

5.Add the chicken, stock, paparika and herbes de provence

6.Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 mins

Serves : 6

Preparation : 5 mins

Cooking time : 1 hour 40 mins

Boeuf Bourguignon Parfait

This afternoon we paid a visit to the lovely Tara from Paris Parfait. Always a warm welcome and her husband, David, always a great culinary surprise. Today he out did himself with the best boeuf bourguigon I've ever tasted. So deliciously filling I fell asleep on the sofa afterwards!

Have a go yourself, this is a traditional boeuf bourguignon by Peter Chapman at Le Bigon restaurant in the Pays de la Loire.

Warning: you need to start preparing 24 hours before cooking!

Ingredients

1kg chuck steak, cut into large chunks

1 large carrot, chopped roughly

1 large onion, chopped

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves crushed in their skins

2 cloves

1 bottle robust red wine

10 black peppercorns

1 tblsp Maderia

Beurre manie (1tsp flour and 1tsp butter mashed together)

1 tblsp butter

Chopped parsley

Olive Oil

Method

1. Put the pieces of beef in a large glass bowl and add the next seven ingredients making sure that the beef is covered. Cover the bowl and allow to marinate for 24 hours.

2. Take the meat out of the marinade and dry it thoroughly on kitchen paper. In a casserole heat a tablespoon each of oil and butter until the butter stops foaming and then add the meat pieces four at a time.

3. Brown them over a high heat on all sides – they should look really crusty almost like a steak – and then take them out of the pan and add the next four, until you have a pile of fragrant beef.

4. Add the drained vegetables from the marinade to the casserole and brown those too and then pour in the wine marinade. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer and pile the meat back in. The meat should be entirely covered by liquid. If not add a little beef stock or more red wine if you have a bottle handy, bring back to a simmer and place in a low oven (140°C) for three hours.

5. It is worth checking the meat every hour and if the level of liquid has dropped and the meat looks a little exposed, turn it over gently in the liquid. Even if the meat looks burned, don’t be alarmed and don’t add more liquid – you need the gentle reduction of the sauce and the darkening of the meat for flavour – if the pan looks totally dry, your oven thermostat has broken!

6. Towards the end of the cooking time, gently poke the meat with a fork – it is done when it starts to break apart when you do this.

7. Take the casserole from the oven and carefully lift out the meat into a warm dish and set to one side.

8. Strain the sauce into a clean pan and place it over a low heat. Allow it to come to a gentle boil. Add the Madeira and reduce until it tastes as strong as you like – the sauce should become almost syrupy. Whisk in the butter and flour mix and keep whisking until blended.

9. Add the meat back to the sauce to heat through and serve a couple of large chunks per person with the sauce poured over, scattered with chopped parsley.

Preparation time : 24 hours
Cooking time : 3 hours
Serves : 4

They are on their way!

My parents are coming to stay this week (some of you may know my mum Di from designers block) and so I shall be very busy in the kitchen! Although I do tend to get my Mum to make at least one english meal when she's here! They arrive tomorrow afternoon so here's what on the menu for the arrival.

Smoked Salmon Delight

Ingredients

4 slices of smoked salmon

Cream cheese

2 tomatoes, sliced

Handful of pickled gerkhins, chopped

1 orange pepper, chopped

3 tblsp balsmaic vinegar

2 tbslp oilve oil

1 tsp mustard

1 small onion, chopped finely

salt & pepper

1 half cooked baguette

200g red potatoes

Method

1.In a small bowl add the vinegar, oil, mustard, onion and salt & pepper

2.Stir together

3.In an oven proof dish add the pepper, gerkhin and tomato

4.Pour over the vinegar mix and place in the oven at 200°C for 20mins

5.Meanwhile boil the potatoes

6.Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside

7.Cut the baguette in half and slice open

8.Place in the oven for 10-15mins

9.Once the baguette is cooked spread the cream cheese on thickly

10.Place the smoked salmon over the cheese

Serves : 4

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 30 - 40mins

A few of my favourite things........

Smoked Salmon

Shepherd's Pie

Fish & Chips in paper

Sunday Dinner

Bacon Sandwiches

Strawberries

Chinese Chicken Drumsticks

Here's a great simple recipe for a taste of China.

Ingredients

8 chicken drumsticks

4 tblsp hoisin sauce

4 tblsp soy sauce

1 tsp chilli purée

3 spring onions, chopped finely

1 orange/yellow/red pepper, chopped finely

1 tblsp sesame oil

2 tblsp oyster sauce

Method

1.In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients (except the chicken) and mix well together

2.Add the chicken and mix until the chicken is completely coated

3.Place in the fridge for 30 mins (overnight is even better, but time is of the essence!)

4.Preheat the oven to 180°C

5.Place the chicken and sauce into an oven proof dish

6.Cook in the oven for 30-40mins, or until chicken is cooked through

Serve with rice or noodles.

Serves : 4

Preparation time : 35 mins

Cooking time : 30-40 mins

Tip of the Day

On a pauper's budget, meat can be a bit of a luxury but here's a tip for you, in France I noticed that near the supermarket's closing time on a wednesday evening the meat aisle is full of offers. Further inspection led me to realise that most of the meats sell by dates are on a wednesday so near closing time they slash the prices so that they try to sell what will have to go in the bin at closing time. Of course I snap these fantastic offers up and freeze. Try a bit of your own detective work in your local supermarket.

This little secret is how I got two large duck thighs for 2€ price slashed from 14€!

So tonight we had roasted duck thighs and spinach with roast potatoes. Delicious.

Ingredients

2 duck thighs

6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into medium chunks

100g spinach

3 tblsp duck/goose fat

1 tbslp olive oil

Method

1.Preheat the oven on to 180°C

2.In a medium oven proof dish add the fat and oil

3.Place in the bottom of the oven

4.Par boil the potatoes (about 15 mins)

5.Meanwhile prepare the duck, rub a little olive oil and sea salt onto both sides on the duck

6.Place in a large oven proof dish

7.Arrange the spinach around the duck

8.Place in the oven, roast for 30-35mins

9.Drain the potatoes and fluff (return the drained potatoes to the pan, place a lid on the pan and shake up and down roughly)

10.Add the potatoes to the hot fat & oil (BE CAREFUL OF HOT FAT SPITTING)

11.Mix the potatoes with the fat & oil

12.Roast in the oven for 20-25 mins

Serves : 2

Preparation time : 10 mins

Cooking time : 40 mins