Holidays at last

Weather conditions are downright crappy at the moment. Freezing cold, wet and windy. So I'm heading north to a warmer climate tomorrow, for a much needed break from daily routines. Darwin is the destination, and at least I can seek a reprieve from the sub zero temperatures each morning, enjoying a sip by the pool, fresh tropical fruit, varied Asian cuisines, with a side trip to Singapore for a touch of shopping and more food delights. Herb crusted rack of lamb was the most adventurous dish prepared this weekend, apart from Vegemite on toast!!

For the crust, combine fresh herbs, bread crumbs, a couple of good dollops of grainy mustard and moisten with olive oil. Press onto lamb racks and roast at 200 C for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 170 C until done. This was simply served with roast vegetable salad on a bed of rocket, with balsamic reduction dressing.

I'm off to pack. If anyone knows which horse is going to win the Darwin Cup, I'd be grateful for the tip.

Moroccan mania for Taste and Create

Right now I'm in the height of a Moroccan obsession, and so I was duly excited to be paired up with Ann and Jack from from Redacted Recipes this month, for Taste and Create, a monthly event created and coordinated by Nicole.

Tagines are a regular guest at our dinner table, at least once a week. The mention of "stew" for dinner always brought comments of disdain from the family in the past, but if the word "tagine" is substituted, there isn't a problem. It sounds much more exotic, and of course it really is, because Moroccan spices make an ordinary old stew sing like a star.

So dinner last light was a lamb tagine. This dish was so delicious, the cinnamon really shone through, and the prunes gave it a fruity lift. I think it's the first time everyone ate zucchini without leaving it to the side of the plate.

Ann and Jack's recipe can be found here. I really wanted to serve this with their Za'atar Bread to mop up the luscious juices, but just ran out of time. I will make it next time though, and the lamb tagine will definitely be on our menu again.

A Mean Tagine

A hearty winter meal, combining lamb, tomatoes, herbs and spices was on the menu this week, after a few rainy days. Although the temperatures have been quite mild (so far) for this early stage of Winter, it's still cool enough to crave a belly warming meal, and this dish certainly fit the bill. I threw it together after a hard day at the office, and it was ready in no time. Frying off the meatballs was no trouble, as you just need to brown them so they retain their shape, whilst bubbling away in the rich and spicy tomato sauce. The coriander added at the end of cooking was the finishing touch to a very satisfying meal.

Astrid from Food Paulchen's Blog is kindly hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging event for this week.

Lamb Kifta Tagine with Eggs

Ingredients Meatballs

• 500g lamb, finely minced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil for frying
• 
  

Ingredients Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cans tomatoes (400g), drained and chopped
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 500ml water
• 1/3 cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 6 eggs

Method

To make the meatballs, combine the ingredients and, using wet hands, form the mixture into walnut-sized balls. Heat the oil and brown the meatballs all over. Drain well on paper towels.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole dish and lightly sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, except the water, fresh herbs and eggs, and stir well. Then stir in the water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until it has reduced to a very thick gravy.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and continue cooking for a further 8 minutes. Carefully break the whole eggs into the sauce, cover with a lid and cook until the eggs are just set – about 5 minutes. Serve at once, liberally garnished with the fresh herbs and with plenty of Turkish bread at the side to mop up the runny egg yolks. Alternatively, accompany with a dish of plain buttered couscous and a dollop of thick natural yoghurt.

Lamb shanks in Wine Sauce

Autumn has well and truly arrived in its picturesque glory. The vibrant colours, the smell of wood fires burning, beautiful sunny crisp days and comfort food on the stove. It truly is a beautiful season, preparing us for the colder days to come.
My all time favourite cut of meat has to be the lamb shank. When we were kids, the lamb shank was always at the centre of arguments as to who would receive this juicy, succulent joint from the lamb roast. Back then, lamb shanks were considered a cheaper cut, and when feeding 4 hungry children, my mother would often buy a heap of shanks, at least one for each of us, to stretch her meager budget, as well as keeping peace at the dinner table.

