This is a dish from a couple of weeks ago that is one of the only salads I like to do! – very simple, light, summery, lets the ingredients speak for themselves …
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 good sized duck breasts
2 –3 medium potatoes
Parmesan
Good bunch of mixed leaf salad (rocket, basil leave, spinach, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash of balsamic
good slosh of sherry or brandy (whichever – rice wine works really well too)
Method
Season and then pan fry the duck breast, start by browning the flesh side to seal it, then flip it over on to the skin side, pour the balsamic vinegar over the flesh side and cook it slowly until all the fat renders off (this can be reserved and makes great roasties!) and the duck is pink in the middle but just cooked.
Finely slice the potatoes as thin as you can, or using a mandolin if you’ve got one (to get the ‘man crisp’ crinkle cut look!). Fry until golden, then drain and shake off, then re-fry – you want them crispy. Once they come out, season them with salt and pepper.
Once the duck is cooked, take it out, turn up the heat and cook off the sherry. Slice the duck quite thin and serve on the bed of salad with the reduced sherry dressing over the top. Surround it with the crisps/chips and shave some parmesan over the top.
My fave salad – duck, crisps and parmesan
More lamb!
Tonight’s offering is my favourite (to cook anyway) lamb curry – straightforward to cook, tasty and spicy. Given that this is the third curry (to date) on here, you’ll have gathered this is one of my favourite foods!
The longer you cook the lamb in this dish the better – slow cooked over 12 hours wouldn’t be a bad thing! Our old favourite curry house in Cornwall had one lamb dish which you had to order 48hrs in advance so it cook marinade and then cook for the best part of a day! We even had it for Christmas dinner one year – picked up on the Eve of course :-)
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the lamb
Whole shoulder of lamb
Tandoori curry paste (enough to marinade the whole joint)
1 btsp Tandoori spice blend
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
2 tsp lemon juice
For the curry
1 large onion
Half a bulb (yes you read that right) of garlic, crushed
1 butternut squash
2 tsp curry powder (madras if you’ve got it)
1 tsp cumin
1 large red chili, finely sliced
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp chopped coriander
about 500ml water
Method
Start with the lamb. Score the joint all over and pretty deeply (but don’t cut through), then rub the tandoori paste all over it, and sprinkle the lemon juice over it – also season it at this stage. Leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hrs, then combine the powder and yoghurt and coat the marinated joint with the mixture, and leave it in the fridge for at least another 2-3 hrs. (The longer you can marinade it for the better – a day would be ideal, but is also a little unrealistic!)
Once marinated, put in on a roasting rack and place in a pre-heated oven on about gas mark 2. Cook it until the marinade starts to harden, then cover the lot in foil and cook it for as long as necessary so that the meat pulls easily from the bone – this could take a while…
Meanwhile… finely chop the onions and cube the butternut squash and fry both in the ghee until they start to pick up colour, then add the curry powder, dried coriander and cumin, and the garlic. Fry until the onions are golden, then add about a third of the water, the chili and half the chopped coriander.
Get it onto a fast simmer and cook until the water’s absorbed, then add another third, cover and leave on a very low simmer.
Once the lamb is falling apart, shred it or cube it, and add it to the curry pan. Add more water if needed to loosen the curry, and cook until the two parts are nicely combined. Add the rest of the coriander and serve.
I usually serve this with a naan bread from our local oriental supermarket, the Bristol Sweet Mart – they’re not thick and floury like the standard curry house fare but thinner – almost like a lavash bread. I cook these on a metal oven tray over a direct flame (don’t use your favourite non-stick obviously!!). Melt some ghee on the tray then pop the bread in, plain side down.
While it’s frying, sprinkle the other side with a little tap water (i run my hand under the tap and flick the water on it), then flip the bread over – you want it slightly charring, but not burnt! If you’ve got to do a few (i allow one bread person, unless it’s just me and Trina in which case, we split the other one between us - they come in packs of three…), keep them in foil while you cook them –they’ll stay tender and warm.
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the lamb
Whole shoulder of lamb
Tandoori curry paste (enough to marinade the whole joint)
1 btsp Tandoori spice blend
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
2 tsp lemon juice
For the curry
1 large onion
Half a bulb (yes you read that right) of garlic, crushed
1 butternut squash
2 tsp curry powder (madras if you’ve got it)
1 tsp cumin
1 large red chili, finely sliced
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp chopped coriander
about 500ml water
Method
Start with the lamb. Score the joint all over and pretty deeply (but don’t cut through), then rub the tandoori paste all over it, and sprinkle the lemon juice over it – also season it at this stage. Leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hrs, then combine the powder and yoghurt and coat the marinated joint with the mixture, and leave it in the fridge for at least another 2-3 hrs. (The longer you can marinade it for the better – a day would be ideal, but is also a little unrealistic!)
Once marinated, put in on a roasting rack and place in a pre-heated oven on about gas mark 2. Cook it until the marinade starts to harden, then cover the lot in foil and cook it for as long as necessary so that the meat pulls easily from the bone – this could take a while…
Meanwhile… finely chop the onions and cube the butternut squash and fry both in the ghee until they start to pick up colour, then add the curry powder, dried coriander and cumin, and the garlic. Fry until the onions are golden, then add about a third of the water, the chili and half the chopped coriander.
Get it onto a fast simmer and cook until the water’s absorbed, then add another third, cover and leave on a very low simmer.
