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Posts Tagged ‘Roast’

Roast Chicken with Caraway & Cranberry Stuffing

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 13 March 2022| 1 Comment »

Some Sunday lunch inspiration and a particularly delicious stuffing. Bring the chicken up to room temperature before putting into the oven.

Wine Suggestions: This demands a nutty, toasty Chardonnay like a good Burgundy. With these, however, becoming harder and more expensive to find there are many superb alternatives from around the world and it was to the US we turned and opened an Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay from the late, great Jim Clendenen. Mouth filling and creamy with a flinty core and vibrant citrus finish.

Roast chicken with caraway and cranberry stuffing – serves 4

  • 70g unsalted butter
  • 5 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
  • 7 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
  • 1 whole chicken (about 1.4kg)
  • 3-4 large celery sticks, cut into 1cm dice
  • 1 onion, cut into 1cm dice
  • 100g dried cranberries
  • 100g ready-cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
  • 4-5 slices of mixed rye and wheat sourdough, crusts removed, lightly toasted, then roughly torn into 2cm pieces
  • 15g parsley, roughly chopped
  • 120ml chicken stock

Make the marinade for the chicken first by melting 30g of the butter and stirring in 1 tbsp of the caraway seeds, 2 cloves of garlic, the sugar and ½ tsp of salt. Set the chicken into a large dish, rub the marinade all over and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 190C fan.

Next make the stuffing. Put the rest of the butter (40g) into a large non-stick pan over a medium-hight heat. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of caraway seeds and fry for a couple of minutes until aromatic. Add the remaining 5 cloves of garlic, the celery, onion, cranberries, chestnuts and 1 tsp of salt. Fry for 12-13 minutes, stirring, until golden and softened. Tip into a bowl and stir in the bread, parsley and stock.

Set the chicken into a small roasting tray. Season generously with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with the stuffing. You will probably have too much stuffing and you can heat the rest for 30 minutes in an ovenproof dish before the chicken is ready.

Roast the chicken for 70-75 minutes, basting every 20 minutes, until the skin is golden-brown and crispy adn the juices run clear. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotom Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley & Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Lime, Paprika & Honey-Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 7 January 2022| Leave a Comment »

We regularly cook chicken drumsticks mid-week. This is mainly because we end up taking them when we buy chicken thighs from the butchers, we know we’ll always use them. They’re cheap and good for taking on bold flavours, and we particularly liked this marinade.

Wine Suggestion: Find a white with a hint of lime/citrus and juicy, zesty fruits like a good Riesling, Verdejo or Sauvignon Blanc. For us tonight Anthony Girard’s La Clef du Recit Menetou Salon, a Sauv Blanc grown on soils similar to Chablis and becoming a regular at our house.

Lime, paprika & honey-glazed chicken drumsticks – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 8 chicken drumsticks
  • 2 red onions, cut into wedges
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp runny honey
  • 125ml chicken stock
  • 1 lime, cut into thin wedges
  • steamed rice, asian greens & fresh coriander, to serve

Heat the oven to 220C.

Mix the flour and paprika and season well with salt and pepper.

Dry the drumsticks with kitchen paper, then dust them in the seasoned flour and put into a large roasting tin with the onions. Drizzle with the olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile, mix the ginger, honey, and chicken stock together. Pour the mixture over the chicken and add the lime wedges. Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and golden brown.

Serve with steamed rice, greens and lots of coriander.

(Original recipe from Bill Granger Every Day, Murdoch Books, 2006.)

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Roast Pork Belly with Herbs & New Potatoes

Posted in Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 27 April 2021| Leave a Comment »

We don’t make a roast dinner every week but we do like one occasionally, especially in the brighter months when you can lighten them up a bit with some spring veg. Ask your butcher to score the pork skin for you, then leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry out the skin, which will help with the crispy crackling.

Wine suggestion: Quite often we have an oaky white with roast pork but tonight we had a notion for red and a 6 year old Olga Raffault Chinon Les Pucasses which was just hitting it’s stride and will be drinking nicely for another 10 years we think. Deep , complex and brooding and yet the limestone soils give it an immediate freshness and vivacity.

Roast pork belly with herbs & new potatoes – serves 4

  • 3-4 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1.5kg thick end of pork belly, bone in, skin completely dry (see above)
  • 300g new potatoes
  • a few sprigs of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped, stalks reserved
  • a knob of butter
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • a small bunch of parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • a small bunch of chives, finely chopped
  • 2 handfuls of peas or broad bean tops if available (we didn’t have these but we served with some double podded broad beans instead)
  • juice of ½ lemon

Heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Toast the fennel seeds in a small pan until fragrant, then tip into a pestle and mortar and coarsely grind. Score the skin and fat (but not the flesh) of the pork with a sharp knife if your butcher hasn’t done this for you already.

Put the pork into a roasting tray and rub allover with the crushed fennel seeds and some salt.

Put the pork into the oven for 30 minutes to crisp up the skin, then reduce the heat to 160C/315F/Gas 2-3. Add half a glass of water to the tray and roast for a further 2 hours, until crispy and tender. You will need to keep checking the water and ensuring that the pan doesn’t dry out.

