Roast best end of lamb, mint and red currant sauce with gratin dauphinois

As explained previously my planning last week ended up all being switched around, on Friday I planned to do roast end of lamb but this did not end up happening. So instead I cooked it today as I had the day off work and therefore the time to cook something that takes a little time. Looking at the recipe which is out of Simon Hopkinson's book 'week in week out' I calculated about an hour. In reality it took 1 and 15 minutes, but I have to be honest I chased kids round kitchen, took a couple of phone calls so maybe the 15 minutes could be reduced.

The meal itself was surprisingly simple, but did not taste like it, it was a combination of textures and flavours that was just lovely. The creamy soft potato with the sharp sauce, I cooked carrots with it, and made sure they were aldente so that it gave a different texture. I will add aswell that we like lamb a little pink, as you can see in the picture.

It was also a little fun, as I got to set the sauce on fire to burn off the alcohol. See picture below... Picture doesn't do it justice but was ace!

Everyone loved it, clean plates all around! My husband was singing about the flavour of the sauce which was a mixture of port/cassis/red currant jelly/mint.

Ok... I did mess up a little, and still not sure what I did... But my sauce was more like a jelly! Think it's to do with the arrowroot or me being distracted and letting it simmer too long. Also I forgot to let the meat rest so it bled a little onto the plate.

I will definately be making this again.

I tried to find a link to the recipe on the internet but couldn't, but please find below a link to the book.

http://www.simonhopkinson.tv/books.aspx

Jamie's superb chicken - mmmmm

Last night I made Jamie's Superb Chicken, which can be found in his red nose cookbook. I thought it would take about an hour to do with prep etc, and it did.

It's basically chicken breast stuffed with a mushroom mixture and wrapped in pastry and baked, then served with a mustard/cream/wine sauce. I decided to serve it with mash and green beans.

It was fun to make actually and really simple and not fiddly, even though you think it's going to be! I cheated and brought pre-rolled pastry, saves so much time, you just roll it out of box, cut into 1/4 and hey presto enough for 4 chicken breasts! What was nice is I could get kids involved, so they helped roll chicken up and it was thier job to brush with egg wash while mummy peeled potatoes.

By the way.... Stove is off in picture above so no health and safety panics please.

I can honestly say it was gorgeous! Chicken was juicy, sauce was so lush it made me want to lick the plate! And the biggest testament.... The part I was worried about was my children with mushrooms... Firstly I allowed both to taste sauce first, neither liked it as it was too mustardy so I left that off and just put a dab of butter on their veg.

Florence - well she still has chicken pox and her appetite is up and down, but she ate a bit of everything and all the pastry.

Morgan - ate a whole chicken breast with mushrooms (shock!) and said its one of her favourite meals ever. So it confirms it, if I wrap anything in pastry she will eat it!

Jim - said it was like eating in a gastro pub (hehehe), he wolfed it down.

Gastro pub hey.... Think I best work on presentation!

Tried to find this on Jamie's website but couldn't from phone, however I found it on bbc site, see web address below.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9708/my-old-mans-surperb-chicken

Pad Thai

Last night I made Pad Thai with prawns and I got the recipe out of Rick Steins 'Seafood' cookbook. Now those of you who read my planning blog on Sunday could potentially be smart arses now and point out I planned to cook that Wednesday night.... However I will summarise Wednesday in a few short points below;

- 3 yr old with chicken pox, husband working from home watching her.

- I drive down to work in Somerset for the day, leaving at 6:30 and planning to be back by 18:30

- 2 x accidents on motorway

- traffic building up due to Glastonbury festival!

- Get AS flare up in legs whilst driving as sat stationary for too long (was in car for 3.5 hrs in the end)

- Call husband and explain I'm stuck so he makes cheese on toast for kids.

- Get home at nearly 20:00 and think f@&£ it and get Chinese take away!!!

Don't judge me *sobs* (hehehe)

So I juggled menu and moved things back a day. So last night was Pad Thai.

I had looked at this and thought it would take 15 minutes, with prep it took me 30 minutes, but that is also because I made a mistake and forgot I had dry rice noodles not ready for wok ones and I needed to soak them. So had to soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes and also cook them a fraction longer... Big recommendation, always use the straight to wok noodles!

So verdict.... Kids ate it, but they love noodles and prawns. Jim said it was tasty but too dry for him. Me? I thought it was ok, but nothing special. I have a Thai cookbook and the Pad Thai in that is far better. Don't get me wrong it could have been the way I cooked it. But either way it was nothing great so won't be doing it again. But will stress again it's not a bad recipe and I did enjoy it, just not great!