Once the lamb is falling apart, shred it or cube it, and add it to the curry pan. Add more water if needed to loosen the curry, and cook until the two parts are nicely combined. Add the rest of the coriander and serve.
I usually serve this with a naan bread from our local oriental supermarket, the Bristol Sweet Mart – they’re not thick and floury like the standard curry house fare but thinner – almost like a lavash bread. I cook these on a metal oven tray over a direct flame (don’t use your favourite non-stick obviously!!). Melt some ghee on the tray then pop the bread in, plain side down.
While it’s frying, sprinkle the other side with a little tap water (i run my hand under the tap and flick the water on it), then flip the bread over – you want it slightly charring, but not burnt! If you’ve got to do a few (i allow one bread person, unless it’s just me and Trina in which case, we split the other one between us - they come in packs of three…), keep them in foil while you cook them –they’ll stay tender and warm.
Quick and easy – Lamb and mash with Salsa Verde
Had a good few days food wise – some fantastic food down in Cornwall (picnic and the Minack courtesy of Kingsley Village at Fraddon), and some great barbecue food at the in-laws and family friend's - you know who you are! – oh and some fish and chips from Barencutt's in Wadebridge and a pleasant hour or so sampling the local wines at Camel Valley Vineyard – dead good!
I also came back from Kernow with about a kilo of fresh damsons and had my first bash at jam making – rather successfully as it turned out! Had to re-heat it and add a touch of lemon juice to get it to set fully (it was jam, but a touch runny), but it tastes bloody great!
Tonight’s offering is one of my all-time favourite dishes – very quick and easy to do and very, very tasty. The dish comes from the ‘All About Meat’ course I did at Bordeaux Quay in Bristol a few years ago, a course i would very highly recommend.
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 tbsp finely chopped each of fresh basil, parsley and mint
3 cloves garlic
5-6 anchovies (preserved)
2 tbsp preserved capers, rinsed
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for the salsa verde)
1tsbp white wine vinegar
2 lamb steaks
2-3 medium potatoes
1 tbsp butter
Milk as needed to texture the spuds
Method
Mash the garlic, anchovies and capers in to a paste (with a touch of salt if needed, depending on how salty your capers and anchovies are – if they’re in salt rather than oil or vinegar). Combine the paste with the herbs in a pestle and mortar and mix in the white wine vinegar and add the olive oil in stages – it shouldn’t be runny, it should be nicely moist.
Taste it at this point and adjust the flavours to taste – don’t be afraid to add more herbs, especially the mint and basil, if you want it quite fresh. Put the Salsa Verde in the fridge while you do the rest to let the flavour develop.
Quarter the spuds and boil in cold water until tender, then mash and combine with the butter and as much milk as required to get the potatoes to the desired consistency. Keep warm.
While the potatoes are boiling, preheat a heavy frying pan. Oil and season the lamb steaks, then fry on a medium/high eat until the fat is mostly rendered but the meat is still pink inside – no more than 3-4 mins a side depending on the thickness of the steak.
Serve the lamb on a bed of mashed spuds, topped with the salsa verde. It also tastes great with a touch of balsamic or balsamic reduction – you can either do this in the pan after the lamb has come out, or there are some great reductions on the market – my current fave is an apricot one from an italian market in hammersmith from a couple of years ago…
enjoy!
I also came back from Kernow with about a kilo of fresh damsons and had my first bash at jam making – rather successfully as it turned out! Had to re-heat it and add a touch of lemon juice to get it to set fully (it was jam, but a touch runny), but it tastes bloody great!
Tonight’s offering is one of my all-time favourite dishes – very quick and easy to do and very, very tasty. The dish comes from the ‘All About Meat’ course I did at Bordeaux Quay in Bristol a few years ago, a course i would very highly recommend.Ingredients (serves 2)
2 tbsp finely chopped each of fresh basil, parsley and mint
3 cloves garlic
5-6 anchovies (preserved)
2 tbsp preserved capers, rinsed
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (for the salsa verde)
1tsbp white wine vinegar
2 lamb steaks
2-3 medium potatoes
1 tbsp butter
Milk as needed to texture the spuds
Method
Mash the garlic, anchovies and capers in to a paste (with a touch of salt if needed, depending on how salty your capers and anchovies are – if they’re in salt rather than oil or vinegar). Combine the paste with the herbs in a pestle and mortar and mix in the white wine vinegar and add the olive oil in stages – it shouldn’t be runny, it should be nicely moist.
Taste it at this point and adjust the flavours to taste – don’t be afraid to add more herbs, especially the mint and basil, if you want it quite fresh. Put the Salsa Verde in the fridge while you do the rest to let the flavour develop.
Quarter the spuds and boil in cold water until tender, then mash and combine with the butter and as much milk as required to get the potatoes to the desired consistency. Keep warm.
While the potatoes are boiling, preheat a heavy frying pan. Oil and season the lamb steaks, then fry on a medium/high eat until the fat is mostly rendered but the meat is still pink inside – no more than 3-4 mins a side depending on the thickness of the steak.
Serve the lamb on a bed of mashed spuds, topped with the salsa verde. It also tastes great with a touch of balsamic or balsamic reduction – you can either do this in the pan after the lamb has come out, or there are some great reductions on the market – my current fave is an apricot one from an italian market in hammersmith from a couple of years ago…
enjoy!
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