While the pork is roasting, halve the potatoes if they’re big and put into a saucepan with the mint stalks. Cover with salty water and simmer until just tender, then drain and return to the pan, discarding the mint stalks. Add the butter and 1 tbsp of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then set aside.

Remove the cooked pork from the oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes. Add the chopped herbs to the potatoes and stir gently to coat, then spoon onto a warm platter. Slice the pork and arrange on the platter with the potatoes, then skim the fat from the juices in the roasting tin and spoon the juices over the pork and potatoes,.

If you have pea or bean tops, put them into a bowl and dress with the 1 tbsp of olive oil and the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Scatter these over the pork and serve. (We dressed our broad beans with some olive oil and lemon and served these alongside instead).

(Original recipe from Gather by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2016.)

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Stuffed Rabbit

Posted in Food, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 9 April 2021| Leave a Comment »

We cooked this fantastic recipe for Easter, avoiding the temptation of Spring lamb which is ridiculously expensive at present. Plus we think lamb is tastier later in the season when they are a bit older. This is the sort of recipe that Jono would choose, but I decide it looks too fiddly and we opt for something else. Something this weekend made me relent and give this a go … probably the prospect of a long weekend and nothing much to do!

Make friends with your butcher and ask them to debone the rabbit for you. The stuffing and rolling seems a bit tricky when you’re doing it and ours looked far from pretty but if you tie it tightly with string, wrap in some cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour, it will all stay together nicely and looks great when you cut it out. Be brave.

Wine Suggestion: Good with a Chianti Classico from a better producer and, if possible, a little age for some of the tertiary bottle development characters to emerge. For us we had a bottle of the Tenuta Sant’Alfonso, a single vineyard wine made by Rocca delle Macie from our cellar.

Stuffed rabbit – serves 4 to 6

  • 1kg deboned rabbit (about 1.2kg unboned)
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit extra
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 30g pine nuts
  • 30g currants or sultanas
  • 200ml white wine
  • about 100g soft breadcrumbs
  • 10-12 slices streaky bacon or pancetta

Spread the deboned rabbit out over a work surface. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook until soft, then add the tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, pine nuts and currants and cook for another minute. Add 100ml white wine and bubble until most of it has disappeared. Start adding the breadcrumbs, a handful at a time, until you have a stuffing that is neither too wet or too dry. It should clump in your hands and stay together but not feel too sticky. Season.

Make a pile of the stuffing, shaping with your hands, about 7cm from the less fat end of the rabbit. You need to leave a generous margin near the edges so the stuffing doesn’t squeeze out. Roll the rabbit into a fat log shape, tucking in the sides as you go. Wrap the joint in the bacon or pancetta and tie firmly widthways and lengthways with kitchen string. You can set it aside in the fridge for a while now if you need, we found this useful to firm it up a bit.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6.

Heat some more oil in a frying pan, then brown the rabbit on all sides. Transfer to a deepish roasting tin, not too much bigger than the rabbit. Add rest of the wine to the frying pan, scraping the meaty bits on the pan with a wooden spoon, then pour this over the rabbit. Roast for 45 minutes until nice and golden on the outside. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving in thick slices.

(Original recipe from Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome by Rachel Roddy, Headline Home, 2017.)

 

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Buttery Lemon Roast Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 2 November 2020| Leave a Comment »

We recently bought Skye McAlpine’s book, A Table for Friends, which has lovely menus for each season. We’re well and truly into Autumn now and the farm shop is full of potatoes, pumpkins and beetroots. Tonight we made Skye’s suggested autumn menu of buttery lemon roast chicken, beetroot & mint salad, butter & sage roast pumpkin and roast potatoes. A perfect combination of dishes and all can be prepped in advance. Unfortunately we were minus the friends but hopefully those days will be back again before too long. 

We ignore all timings for roast chicken these days and stick to Diana Henry’s failsafe instructions to roast for 20 minutes at 190C for each 500g plus an extra 10 minutes. 

Wine Suggestion: Quite often with roast chicken we lean towards oaked Chardonnay as it’s such a classic match but tonight we remembered that another great match is good red Bordeaux from the Left Bank, so Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, and also with a little age, but not too much. We continued our lockdown habit of dipping into the cellar once a week and pulled out a Domaine de Chevalier red from 2010. It still has years, if not a couple of decades of life ahead of it but at 10 years old it still has a spriteliness of youth while all components have come together harmoniously into a smooth, elegant wine.

Buttery Lemon Roast Chicken – serves 4

  • a large bunch of sage
  • 1 lemon, finely zested
  • 50g butter, softened
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 free-range chicken

You can prep the chicken early in the day and keep in the fridge but make sure you take it out an hour or two before you want to put it into the oven so it’s at room temperature.

Heat the oven to 190C.

Finely chop half the sage and mash in a bowl with the butter, lemon zest and salt.

Put the chicken into a roasting tray. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze some of the juice into the cavity, then stuff the halves into the chicken with the remaining sage.

Gently lift the skin over the breast and smear a quarter of the butter mixture under the skin over each breast. You should be able to push the butter quite far down with your fingers, but careful not tear the skin. Rub the rest of the butter over the chicken and sprinkle with some extra salt.

Roast the chicken according to the timings given above. When cooked the legs should feel loose and the juice should run clear when you pierce a thick bit with a sharp knife.

Leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving and served with some of the juices spooned over.