#thaifood

#rubbishday

Lamb biriani & veg curry (kadai)

Well so far the week is not going the way I planned... Yesterday I was home with my very spotty and irritable 3 year old trying to keep her pre-occupied and happy. Which is harder than going to work I can tell you! But sticking to meal plan for the week and yesterday was lamb biriani and vegetable curry out of one of the books I brought back from my visit to Puna, India (business trip). This morning I made the marinade and tipped the chopped lamb into it then placed it in fridge. I love Indian food, especially the colours of the spices!

I left it there all day, then once kids were in bed I set about making the meal. I really wanted to create a nice meal as both me and Jim have been working long hours and have not really sat down much together. So I chose lamb biriani and to accompany it a vegetable kadai (curry), it took me 1 1/4 hours, and it was pretty non-stop, no resting whilst something simmered! It was a case of constantly mixing or grinding (I ground all the spices in a pestle & mortar). 

Once all cooked, I have to be honest I was so proud of myself! This is my favourite ever dish, and I wanted to create that take away / restaurant experience at home.... And I did it!! My husband and I both had seconds (so nothing for the freezer), and what I loved was in a way it was better... As it just tasted so fresh, and Jim said the same and commented on the fact he preferred it as not as oily.... However I was missing the egg on top haha! (Cheeky sod).

I will do this again, only thing I would do differently is when taking the meat from pan to put in oven dish with the rice, I will ensure I do not put as much of the sauce in.

So in 1 hr 15 minutes (about same time to wait for a take away!), I created a healthier fresh equivalent and stuck to my week plan - yay!

Recipes can be found on...

http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/recipe/Gosht-Biryani-Khazana-of-Indian-Recipes.html

http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/Recipe/Kadai-Vegetables-KhaanaKhazana.html

What's in store for the week ahead?

While the old man was out with his friends last night I got the kids to bed then curled up on the sofa with a big mug of decaf and a stack of cookbooks and planned the week ahead!

I made the decision this week to try a few different style dishes and books as I have noticed lately I have been sticking with my culinary equivalent of safety blankets. I think the result is quite an adventurous menu... Now worrying whether it will be successful with kids, but no panic as I have loads of eggs so omlettes can be made quickly if required!

So what's on menu this week...?

Monday - bacon, eggs and homemade chips (veggie alternative for me), why? Husband cooking. Ok this one not adventurous!

Tuesday - lamb biriani, kids eat at in-laws, me and Jim get to enjoy spice!

Wednesday - Prawn Pad Thai Noodles, I work in Somerset on Wednesdays, get back late and tired... This is a 15-20 minute dish. Easy to prep and cook when you know time will be tight and you may not be bothered!

Thursday - superb chicken, about an hour to cook. I get home by 5:40 so should be viable, however I am worried as this could be tight and too complicated.... Also it's stuffed with mushrooms... The kids don't like mushrooms but I want to see if they will eat them if prepared differently. We'll see if its successful?

Friday - End of lamb, mint & recurrent jelly and dauphinois potatoes.... I love Fridays more time to spend on the complicated meals. Just hope this not to rich for the kids pallet!

So all ordered on line last night and arrived this morning. All set for the week ahead. Fingers crossed it works and I don't end up with a recycled bin full of pizza boxes!

Zuppa di pasta con patete e porri

Last night I made Zuppa di pasta con patete e porri from 'Gino's pasta' cookbook. 

It's described as an Italian soup, but I can tell you it's so much more. It's full of potatoes, carrots, pancetta, pasta and..... Parmesan cheese 😀

When I browsed through the book I thought this would be a good Friday dinner, as it looked like it could be 45 minutes - 1 hour, and I have more time on a Friday. 

Soooo, verdict? It took me an hour, but I was being pretty slow at my prep! It was a lovely simple recipe, chop a few bits, leave them in pan, add some more and simmer. It was great as I could leave the pot on the stove and I had a coffee and read a book for 20 minutes half way through..... Or in reality I read a book and tried to drink my coffee while my daughters played hairdresser.... I was the victim, I lost count of how many clips and bands were stabbed into my head.

I had taken a crusty loaf out of the freezer that morning, so I popped that in the oven at 100 deg Celsius for 5 minutes, it made it lovely warm and fresh, just like it had come fresh from the bakers!

So how did it all taste.... Bloomin gorgeous! Really tasty. I added salt as requested, but I think with the pancetta, Parmesan and stock already in, it didn't need it. So next time I won't add salt. It was lovely and fresh tasty, a clear thin soup with the pasta, meat and veg floating in it. My husband described it as more of an Italian stew... Which I think is pretty apt. It is the kind of meal that suits any weather. My children loved it, as Morgan explained it was her favourites foods in one, bacon, pasta and soup. She had seconds!!! 

My only point to note, I made lots thinking I could freeze it, which I can, but the potato and pasta etc has absorbed a lot of the fluid while it was cooling, so now pasta not aldente and the sauce is thick not thin. But still tastes yummy, so more of a pasta meal than soup now.

