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!