Nowadays, the humble shank has skyrocketed to fame and fortune, deservedly so, taking on the new title of "Frenched Lamb Shanks". It is now leaner and supposedly more attractive to the eye. The taste will never alter, however the cost of the revamped shank seems to have risen as much as it's popularity. No longer is it a poor mans dish. It now receives star status on many a restaurant menu. If worse came to worse, I'd consider selling one of the children just to finance a meal of tender lamb shanks. Hopefully, for their sake, this won't happen in the near future.

My preferred method of cooking shanks is in the pressure cooker. And this recipe, with the richness of red wine and balsamic, was just the perfect autumn dish, and one I'll be "throwing together" on a week night more often. Served with pan fried rosemary and garlic potatoes, and a tossed salad, it was worthy of being shown on any classy restaurant menu.

LAMB SHANKS IN WINE SAUCE

2 large lamb shanks

Salt and pepper to taste

1 T. olive oil

10 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole

1/2 cup chicken or mushroom stock

1/2 cup port wine

1 T. tomato paste

1/2 t. dried rosemary (I used a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary)

1 T. butter

1-2 T. balsamic vinegar

Trim the excess fat from the shanks and season then with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker. Add the shanks and brown on all sides. When they are almost browned add the garlic cloves and cook until they are lightly browned, but do not burn them. Add the stock, port, tomato paste, and rosemary, stirring until the tomato paste dissolves. Close the pressure cooker and bring up to full pressure. Reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes. Release the pressure and remove the lamb shanks. Return the pressure cooker to the stove and boil uncovered for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. Whisk in the butter and the vinegar. Serve sauce over lamb shanks.

Laurie, from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska would have to be one of the most envied bloggers in the blogosphere, as she has a home in Alaska as well as Greece, and she is hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this week. Her amazing Greek dishes are to die for, so head over to her blog for a real food fest.

Lamb shanks with broad beans and avgolemono

Our spring weather is so unpredictable, with wild winds, snow falls, unfortunately very little rain this year, sunshine, and right now searing temperatures in the 30's. All of this in the one week mind you. It's such a dilemma to decide what to wear, let alone what to eat each day. Just when you think it's time for an outdoor dinner or lunch the weather can turn downright nasty.

Spring lamb is now at it's best, so I've chosen a Greek inspired dish accompanied with avgolemono, which is a fresh tasting sauce made from egg, lemon and broth. It is better known as an egg and lemon soup, if more broth is added. Either way, it's delicious, and is a great accompaniment to any roasted meats. I slow roasted the shanks in the covered BBQ, until the wind whipped up again and kept blowing the gas out. I hate this horrible wind...sniffle, sneeze.

Susan, from The Well Seasoned Cook is the host of this first event (for the THIRD year) of Weekend Herb Blogging. Kalyn must be totally exhausted after compiling last weeks round up celebrating the two year anniversary of Doubly Delish. I'm still ploughing through all of the delicious recipes.

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks (about 4 pounds total), cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch -thick pieces by butcher
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup water
I kg broad beans, podded and peeled
1 large egg
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

Preparation

Preheat oven to 275°F.

In a heavy casserole large enough to hold lamb shanks in one layer without crowding arrange shanks and season with salt and pepper. Roast shanks in middle of oven, covered tightly, 3 hours, or until tender. (Meat will give off juices as it cooks.) Pour off pan juices, reserving about 1 cup, and skim fat. Keep shanks warm, covered.

In a small saucepan combine broth, reserved pan juices, water, and one-third broad beans and simmer 5 minutes, or until beans are tender.

In a blender purée broth mixture until smooth.

In a bowl whisk together egg and lemon juice and whisk in puréed broth mixture. Return mixture to pan and heat over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly (do not boil). Season avgolemono with salt and pepper and keep warm.

In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté remaining broad beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in dill and salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange shanks on a deep platter and scatter with broad beans. Drizzle shanks with some avgolemono and serve remaining sauce separately. Serve shanks with orzo or mashed potato

Judy's lamb shanks

You know how it is....the conversation around the "cuppa" tearoom table, amongst (mostly female) staff, goes something like this (as well as other delectable topics, not necessarily food related!) ......