Quesadillas

Today was a really packed day, which is not fair as it's a Saturday and they're supposed to be more relaxed! I could go into a rant now.... And to be honest I did, but then I erased it so hopefully now this will be less stroppy as I've vented once 😜

Once a year the company I work for organise a family day, it's lovely really, rides for the kids and bouncy castles, face painting, live band and a pork roast. For the non English out there, this is where a pig is roasted and then served in bread rolls with stuffing and apple sauce... So tasty!! So we had a day of running around and eating lots of meat sandwiches! Oh and for the adults it was 1960's fancy dress.... I don't normally dress like this!

So when we got home everyone was a little weary and wanted dinner but not a huge meal, so I decided as we'd all eaten way too much meat that I would cook vegetarian and I chose quesadilla's with avocado sour cream and salsa from the 'Meat Free Monday' cookbook. I chose it because it looked simple and more like a snack type meal.... Ok the simple thing was a mistake....

There was a lot of preparation, lots of fine chopped vegetables and skinning of tomatoes etc. the quesadilla themselves were simple and quick, but the salsa was more time consuming, lots of fine chopping. It all took about 40 minutes in the end... Have to be honest can't understand why except I was on a bit of a go slow, maybe next time I could be quicker if more alert?

So the taste...? Loved the quesadilla, and because they are filled tortilla you can mix and match... I chose simple cheese and tomato for the kids and they wolfed them down. Me and Jim had cheese, tom, mushroom & onion. They were really tasty. I would definately make them again. Will mess with different fillings next time, I think a Mexican bean mix would be really good. The sour cream and sliced advocado we're a nice side, but the salsa was not good.... The recipe calls for quite a bit of olive oil, I think too much. The salsa ends up really oily and it over powers and ruins the freshness. So next time I know another salsa recipe I will use.

Thai style noodles

I had to do a quick dinner on Wednesday as I only had 15 minutes, so I planned in a noodle dish I found in my 'chicken encyclopaedia' cook book. That's one of those books you're brought when you're a student... Lots of random basic chicken dishes. To be honest I don't use it that much as not very inspirational but every now and then it comes in handy.

After skimming through when I was planning my weekly meals I found a Thai style noodle dish. A very simple quick dish, only a few ingredients to prep.

It was good as it really did just take 15 minutes, but mixed reviews on the taste.... You see it has lime, chilli, fish sauce, pork, chicken, prawns, eggs, spring onion and peanuts... I found that the fish sauce over powered the dish, I could not really taste much else. But my husband loved it, he does like the more salty dishes. Morgan ate it... But wasn't convinced. Even though she likes nuts she didn't like them in this dish, but she did like the prawns.  So honestly a great quick dish, but if I make it again I'm adapting the sauces/seasoning to suit my taste. Florence... Well she ate mashed potato and beans as that day she had had an accident at nursery and knocked her front tooth out.... A trip to the hospital and lots of love and attention later she's calm, happy and now on a diet of soft food only for next 1-2 weeks 😔

Happy Monday..... Zzzzzz

Mondays are days where I know it will be a long working day and I plan for my husband to cook so that we can still all sit down and eat as a family.

So my day began at 6am, a ritual I bet most of you know;

1) prepare 2 packed lunches

2) make piece of toast and glass of juice and eat it whilst doing remaining tasks below

3) prepare chips for later that evening (I try not to use frozen, I have an actifryer which I think I have kind of fallen in love with...), chop up and leave in fridge with a bit of water so they stay fresh.

4) iron 3 outfits and lay them out ready. Well 2 of them I wear the 3rd!

Then off to work (I don't know if I've mentioned but I have an hour commute). Work a lovely 9 hr day then have an amazing 1 hour drive home (can you tell how much I love it?) On my way home I call my husband so he knows timing. He then puts chips in and yes here's where we cheat, he will grab some nuggets or something from freezer. However this did start the debate today that I could make my own and freeze them.... Watch this space, I have a feeling I'll be doing that next week!

So by time I have driven home I walk in and they're just starting to eat, perfect :-)

And I sit here now, after putting kids to bed doing my yoga and now I am multi-tasking between writing this blog and updating a report for work.... And I can tell you which one I prefer to do! And I can honestly say I'm knackered!

Jamie's 30 Minute Spring Lamb.... the test!

OK.... so we've all heard the rumours about Jamie's 30 minute meals book.... i.e. recipes not actually 30 minutes long. Well I have to put my hand up and say I love Jamie's book and the whole philosophy of the sharing meals, and to date I have tried about 35% recipes in the book and most of them I can do in about 30 - 40 minutes. So today as its Sunday I wanted to do something meaty, and picked his Spring Lamb, Vegetable Platter and mint sauce recipe.