(Original recipe from A Table for Friends: The Art of Cooking for Two or Twenty by Skye McAlpine, Bloomsbury, 2020.)

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Roast Pork Belly with Apple, Soy & Ginger

Posted in Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , on 17 October 2020| Leave a Comment »

A recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi published in the Guardian last October. We were looking for a recipe to use a pork belly joint and this was suitably Autumnal. A rich and complex dish that was full of flavour and umami textures. We put the pork under the grill at the end to crisp the crackling up. Serve with steamed rice.

Wine Suggestion: try a youthful and finely textured Shiraz/Syrah with this dish. Nothing too powerful and rich, avoid burly tannins and look for refinement and persistence on the finish. Two suggestions are the Parker Coonawarra Shiraz from Australia, or the Jerome Coursodon St Joseph Silice. Neither are the top wine from their respective wineries, and both are youthful, but the combination of attention to detail in the vineyard and winery mean that they have the quality of their siblings but aren’t as concentrated and taught … making them so enjoyable in youth. And that is what this dish needs.

Roast pork belly with apple, soy & ginger – serves 4

  • 1 whole boneless pork belly joint (800-900g)
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges
  • 12 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 40g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 4 whole star anise
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 90ml soy sauce
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • 250ml unsweetened apple juice (we used Llewellyn’s Premium Irish Apple Juice)
  • 70ml apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
  • 3 medium Pink Lady apples, cored and cut into quarters
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Heat the oven to 185C/165 fan/gas 4½.

Use a sharp knife to score the pork skin in a diamond patter, your butcher will happily do this for you. Rub a teaspoon of sea salt flakes into the skin and push it into the slashes.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan over a medium heat, then fry the onion for a few minutes to soften. Add the garlic, ginger, star anise and bay leaves, and cook until lightly coloured, about 3 minutes.

Add the soy sauce, stock, apple juice, vinegar, sugar and black peppercorns and bring to a simmer.

Take the dish off the heat and set the pork on top, making sure not to get the skin wet.

Put the dish into the hot oven and roast for 90 minutes, then remove and arrange the apples around the pork. Stir to coat them in the liquid but careful not to get the skin wet. Return to the oven for 30 minutes or until the pork is crispy and golden (if you need it to crisp up a bit, put it on a tray and flash briefly under the grill).

Lift the pork out onto a board and rest for 15-20 minutes before carving into 1½-thick slices. Spoon the apple mixture into a large serving dish and lay the pork on top. Sprinkle with the scallions to serve.

(Original recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi in the Guardian, 12 October 2019)

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Pot-roast Veal with Carrots and Orange

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , on 2 August 2020| 3 Comments »

Pot-roast Veal with Carrots and Orange

We’re very excited to be getting veal and goat from Broughgammon Farm in County Antrim. Last week we bought a veal roasting joint and it was incredible. The orange provides only a subtle background flavour, a bit like a daube. Serve with all your usual roast accompaniments – we had buttered new potatoes, green beans and cauliflower cheese.

Wine Suggestion: This dish is very French influenced and so a French wine is a good choice. A syrah is a great match, so choose a good local one with a little bit of age if you can. For us we raided our cellar for a lonely bottle of Pierre Gaillard’s Côte Rôtie Rose Pourpre 2010 which was all velvety spices, damsons, violets and plums. It had aged wonderfully.

Pot-roast veal with carrots & orange – serves 6

  • 1.5kg rump of veal or shoulder (rolled and tied)
  • a bunch of thyme
  • 3 garlic cloves, one sliced and the other two bashed
  • 25g butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 800g new-season carrots, trim but leave a little of the green stalks
  • 1 large shallot, roughly chopped
  • a sprinkling of icing sugar
  • zest of ½ an orange, pared into strips
  • 150ml white wine
  • 350ml chicken stock

When you get the veal home, remove the packaging and season it generously with fine sea salt or kosher salt, then leave covered in the fridge until you need it. Take it out of the fridge about an hour before you want to cook it.

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Tuck some sprigs of thyme and the sliced garlic into the veal. You can make some incisions with a small knife and push them in if necessary.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole. Spend 10-15 minutes browning the veal joint until really well coloured all over, then remove from the pan.

Add the shallot, carrots and icing sugar to the pan and toss around for about 5 minutes or until slightly caramelised. Remove the carrots and set aside but leave everything else in the dish. Add the rest of the thyme, the bashed garlic cloves and the orange zest. Set the veal back into the dish, then pour over the wine, followed by the chicken stock. Cover the dish and put into the oven for 1 hour.

Take the dish out of the oven, add the carrots, then return to the oven for another hour with the lid off.

The meat should now be deliciously tender. Let it sit for a few minutes before carving into slices and serve with the carrots and pan juices.

(Original recipe by BBC Good Food)

 

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Roast Chicken with Garlic & Thyme Croutons

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 12 May 2020| 4 Comments »

Roast chicken with garlic & thyme croutons

The croutons here are pieces of slightly stale sourdough that make a trivet for the chicken and soak up all the juices, such a clever idea. They are delicious and so is the salsa verde on the side.