"I have no idea WHAT I'm going to cook for dinner tonight"...(groan....sigh). Then someone pipes up with..."WEELLL...., I cooked lamb shanks last night...(smirk)". "Oh wow, lamb shanks are my all time favourite...how did you cook them?"

And this is the simple recipe, scribbled on the back of a very "important" document, that never made it's way to the intended recipient. It's now in my recipe folder. I really feel quite guilty about that (oh well..), but I've enjoyed this meal over and over, cooked either in a pressure cooker, or as last nights dinner, done in the slow cooker.

Personally I prefer the pressure cooked method, not only for it's speed and convenience, but because the shanks retain their shape, magnificent flavour, and most importantly, the meat still falls off the bone with a gentle coercion from the fork. With the slow cooker, most of the meat had fallen into the sauce, and there was nothing but sauce and bones. However, dinner was ready when I came home, after a long week of scribbling recipes on the back important documents. I recycle, that's good isn't it?

Served on top of creamy polenta, liberally laced with parmigiana reggiano, and a touch of parsley on the side, ahhhh...la dolce vita.

Katie, from Thyme for Cooking, the Blog who, in an untoward moment, had a recent encounter with a friendly centipede, and is the host of Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging # 99... Had Katie hosted next weeks event, it would have been very apt indeed.

Judy's Lamb Shanks

4 shanks/necks (cut away fat)
Large tin of tomato soup + some water
1/4 cup brown vinegar
Desertspoon of mustard powder
2 desertpoons of Worcestershire sauce
3 onions
4 rashers of bacon
Brown sugar

Cook it all together and thicken with flour (I love this methodolgy, but I would suggest you mix some flour with a liquid of some sort, to avoid horrible lumps)

Obviously the recipient of the document was lurking, because instructions and quantities had to brief. I usually quarter the onions, place the bacon rashers on top of each lamb shank, and as for the brown sugar, I guess I put in roughly 2 heaped tablespoons, more so for the consistency rather than the sweetness.


P.S. Don't forget to suck out the marrow....magnifico!

Patagonian Lamb with balsamic roast vege salad

What a coincidence it was during the week, when I caught the very last segment of The Hairy Bikers, a.k.a. Simon King and David Myers, on tour in Argentina. They were cooking Patagonian Lamb, and of even greater coincidence, I had two perfect lamb backstraps sitting in the fridge. The backstrap is sometimes called the eye of loin or or lamb sirloin or lamb fillet. It would have to be the most expensive cut of the sheep, way up there with the frenched loin cutlets, so it's not something you would buy everyday, it's more of a delicacy, at least it is in this house.

I had to improvise with this recipe slightly, as I couldn't source dried porcini mushrooms; I just couldn't find them anywhere, so used plain old ordinary sliced button mushrooms. I'm sure the porcini would have added even deeper flavour to the dish, but it was still good. I also substituted prosciutto parma ham for the pancetta, but you can still use a good quality, thinly sliced bacon. I also added some semi-sundried tomatoes to the paste.

Served with balsamic roasted root vegetable salad, consisting of parsnips, swede, carrot, beetroot and potato, smothered in balsamic vinegar, this made a very impressive dinner. Scott from Real Epicurean is this weeks host of Weekend Herb Blogging #97. How good is this event to be going so strongly after nearly two years, and still gathering momentum? Congratulations Kalyn.

Ingredients
20g/¾oz dried porcini mushrooms
2 x 225g/8oz lamb loin fillets
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
250g/9oz streaky bacon or pancetta or prosciutto

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Soak the porcini mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes, then chop, discarding the liquid.
3. Trim any sinew from the loin fillets and set aside.
4. Place the chopped porcini into a food processor with the remaining ingredients, except the lamb and bacon, and blend to form a paste.
5. Place half of the bacon rashers side by side on a chopping board to form a sheet. Place one lamb fillet over the rashers at one end, so it can be rolled up.
6. Spread half the paste evenly over the top of the fillet. Then roll the fillet, wrapping it up in the bacon sheet.
7. Repeat the process with the second fillet.
8. Place the two fillets in a roasting tin, making sure the rasher ends are tucked under the fillet.
9. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare meat, 20 minutes for medium and 25 minutes for well done. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.