Easter recipes #2

Roast leg of lamb

With Easter on the horizon it's time to get thinking about Sunday lunch. The last blog was a relatively easy recipe allowing you to spend time with your family, this one is a bit more 'hands on' but the rewards are worth it. A roast dinner is a simple dinner to put together as long as all the prep work is done in advance. Below is a step by step guide that will hopefully make things run smoothly.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 leg of lamb

1 bunch of rosemary

3 garlic cloves peeled

6 medium sized maris piper potatoes

Vegetables of your choice

Goose fat

Good quality gravy thickener

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Olive oil

Splash of red wine

Method

First get your oven to 220C and start peeling your vegetables (this can be done a few hours before) and keep the peelings. Put all the peelings and any bits of root vegetables (not the potatoes) you're not using in a sauce pan with a splash of oil and fry for a minute then add the red wine and let it simmer for 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol. Pour in some water (to fill about 2/3 of the pan) and leave to simmer (this will be the stock for the gravy). Peel the potatoes and cut them into roast potato size and leave them in water. Put the leg on lamb in a roasting dish, pour on a little of the olive oil. Make a few cuts into the meat and stuff them with the garlic cloves, season then place some sprigs of rosemary over the meat.

Leg of lamb ready for the oven

Place the lamb in the oven, after 10 minutes take it out, cover it in foil then put it back in the oven for an hour and a half or 2 hours if you prefer it cooked through. In the mean time start cooking the potatoes in boiling water. When you can put a knife easily through them drain them into a colander or sieve and leave to dry out, then 'rough' them up a bit by shaking whatever you have them in. The more edges the potatoes have the more 'crispier' they will be at the end. Heat up the goose fat in an oven tray in the oven until the fat starts to smoke a bit. Pour a little olive oil over the potatoes, season and carefully place them on the oven tray being careful not to splash your self with the oil. Using a spoon cover the potatoes with the goose fat and put them back in the oven. They should take just under an hour to get nice and golden. Every now and then take them out of the oven and turn them over so you get a nice colour on all sides. Get your preferred vegetables cooked, to make things easier you can cook them in advance and heat them up in the microwave if you have one.

Lamb ready to eat!

When the lamb is cooked take it out of the oven put it on a chopping board and cover it in foil to let it rest. Get as much fat out of the roasting dish as you can and place it on the heat, pour the stock from the peelings through a sieve into the roasting dish and get it on the heat. Using a wooden spoon scrape up all the residue left over from the lamb and let it simmer for a few minutes. Pour this mixture back through a sieve into a sauce pan and return it to the heat. Thicken with the gravy thickener and leave to simmer gently. When the lamb has rested carve it up, heat the vegetables and serve! ENJOY!

  

My little family about to enjoy a roast!

Easter recipes #1

Slow roasted belly of pork infused with thyme and garlic, on a coarse grain mustard mash with a cider and apple jus. 

With Easter soon approaching it's time to start thinking about what to cook. This blog will come in two parts, the first being a roast you can put in the oven and leave to do it's thing for a few hours giving you more time with your family. The second will be a bit more hands on needing a bit more attention. The first recipe will be a belly of pork dish. This cut of meat needs a slow cooking process and a low heat then to finish it off it needs a hot blast in the oven to crisp it up giving you perfect crackling.

Photo courtesy of Wiltshire Society magazine (from a recipe feature I was in)

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
1 kg of pork belly
1 bunch of thyme
2 garlic cloves
6 medium maris piper potatoes
1 tbsp coarse grain mustard
1 knob of butter
1 large onion diced
1/2 pint of cider
1/2 pint good quality beef stock (thickened)
2 tbsp chunky apple sauce
100g salt crystals
Pepper for seasoning
Olive oil

Method
First if it's not tied tie up the belly of pork into a joint, then stuff the thyme and sliced garlic clove into the joint. Then pour boiling water over the belly, this helps to dry it out and give perfect crackling. Drizzle some olive oil over the belly and cover with the salt. Place some of the diced onion onto a roasting tray and put the belly on top. Cover with foil and roast in an oven at 150C for 3 hours. After 3 hours remove the foil and brush off the salt and cook for a further 30 minutes at 220C.
To make the mash peel and dice the potatoes, boil until tender then mash. Add the butter, mustard and season.
To make the sauce fry the remaining onions in a sauce pan with some chopped garlic. After 1 minute add the cider and let it reduce by half. Add the apple sauce and stock, reduce by 1/3 and season.
Slice the belly into 'steak' size and serve on the mash with the sauce around it, serve and enjoy!

Making pizza with my kids

Another wet day here in Wiltshire and the school run was a total wash out. My two boys and I looked like we'd been for a swim in our clothes, riding bikes in the rain isn't it's all cracked up to be. After getting home, changed and putting the heating on I decided it was time the boys learnt a bit about cooking and after talking it through with our eldest (5 and three quarters) Pizza was on tonight's menu. Total carnage was what I was expecting and got!
Here's the recipe for the pizza base (made by James and Ollie):

Ingredients
(Makes 3-4 pizza bases)
500g strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp fine salt
7g sachet of dried yeast
1/2 tsp caster sugar
325ml (about 1/2 a pint) lukewarm water
Extra flour for dusting

For the child friendly version I first got all the ingredients ready in separate bowls and made sure we had a large work surface (we used the dinning room table). Most recipes say to put all the flour onto a surface, make a well in the middle then add the water, not such a good idea with little chefs so we opted for a large mixing bowl to try and contain as much mess as possible, it kinda worked.
First mix the sugar, yeast and water together. Mix well and leave for 5 minutes. Then put the flour into the bowl with the salt.

James mixing the yeast, Ollie taking care of the flour.

So far no mess! Next make a well in the middle of the flour and slowly pour in the water mixture stirring as you do.

Boys concentrating!

Mix the mixture with a fork or wooden spoon, it should start to look like stodgy porridge. When it gets to hard to stir with a fork it's time to use your hands. Flour the work surface with quite a bit of flour and empty the mixture onto it. Start stretching the flour with the bottom of your hands and do this for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and springy. However if your'e working with 2 little chefs let them punch it as hard as they can!

James showing the dough who's boss, Ollie shouting because he can.

Now you should be getting a mess that can only be described as a flour explosion! Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, dust with flour, cover clingfilm and leave for around 20 minutes. In the mean time, time to thank the boys for their hard work, put on Power Rangers (I really don't see the appeal) and clear up the mess.

What mess?

After the dough has had 20 minutes to do it's thing (double in size) it's time to roll out the bases. Flour your work surface and separate the dough mixture into 3 balls. Roll out into a rough circle finishing with the dough nice and thin. Heat the oven to 230C, now its time to apply your toppings. The tomato sauce is relatively easy - fry 1/2 an onion with a diced garlic glove, add chopped tomatoes and oregano and simmer for 10 minutes. Put the rolled out base onto a floured baking tray and add your ingredients, try not to over load your pizza! The boys had cheese and tomato and my wife and I had chorizo, Parma ham, asparagus, mushroom and mozzarella, and very nice it was too. Have fun!

Chorizo, Parma ham, asparagus, mushroom and mozzarella pizza