Wine suggestion: We think a Jura Chardonnay with a little bit of Voile (kept in large oak barrels and not topped up for a number of years with a sherry-like flor yeast keeping them fresh) is the perfect match. The full-bodied Chardonnay matched with the freshness of the alpine foothills and the salty, yeasty Voile complements the croutons. Tonight it was our last bottle of the Jacques Puffeney Cuvée Sacha which is a non-vintage blend of Chardonnay with a small amount of much older Savignin; very compelling and complex.

Roast chicken with garlic & thyme croutons – serves 4

  • 1 whole chicken
  • ½ a loaf of day-old sourdough, cut into large chunks
  • a few sprigs of thyme
  • a whole bulb of garlic, halved
  • 1 lemon, halved

FOR THE SALSA VERDE:

  • ½ tbsp Dijon
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 2 tbsp finely diced gherkins or cornichons
  • 2 tbsp small capers, rinsed and drained
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • ½ a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • ½ a small bunch of mint, chopped
  • a small bunch of basil, chopped

Heat the oven to 190C. Rub the chicken all over with olive oil and season well.

Toss the bread with the thyme, 2 tbsp of olive oil and some seasoning. Spread the bread over the bottom of a large roasting tin with the garlic and lemon, then sit the chicken on the top. Make sure there is plenty of bread underneath the chicken. Roast for 20 minutes per 500g plus an extra 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Make the salsa verde by whisking the mustard, vinegar and oil together, season well, then add all the chopped ingredients.

Leave the chicken to rest for 10 minutes or so before carving. Toss the croutons in the sticky juices in the roasting tin and serve alongside the chicken and the salsa.

(Original recipe by Lulu Grimes in Olive Magazine, May 2015.)

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Roast Chicken with Morels

Posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , on 13 April 2019| Leave a Comment »

Roast Chicken with Morels

We’ve never managed to find fresh morels but they’re such a reminder of Spring that we like to cook with the dried ones at this time of year. The sauce with this simple roast chicken is delicious. Some steamed asparagus is good on the side.

Wine Suggestion: with the classic French flavours of morels, brandy and crème fraîche we had to go with a classic white Burgundy. Tonight a favourite, Patrick Javillier’s Bourgogne Cuvée des Forgets … our mini Meursault.

Roast chicken with morels – serves 4

  • 20g dried porcini
  • a whole chicken, about 1.5kg (if you have a different sized chicken cook for 15 minutes per 450g plus an extra 20 minutes)
  • 100g butter, at room temperature
  • vegetable oil
  • 2 small shallots, finely diced
  • a handful of dried morels, soaked (or fresh if you can get them)
  • a splash of brandy
  • 200ml crème fraîche
  • a small bunch of parsley, leaves stripped and roughly chopped
  • a small bunch of tarragon, leaves stripped and roughly chopped

Soak half the porcini in a small bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

Put the butter into a small bowl. Drain the porcini, pat dry, then roughly chop and mix with the butter and some seasoning. Put the porcini butter inside the chicken and lift into a roasting tin. Pour 100ml of water inside the chicken too. Rub the chicken all over with vegetable oil and season. Roast in the hot oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Grind the rest of the dried porcini to a powder.

Check the chicken is cooked and cook for longer if needed. Lift the chicken out of the roasting tin carefully and try not to let the butter inside escape. Keep warm.

Remove half the fat from the roasting tin. Put the tin over a low heat and gently cook the shallots. Add the dried porcini powder and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the brandy and flambé carefully. When the flames die down, add the soaked morels, then add the juices, butter and porcini from the chicken and bring to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes, then add the crème fraîche and mix well. Stir in the herbs and serve the chicken with the sauce.

(Original recipe by John Torode in Olive Magazine, April 2011.)

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Marinated Turkey Breast with Coriander, Cumin & White Wine

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 14 September 2018| 1 Comment »

Marinated turkey breast with coriander, cumin & white wine

Not entirely the wrong season as turkey is available and cheap – we’re never sure why it isn’t more popular. If you’re not convinced try this tasty marinade from the original Ottolenghi Cookbook. This is very straightforward but you need to start a day ahead.

We used 1/2 turkey breast, but wrapped it in the whole skin and tied this to keep it together. If you find an amiable butcher we recommend getting them to do this too.

Wine Suggestion: We’d suggest opening a Chardonnay with texture and fresh acidity alongside ripe, deep fruit. We’ve recently tried some great Californian Chardonnays that reach this goal;  the Cline Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a good, value option, or a new discovery, and a treat, the range of wines made by Tyler in Santa Barbara. Quite a bit more expensive but a real thrill.

 Marinated turkey breast with cumin, coriander and white wine – serves 4 to 6

  • 4 tbsp mint leaves
  • 4 tbsp parsley leaves
  • 4 tbsp coriander leaves
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • 60ml lemon juice
  • 60ml olive oil
  • 125ml white wine
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ small turkey breast, skin on (about 1kg)

Put everything (except the turkey) in a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes until smooth. Put the turkey in a non-metallic container and pour over the marinade. Massage the marinade into the meat, then cover and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. The turkey should be immersed in the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas mark 7.

Take the turkey out of the marinade (but don’t throw the marinade away) and put it on a roasting tray. Put into the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200C/Gas mark 6. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes then reduce the temperature again to 180C/Gas mark 4. Cook for another 30-45 minutes or until cooked through. If you stick a knife into the centre of the meat it should come out hot. Cover with foil near the end of the cooking time if it is browning too much.

