Tag: lamb (Page 1 of 2)

Instant Pot Lamb Madras

15/05/2021 / Neville

This is a delicious curry made quickly in the Instant Pot. This serves 6.

3/4 tablespoon coriander seeds
1.5tsp black peppercorns
3/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seds
3 cloves
2 – 3 dried peppers

Dry-fry until they release their fragrance (i.e. start to smell). Then pound to dust in a pestle and mortar or wizz in a flash in a spice mill. I use a cheap coffee mill just for spices.

1.5 onions chopped
dash of oil

Saute in your Instant Pot until translucent

1.5 tbs grated ginger
6 garlic cloves, chopped

Add to the pot and cook for another minute

800g dice lean lamb

Add to the pot and turn around until coloured. Add the dry spice mix and cook for another minute. Add:

2 tbs tomato puree
100 ml passata
200ml yoghurt
1/2 tsp salt

Stir and cook on Meat setting for 40 minutes. Allow to depressurise for 15 minutes. If it is to runny, put 2tsp cornflour in a tablespoon or two of water, and stir in briskly. We ate this with saffron rice and Josh’s Dhal

Slow-cooked shoulder of lamb

02/02/2020 / Neville

This requires making a marinade, marinading overnight then cooking low and slow, so get yourself organised the day before! For half a shoulder, just halve the marinade.

For the marinade:

1 small onion or shallot
4 garlic cloves
4 cherry tomatoes
2 anchovies or a glug of anchovy essence
half tsp cumin seeds
half tsp coriander seeds
half tsp pepper cords, pink if possible
2 tbs fresh rosemary leaves
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
1 small bunch of mint
70ml white wine
4 tbs olive oil
1 tbs brown sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
Shoulder of lamb

Zap the lot with a stick blender. Now stab your lamb with a sharp knife all over, then place in a roasting tin. Slather over the marinade. Cover in clingfilm and leave overnight or a minimum of three hours in a cool place.

Take the lamb out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for an hour.

Heat the oven to 160C or 140C for a fan oven.

2 large onions sliced thickly

Put the onions under the lamb. Take the clingfilm off and make a tent of foil over the lamb. Seal the edges well and make sure the tent has a dip before going over the edge or the steam hitting the foil from underneath may run out of the edge. Cook for 3-4 hours for a half shoulder, 5-6 hours for a whole shoulder. As long as the temperature is low enough, longer is fine. Have a peek now and again, baste the meat and add a splash or water if it is drying out.

At the end of the cooking time let the lamb rest for 15 minutes before carving. Actually, pulling apart rather than carving. You can make an awesome sauce with what is in the tin. Carefully pour off the rendered fat, add a spoon or two of flour and heat on the top of the stove, stirring gently. Add 350ml beef or lamb stock, and stir until it thickens.

Serve with a grematola made of lemon zest, finely chopped garlic and chopped mint.

Awesome Moussaka

17/02/2019 / Neville / 0 Comments

Recipe from a Greek guy. I saw almost the exact recipe on Hairy Bikers too, from a Greek Orthodox priest so it must be authentic. It was his mum’s recipe. Serves four very generously.

olive oil
1 large courgette, sliced
2 aubergines or 1 giant one, sliced

Pan fry gently until coloured on both sides. Set aside.

1 onion diced
1 garlic clove crushed and chopped

fry gently in the oil, add a bit more if you need to. When softened:

500g lamb mince

Fry until coloured

1 tbs tomato puree
0.5 tbs fresh thyme

Cook briefly. Add

400g can chopped tomatoes
pinch cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
10 basil leaves chopped
10 sprigs parsley, leaves only chopped
salt and pepper

Add to the pan with a dash of water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make a Bechamel sauce:

100g butter
100g plain flour

Melt the butter, add the flour and stir around. Add

750ml milk

Heat and stir until thick. Add

100g grated parmesan
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Stir until the cheese is melted. Add

3 egg yolks

Stir madly with a whisk to blend thoroughly. Now assembly time (plus 1 more ingredient)

3 potatoes very thinly sliced.