Now, first thing to note, it states at the beginning of the recipe to put oven, kettle etc on and also, have all ingredients ready. I did this and can  honestly say it took me about 15 minutes to get all ingredients ready and prepared, so herbs picked, everything weighed out, but you have to remember I am trying to do this with an adorable (not annoying in the slightest) 3 year old around my heels thinking she is mummy's little helper. This one though has lots of ingredients so I still think it could take 10 minutes to prepare.... if you look my entire work surface was covered!

 

Now I will be honest it took me 1 hour.... but let me break this down for you as I am not sure this is a true representation;

• 15 minutes food prep (but should have been 10)
• I didn't read the recipe correctly and added all vegetables in at the same time, realised I had done this and then had to strain, separate and start again.... this added about 5 minutes onto the process.
• Forgot to put the tomatoes in with the lamb - doh!! Put them in part way through so cooked them a further 5 minutes to ensure they were cooked properly.
• I had to cook veg extra 5 minutes as potatoes were still hard, but they were quite big for baby new potatoes so hint here is make sure they really are small.

So there is at least 20 minutes you can shave off, which makes it about 40 minutes, so not far off. It is a little rushed though and take care, you are browning the lamb while you are preparing other parts of the dish. Keep a close eye on the lamb it states to have it on a high heat, however I do not think I work as fast as Jamie does so I ended up having to turn it down so as not to burn the meat.

 

Oh and I have a tip, if like me you grow mint and don't buy it in a bundle, in the method it states to keep the band on the mint stalks, instead of this you can use one of the stalks and tie it around the bundle.

 

 

 

So that's how it was to cook, but what about the taste. See picture below :-)

Thumbs up from Florence!

 

The joy of it being a sharing meal meant that if the kids didn't like it they did not have it on their plate. To be honest neither of them really liked the gravy, think it was too rich (red wine sauce), or the mint sauce which I think was too acidic for them. But they wolfed down the lamb and the vegetables. As for my husband, he had seconds and said that everything was just gorgeous. Me, well I may have had seconds too, it was really tasty!

 

So yes, another success and I would definitely do it. But only when you know you have an hour to cook.

 

Also - lots of vegetables.... I now have a box full of vegetables in my fridge which I will use tomorrow for bubble and squeak!

 

If you want to try this yourself I would recommend it. It is in the Jamie's 30 minute cook book or can be found on his website.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/spring-lamb-vegetable-platter-mint-sauce-chianti-gravy-chocolate-fondue

#jamieoliver
#lamb
#familycooking

Orecchiette Pasta with Tomato Sauce

 

I have never made pasta before, but it is my children's favourite food so I decided to give it a go.  I searched through my cookbooks to find something that looked simple for my first try but also something with a good flavour that would suit my family's needs. For my birthday I was brought 'LEON - Fast Vegetarian', and I found the recipe 'Orecchiette & tomato sauce', this seemed to fit the bill.

 

Fridays are the only days where I get to leave work early (as we work half day on Fridays) and I pick my children up from the school gate. This day was a good one as I got to announce "Hey, who wants to make pasta with mummy?".... unanimous "Meeee" were screamed back at me.

 

It was so easy to make and the kids helped, they each took a turn in getting their hands in the bowl and making the dough, which was against my youngests OCD tendancies.... (I swear she has mild OCD.... everything has a place at the age of 3 and she gets a little precious if her hands get mucky), buuuutttttt she didn't moan or complain the whole time, she was too enthralled in getting her hands in the gooey dough and really excited that she was making her own dinner. They then helped roll into snakes and I sliced into disks while they pressed the discs into the little ear shapes. Lots of giggling and they got really into it. I will say the result of this process may mean a plate of very misshapen pasta 'ears' but as my eldest stated.... it will still taste the same :-)

Florence mixing dough



Morgan mixing dough

 

It was then just a case of popping the pasta into boiling water and jobs a good one! The tomato sauce itself was also simple, and the result a wonderful garlicy tomato smooth sauce. I started making the sauce while the dough was sitting, so in the end the timings were just right. I was able to blend and simmer the sauce as the pasta was cooking.

 

The end result was clean plates and a very happy family, the whole meal took about 40 minutes to do..... but this could really be 25 minutes as it took longer with the kids helping. Also, I think is I cut the discs too thick, next time I will make them a lot thinner as some of the pasta was a bit stodgy, but that as I have stated is more my preparation than the recipe itself because the discs I had cut thinner and squashed myself were cooked just right, the children did not press as hard and therefore the shapes were thicker. So next time I cook this and I will cook it again as it was delicious, I will just take more care to cut them thinner.

 

This is a recipe I would highly recommend, also because if you make enough of the pasta you can freeze it before cooking, which is just brilliant to have in the freezer for days when you have little time.

 

If you would like to try yourself this is the book....

and I find the LEON website really handy too :-)

 

 http://shop.leonrestaurants.co.uk/products/leon-fast-vegetarian

http://leonrestaurants.co.uk/

 

#yummypasta