To make the sauce, heat up the reserved marinade in a small saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced by about half. Taste and season.

Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes, then slice thinly and serve with the warm sauce.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi: the Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2006.)

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Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder with Creamy Beans

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 5 October 2017| 1 Comment »

Slow roast lamb with beans

Lamb cooked long and slow is really delicious and lamb shoulder is the perfect cut for feeding lots of people. It’s also much cheaper than lamb leg. We loved the creamy beans flavoured with the lamb juices and onions, perfect for Sunday lunch. We definitely recommend soaking and cooking dried beans for this (and most other) dishes but tinned beans will work fine too. Leftover lamb can be used in a really good Shepherd’s pie.

Wine Suggestion: cool climate Syrah is our pick and a very good example is the André Perret Saint Joseph which was fresh and lively with really juicy cherry and raspberry fruit and racy,  velvety spices. We tasted the 2015 which was joyfully youthful and should have years ahead of it. We may buy a few more bottles of this to put away for future lamb dishes.

Slow-roasted lamb with beans – serves 8 to 12

  • 50ml olive oil
  • 500g onions, peeled and sliced
  • 2kg shoulder of lamb, boned, rolled and tied
  • 6 sprigs of thyme and 2 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 x tins of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed or 250g dried cannellini beans – soaked and cooked (soak the dried beans in lots of cold water overnight. Drain and put in a large saucepan of fresh water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until tender. Drain in a colander and allow to cool).
  • 200ml cream

Preheat the oven to 110 C/225 F/Gas ¼.

Put a large casserole dish on a low heat and heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper, then cook very gently until soft and caramelised.

Meanwhile, put a large frying pan on a high heat and add the remaining oil. Season the lamb really well with salt and black pepper, then cook for 10 minutes, turning now and then, until the well-browned.

Put the lamb on top of the caramelised onions, add the thyme sprigs and garlic, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for about 6 hours or until very tender.

Remove the lamb to a warm plate and keep warm wrapped in some foil.

Drain the onions, thyme and garlic in a sieve set over a bowl. Leave the liquid to sit until the fat rises to the surface, then spoon it off (we have a separating jug which makes this job very easy!).

Discard the thyme sprigs and return the onions and garlic to the casserole dish. Stir in the beans, cream and chopped thyme and simmer for about 5 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper to taste.

Carve the lamb into thick slices and serve with the beans and some green veg.

(Original recipe from Rachel’s Everyday Kitchen, HarperCollins, 2013.)

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Three Hour Shoulder of Lamb

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 1 September 2017| 3 Comments »

Three hour shoulder of lamb

A delicious summer roast with meltingly tender lamb and so simple to prepare. Serve with a fresh mint sauce and some steamed new potatoes.

Wine Suggestion: We tried two wines with great success: the Rustenberg Chardonnay from South Africa, and the Chateau du Hureau “Fevettes” Saumur-Champigny. Both had the needed structure, or bones, to stand up to the rich lamb, but also played a delightful fresh mid-weight tune with the summer veg.

Three hour shoulder of lamb – serves 4

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp oregano, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shoulder of lamb, boned and tied, approx 1½ kg
  • 400g pearl onions or shallots
  • 250ml lamb stock
  • 100g fresh/frozen peas
  • 100g fresh/frozen broad beans
  • 2 Little Gem lettuces, cut into quarters
  • juice 1 lemon
  • small handful mint or coriander, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Mix the garlic, oregano and olive oil with some salt and pepper. Make cuts all over the the lamb with a sharp knife and rub the mixture into the meat. Put into a deep casserole dish with the onions and pour over the stock, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook 3 hrs.

Remove the lamb from the pot and stir through the peas and broad beans. Sit the lamb back on top of the vegetables and return to the oven. Increase temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and roast, uncovered, for another 20-30 mins until the lamb is browned, adding the lettuce for the final 5 mins. Allow to rest for 20 mins, then add the lemon juice and mint to the cooking juices. Carve into thick slices and lay them back on top of the veg to serve.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

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Pomegranate & Slow Cooked Lamb Couscous

Posted in Food, Lamb, Roast, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 24 February 2017| 2 Comments »

Pomegranate & slow cooked lamb couscous

This makes such a lovely weekend dish and looks really attractive served on a large platter in the middle of the table. It requires a few hours in the oven but is hardly any work at all and uses just a few ingredients.

Wine Suggestion: this dish cries out for a Moorish influenced wine and nothing quite achieves this more than a Spanish Tempranillo. Our choice of the evening was the Carmelo Rodero Ribera del Duero Crianza which is juicy, powerful and also manages to achieve a perfumed elegance with exotic eastern spice hints.

Pomegranate & slow cooked lamb couscous – serves 6

  • 2kg lamb shoulder (or get your butcher to give you a forequarter if the lambs are small)
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus extra to serve
  • 300g couscous
  • butter
  • 1 tsp harissa
  • a small bunch of mint, leaves roughly chopped
  • seeds from 1 pomegranate

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5.

Put the lamb into a roasting tin with the fatty side facing up. Scatter the onion around the lamb. Score the lamb with a sharp knife and rub in the pomegranate molasses with your hands. Season well. Add 2 mugs of water to the tin, then cover with foil and roast for 4 hours. Rest for 15 minutes before pulling chunks of the lamb off the bone with 2 forks.