Layer the potatoes over the base of an oven-proof dish. Now layer over the sliced cooked aubergine, then the sliced cooked courgette. Tip in the meat and tomato mixture and press down over. Top with the bechamel sauce mix. Finally

25-50g grated parmesan

Sprinkle over the top. Now bake for 35-40 minutes at 180C but keep an eye on it and turn the heat down a bit if it is looking scorched. It is a meal in a dish with plenty of vegetables inside. When cooked, leave 15-20 minutes to rest, it will taste even better.

An alternative and very good recipe is Lamb and Artichoke Moussaka from BBC Good Food. This is very similar, but using artichoke hearts and not courgette. Layer with potato first then half the mince then aubergine, then half the mince, then fried artichoke heart. Top with bechamel sauce and bake.

Lamb Barley Broth

15/09/2018 / Neville / 0 Comments

Great for a leftover lamb bone with meat attached – usually the last bit remaining after a roast day and a cold cuts day. Serves 2:

1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, sliced thickly
1 small swede or turnip, cubed
1 parsnip, cubed
1 potato, cubed
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped

Put some oil or butter in a deep pan and sweat vegetables gently for about 10 minutes. Add

Lamb bone and leftovers, about 150g – 200g of meat
4 tbs pearl barley
Water or stock

Add the lamb and cover with water. Season. Simmer for 1 hour. Top up the liquid if it needs it. Pull the meat from the bone and remove the bone. Add

Handful of peas, green beans or similar green veg.

Simmer another 5 minutes, add some chopped fresh parley and serve in bowls with nice bread.

Slow cooked lamb Madras curry

29/01/2018 / Neville / 0 Comments

This takes a lot of time but not much work. First make a curry paste and marinate your lamb, half an hour minimum or up to two days in the fridge.

1 lamb shoulder or two halves
1.5tbs mustard seeds
4tbs coriander seeds
2tbs cumin seeds
2 tsp cardamom seeds from inside the husks

Dry fry until they give off a scent. Grind to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Add

5 red chillies
4 cloves garlic
2 x 5cm pieces of ginger
1-2tbs chilli powder
1stp turmeric
3tbs tomato puree
1tbs vinegar
60ml oil

Whizz to a paste. Smear all over the lamb and set aside to marinate (in a plastic bag works well)

When you are ready to start cooking, scrape all the paste off the lamb and reserve. Put the oven on 220C and sear the lamb for 20 minutes. Meanwhile start on the sauce.

4 onions sliced
oil

Sweat the onions very gently in a pan for 10 minutes. Add the reserved curry paste and cook another 5 minutes. Add

Can of chopped tomatoes
400ml lamb or chicken stock
1 aubergine, chopped into chunks

You can either cook in a very low oven or in the Instant Pot/Slow cooker. For the oven method, put the lamb and sauce in a pot with a tightly fitting lid and cook 170C for 3.5 hours. Watch it doesn’t dry out. A safer option is put it all in the Instant Pot and put on Slow Cook High Heat for 5 hours. You will probably need to reduce the sauce at the end if you have used the Instant Pot – simply take the lid off, put on Saute and bubble away. When you are ready to serve, take the meat off the bone (it will fall off), remove fat etc and put the lean meat chunks a serving bowl with the sauce. Top with plain yoghurt and fresh coriander. We served this with naan and a dhal.

Lamb Flatbread

22/01/2018 / Neville / 1 Comment

Adapted from a Waitrose card…

For two people: First make your flatbread dough.

250g strong white flour
15g butter
5g dried yeast
5g salt

Whizz in the food processor

150ml warm water

Whizz for 45 seconds. Take out, cover in an oiled piece of clingfilm and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place.

Now get on with the meat part.