While the lamb is resting, put the couscous into a large bowl with a large knob of butter, the harissa and seasoning, then add enough boiling water to just cover. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 5 minutes before fluffing the grains gently with a fork. Put the couscous onto a platter and arrange the shredded lamb on top. Pour off any fat from the roasting tin and pour the juices over the lamb and couscous plus a little more molasses. Scatter with the mint and pomegranate seeds.

(Original recipe by Lulu Grimes IN: BBC Olive Magazine, February 2014.)

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Roast Guinea Fowl with Sage and Lemon Mash

Posted in Food, Game, Roast, tagged , , , , , , , , on 16 February 2017| Leave a Comment »

Roast Guinea Fowl with sage and lemon mash

Our butcher had some guinea fowl on the counter and February is the month for a two person dish. This 1.2 kg bird gave enough for two people plus delicious sandwiches the following day.  Guinea fowl tastes like really flavoursome chicken so a good way to try out game birds with tastes that aren’t too unfamiliar. Don’t worry too much about the size of your bird, just follow the usual timings for roast chicken.

Wine suggestion: if you’d like a white wine seek out the Sartarelli Verdicchio Superiore Tralivio or for a red an earthy Pinot Noir like the Sylvain Loichet Cotes du Nuits Villages. Neither will disappoint.

Roast guinea fowl with sage & lemon mash – serves 2

  • 1 small guinea fowl, about 1kg
  • 1 onion, thickly sliced with the skin left on
  • ½ a small bunch of sage
  • 75g softened butter
  • 1 small lemon, zested
  • 6 rashers of streaky bacon
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 350ml strong chicken stock
  • 350g floury potatoes peeled and cut in to large chunks
  • 2-3 tbsp cream/milk
  • 2 handfuls of watercress to serve

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Put the onion in the bottom of a small roasting tin that will fit the guinea fowl snugly. Finely chop 5 sage leaves and mix with 50g of the butter, the lemon zest and seasoning. Push some of the butter mixture under the skin of the bird, then rub the rest all over. Stretch the bacon strips over the breast, then halve the zested lemon and put inside the cavity with the remaining sage. Place the bird on top of the onions and roast for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue to roast for another 35-45 minutes or longer if your bird is bigger than 1kg. Check the bird is cooked by piercing the inside of the thigh and making sure the juices are clear.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until tender, then drain and mash with the remaining butter and a splash of milk/cream.

Lift the bird onto a platter and keep warm. Scoop the lemon halves from the cavity and keep aside. Pour the roasting juice into a jug and leave to settle, the fat will rise to the top. Spoon 1 tbsp of the fat back into the tin. Put the tin over a low heat and stir in the flour. Gradually add the stock and any meat juices (discard the extra fat from the jug). Mash some of the reserved lemon pulp into the mash with some salt and pepper.

Carve the bird and serve with the lemon mash, gravy and watercress.

(Original recipe from BBC Olive Magazine, February 2014.)

 

Roast Guinea Fowl with sage and lemon mash 2

 

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Good Old Bacon & Cabbage

Posted in Food, Irish Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 14 January 2017| 1 Comment »

Kassler roasted with cabbage & potatoes

Our mate Brett got us this genuine Kassler, a pork loin expertly cured and lightly smoked by Ed Hicks in Dun Laoghaire. If you can’t find Kassler use a smoked bacon loin or rack and prepare yourself for the best bacon & cabbage ever.

Wine Suggestion: We chose a classic white Burgundy, 100% Chardonnay made in oak from a winemaker in Meursault, Patrick Javillier. He makes a couple of Bourgogne Blanc’s from a couple of very particular sites in Meursault and boy are they good. This time we chose his Cuvée Oligocene which is a vineyard partly in Meursault and partly in the ordinary Burgundy classification (despite it being the same soils and aspect). This makes this wine a bargain and we love it.

Roast Bacon with Cabbage & Potatoes – serves 6-8

  • 1kg potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 450g savoy cabbage, cored and roughly chopped
  • 1kg boned kassler/smoked bacon loin or rack
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter

For the Sauce

  • 25g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 600ml chicken stock
  • 50ml Madeira or Port
  • 1-3 tbsp Dijon mustard

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Put the potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.

Par-boil the cabbage in another large pan of lightly salted water for 2 minutes. Drain into a colander and refresh with cold water, then use your hands to squeeze out the excess water.

Put the bacon into a large roasting tray and place in the oven. Roast for 10 minutes before adding the butter. When the butter has melted, add the potatoes and roast together for 20 minutes, turning the bacon & potatoes in the butter now and then.

Now push the potatoes and bacon to one side and add the cabbage. Season the potatoes and cabbage with salt and roast for another 10 minutes, turning everything in the smoky butter.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by melting the butter in a small pan and adding the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, then take off the heat and whisk in the chicken stock until smooth. Place back on the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 40 minutes in total remove the bacon from the oven and check that the potatoes and cabbage are cooked. Transfer the vegetables to a warm serving platter, then slice the bacon and arrange on top. Keep warm.

To finish the sauce, de-glaze the juices in the roasting tin with the Maderia or Port and add to the sauce. Whisk in the mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper.