Half an onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped

Fry gently in oil until until translucent

250g lamb mince

Fry in the onion pan until brown all over

1 tsp of North African/Lebanese/Israeli spice mix (your choice) Try Baharat

Fry one minute

1 tbs tomato paste
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 tbs pine nuts
2 tbs raisins
50g cubed halloumi

Mix together.

Heat the oven to 200C. Divide the dough into two, roll out to a pitta shape and put on an oiled oven tray. Spread the meat mixture over like a pizza. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle over chopped parsley. Enjoy.

We served this with a North African veg stew on the side.

Half an onion chopped
1 garlic clove chopped

Fry gently in oil

3 new potatoes, cubed
1 tsp North African spices

Fry for one minute

1 tin chickpeas
Half a tin of tomatoes
Half a cup of water
Half tsp salt

Cook gently for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach

Cook away until the spinach wilts – about 3-4 minutes. Stir in and serve.

Lamb Keema (Balti)

30/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

This is from “This Muslim Girl Bakes” and is an authentic Pakistani recipe. We tried it and want to try it again! Serves four with sides. Start with a frying pan or wok.

Oil
1 onion chopped

Heat the oil and fry the onion until just starting to brown

3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2cm of fresh ginger, grated

Add to the onion and fry one more minute

500g minced lamb

Add to the pan and brown

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder (for mild, more if you want)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup water
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped

Add these to the pan mix in a bubble away, covered for 30 minutes. Add more water if it needs it

handful of frozen peas

Add the peas and cook for another five minutes.

Serve with rice, naan or paratha and Josh’s Dhal like so:

Lamb with Peppers and Aubergine

15/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

My favourite way with lamb – shoulder or leg.

Lamb joint
50g butter
1tbs wholegrain mustard
1 tbs fresh chopped marjoram
500g red peppers approx, chopped into chunks
500g aubergine approx, chopped into chunks
Olive oil

Mix the butter, mustard and marjoram. Cut slits in the lamb fat and smear the surface of the joint with butter rubbing into the slits. Put the vegetables in the bottom of your roasting tray and swill about to coat in olive oil. Put the lamb on top on a rack or tuck in if you don’t have a rack. Roast according to weight ( probably 190C for 20 minutes plus 25 mins/500g ). Watch the veg don’t burn. Stir around from time to time so they don’t char too badly. When the meat is cooked let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. The taste will be amazing and the veg will make a fabulous accompaniment. New potatoes and green beans would be perfect.

Merguez Sausages

10/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Spice Mix (makes 10 tbs or 14tbs – it will keep in a jar):

4 tbs paprika
2 tbs fennel (ground)
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tbs salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
Optional: 4tbs sugar

To make the sausages:

500g minced lamb or beef
120 g fat
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped 9or paste)
2 tbs chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 or 3 tsp harissa paste
2 tbs spice mix above

Mix all the above. Make sausages in your sausage machine, with or without casings. If you don’t have a sausage machine, you can hand-roll sausage shapes, mould them around skewers or make little patties like mini burgers. Fry or grill and use with North African sides like couscous, roast vegetables, hummus, olives, flatbread.

Lamb in Palava Sauce (African)

09/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

For some reason this really appeals – probably because African recipes are fairly rare. For four, you need:

1 red chilli
2cm root ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
300ml lamb, chicken or vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
1tbs tomato puree
400g can chopped tomatoes
6tbs palm oil (boo hiss, I know, but it is authentic and makes it a great red colour)
500g lean lamb cubed
200g spinach
2 eggs beaten

First make a sauce by blitzing the chilli, ginger, garlic, puree, tomatoes and half the onion.

Stir-fry the other half of the onion and the lamb in the red oil. Add the sauce and stock, bubble up and simmer, covered, for 40-50 minutes. Stir in the spinach and let it wilt. Drizzle in the egg and simmer two more minutes. Serve with rice or flatbread.