(Original recipe by Paul Rankin.)

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Herb-roast Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 14 November 2016| Leave a Comment »

Herb roast chicken

This is an easy solution for feeding a crowd and almost everyone likes roast chicken. All you need is some new potatoes or creamy mash on the side. We love the fresh tarragon with the peas but you could use mint if you prefer. The combination of the peas, shallots, herbs and pancetta really add extra depth to the chicken and lift even ordinary chickens to feast-like levels. Of course, if the budget allows, get a good, free-range one as the extra flavour is really worth it.

Wine Suggestion: As this dish is a bit richer than your standard roast chicken it demands more than most white wines can deliver. We find Pinot Noir a good choice. This time we chose the Justin Girardin Santenay 1er Clos Rousseau and the earthy flavours danced with the salty, crispy pancetta and sweet peas. The tarragon made it all the more reminiscent of holidays in France.

Herb-Roast Chicken – serves 8-10 (easily halved)

  • 200g cubetti di pancetta
  • 800g shallots, trimmed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 chickens (about 1.5kg each)
  • 500ml hot chicken stock
  • 800g peas (frozen will be fine)
  • small pack tarragon, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 190C/170C/gas 5.

Fry the pancetta gently in a heavy frying pan until crisp – if you start with a cold pan you shouldn’t need to add any oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the shallots to the pan and fry in the pancetta fat for 10-15 minutes or until golden and starting to soften. Tip the shallots into a very large roasting tin.

Rub the olive oil over the chickens and season well with salt and pepper, then place the chickens into the roasting tin with the shallots. Roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove the chickens from the tin and cover with foil.

Put the roasting tin directly onto the hob and stir in the stock. Bubble for a few minutes and scrape any sticky bits off the bottom of the tin with a wooden spoon. Add the peas, pancetta and most of the tarragon to the stock and bubble for a few minutes or until the peas are cooked, then season.

Meanwhile carve the chicken into large pieces. Transfer the peas to a warm serving platter and serve the chicken on top with the rest of the tarragon sprinkled over.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, April 2010.)

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Rare Roast Beef with Rosemary, Bay & Shallots

Posted in Beef, Food, Gluten-free, Roast, tagged , , , , , , , , on 2 October 2016| Leave a Comment »

Roast BeefHow to make friends and influence people – serve them roast beef! We love it rare.

Wine Suggestion: a classic dish requires a classic match; good red Bordeaux. Specifically we love left-bank Bordeaux from a good vintage which has all the power but is never heavy; we don’t want to overwhelm the beef as it should be the star. 2009 and 2010 are surprisingly drinking very well and show how good they are but we’ve found the 2005’s are only just opening up. Interestingly we prefer more youthful vintages with this dish and think that the joy of primary fruit with just a little development makes a better match. For this meal we dug into the cellar and pulled out a Chateau Chasse-Spleen 2005 which was still quite tight and structured but the load of tannin in the wine worked perfectly with the proteins in the beef.

Rare roast beef with rosemary, bay & shallots – serves 4

  • rolled sirloin joint, about 1.1kg
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 16 shallots
  • 500g baby new potatoes
  • olive oil

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/Fan 200ºC/Gas 7.

Make a bed with the rosemary and bay leaves in the bottom of a large roasting tin.

Smear the beef with mustard, salt and pepper and set on top of the bed of herbs. Make sure the herbs are well tucked in to prevent them burning.

Put the shallots and potatoes around the beef. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and shallots and toss with your hands to coat.

Roast the beef in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn down to 190ºC/Fan 170ºC/Gas 5. Cook for a further 20-25 minutes, then remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes while keeping the potatoes & shallots warm.

(Original recipe in BBC Olive Magazine, March 2011.)

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Rosemary & Garlic Spatchcock Chicken with Bulgur Wheat Salad

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 13 July 2015| Leave a Comment »

Rosemary & garlic spatchcock chicken with bulgur wheat salad

This tastes just as good as a cold chicken and bulgur salad the following day – great for lunchboxes!

Wine Suggestion: we drank a delicious Fiano made in Puglia by Michele Biancardi. It had delightful layers of fruit, texture from spice and minerality and a dancing freshness that worked well with the roasted chicken and still allowed the freshness of the salad to shine through. We suspect the depth and personality of this wine is helped by the biodynamic viticulture as it just had “something” extra without being weighty and forceful. If you can’t find this one do look out for Fiano, an interesting Italian white that you might not have tried.

Rosemary and Garlic Spatchcock Chicken with Bulgur Wheat Salad – serves 4 

  • 1 x 1.5kg chicken

FOR THE MARINADE:

  • 50ml olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juiced and zest finely grated
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves

FOR THE SALAD:

  • 200g bulgur wheat
  • 1 lemon , juiced and zest finely grated
  • seeds and juice of 1 pomegranate
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 50ml olive oil

To spatchcock the chicken you need to first remove the backbone by cutting through the chicken on both side of the bone (use poultry shears if you have them or really sharp scissors). Remove the backbone and open the chicken out, then put the chicken, breast side up, onto a worktop and use your palms to flatten it. Make a few slashes in the legs with a sharp knife.

Make the marinade by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl and seasoning well with sea salt and black pepper.

Put the chicken into a wide, shallow dish, pour over the marinade and rub in well with your hands. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Put the chicken into a roasting tin along with all the marinade and bake for about 1 hour or until cooked through (the juices need to be totally clear when pierced with a skewer and the legs should feel loose).

Meanwhile, cover the bulgur wheat with boiling water and leave to soak for 10-15 minutes or until just soft, then drain.

Mix the lemon juice and zest with the pomegranate seeds and juice, herbs and olive oil. Stir in the bulgur and season well with sea salt and black pepper.

When the chicken is cooked, cover with foil and leave to rest in the tin and leave in the switched off oven for a few minutes, then carve in to pieces and serve with the salad.

(Original recipe from Rachel Allen’s Rachel’s Everyday Kitchen, HarperCollins, 2013.)

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Slow-roasted Duck Ragú

Posted in Duck, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 16 March 2013| Leave a Comment »

Cooked on an afternoon off and then shared with friends … perfect. This takes some time, particularly as you need to roast the duck first, but it is worth it.

Slow-roasted Duck Ragú – serves 4 to 6

  • 1 Duck, try to get a Gressingham or at least free-range for extra flavour
  • 2 oranges, 1 quartered – the other zested & juiced
  • 6 slices Pancetta, diced
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled & chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, diced
  • 6 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 bottle fruity red wine, we used a Chianti
  • 500ml Chicken Stock
  • a handful of sultanas
  • a handful of pinenuts
  • 600g Rigatoni, or other large tubular pasta
  • 2 knobs butter
  • large handful Parmesan, grated
  • small bunch parsley, chopped
  • red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Rub duck all over with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Push the orange quarters inside the cavity and place the duck breast-side down in a roasting tray. Cook for 2 hours, turning it every 30 minutes until the skin goes thin and crispy and the meat is tender and fragrant with the oranges.

Remove the duck from the tray and pour the fat into a jar, making sure you avoid the meat juice the fat is floating upon. This fat can be used to roast potatoes another day.

Leave the duck to cool slightly then pull all the meat from the bones and shred it.

Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a large pot and fry the pancetta on a medium heat until lightly golden. Add the onion, carrots, celery, rosemary, garlic and cinnamon and fry gently for 10 minutes until soft.

Add the tomatoes and red wine and simmer slowly for 25 minutes.

Add the duck meat and some chicken stock (if the sauce is a little dry) and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon stick, taste for seasoning and throw in the sultanas and pinenuts.

Cook the pasta according to instructions. Reserve some cooking water, then drain in colander and add to the sauce.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, Parmesan, parsley, orange zest and juice plus a good splash of vinegar.

Check for seasoning again and loosen with the reserved cooking water if necessary. Serve and enjoy!

Wine suggestion: A perfect match for a deep and profound Brunello di Montalcino or your favourite Tuscan red. Alternately look out for a good Bandol or Mourvedre based wine where the earthiness will also compliment the duck and pasta.

(Original recipe from Cook by Jamie Oliver, Penguin Books, 2009.)

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Roast Pork with Fabulous Potatoes

Posted in Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , on 13 September 2012| 1 Comment »

Totally worth the effort and time, this just melted in the mouth. The roast potatoes done under the roasting pork belly worked a real treat and had that heavenly combination of meltingly fluffy and soft centres and a chewy-crunchy crust.

Roast pork – to feed 4-6

  • 1.8kg belly pork, skin on
  • about 8 dried bay leaves
  • 3-4 fat cloves of garlic
  • olive oil
  • 1kg potatoes
  • glass of white wine

Use a very sharp knife to score the skin. You need to go through the fat under the skin but don’t cut into the meat. This will give you delicious strips of crackling.

Crumble the bay leaves into tiny pieces, squash the garlic with the back of a knife, then mash to two together with a pestle and mortar. Add plenty of salt and black pepper. Add enough oil to make a spreadable paste. Place the pork skin side down and massage the paste into it, pushing it into every crevice. Leave the meat in a cool place for an hour or so to soak up the flavours.

Peel the potatoes, cut them into large chunks and drop them into salted boiling water. Cook until they are just tender, then drain and tip into a roasting tin. Shake them about to rough up the edges.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Gas 6. You need to cook the pork directly on the bars above the potatoes. Pour a bit of oil on the potatoes to prevent them from sticking, add a wine glass of water and toss, then put the roasting tin on the lower shelf. Put the pork directly on the top shelf, skin side down. Cook for an hour, turning the potatoes once. Check the pork for any pinkness and if necessary cook a little longer (it will probably take an hour and a half in total).

Turn the oven up to 250ºC/Gas 9. Turn the pork skin side up and continue to cook until the skin is puffed up and crispy. Take the meat from the oven and leave to rest. Take the potatoes out when they are really brown and sticky. Remove the potatoes form the roasting tin and pour in a glass of white wine. Bring to the boil on the hob, stirring well to get all the tasty bits from the bottom of the tin.

Cut the meat into thick chunks and serve with the potatoes, gravy and green salad or apple sauce.

Wine Suggestion: Go for a good-quality, full-bodied Chardonnay. We tried the Atarangi Craighall Chardonnay from New Zealand.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s Appetite, Fourth Estate, 2000.)

We had leftovers the next day in a crusty bread roll … yum 🙂

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