Greek lamb tray bake

Given our impending house move I really should be running the freezer down so I don't have to beg my friends to borrow a freezer drawer on the big day ! My freezer really is a mine of, well randomness. It's got the usual frozen chips, pizza, fish fingers and frozen peas & sweetcorn plus other veg. It's got an emergency loaf of bread and several packets of Waitrose fresh frozen herbs. All pretty normal stuff I think. Then comes the randomness. Lurking in the depths are 3 egg whites, some tomato innards - left over from salsa making, some breadcrumbs, a parmesan rind and something that looks possibly like red wine ? There are a couple of unidentified bags of something waiting for a "freezer surprise" tea, my poor kids a few weeks ago ended up with boeuf bourguinon with pasta because I could have sworn it was spag bol !!

So, I'm now trying to use up the odds and ends which also include the results of my obsessive buying of reduced meat. I have 3 packs of chicken mini fillets which cost £1.25 each, a pack of veal mince which was the princely sum of 95p and a pack of organic lamb mince which was reduced to £1.50. It was the lamb mince that got used tonight in this really tasty effort from the Good Food website although I had to tweak the portion sizes a little so that the Husband and the kids didn't think I was trying to starve them.

GREEK LAMB TRAY BAKE
serves 4

450g lamb mince
50g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 small white onion grated
1 clove garlic crushed
egg yolk
small bunch mint chopped
4 courgettes cut into batons
2 red onions cut into wedges
2 large baking potatoes cut into thickish chips
small punnet cherry tomatoes
olive oil to drizzle
100g feta crumbled

Heat the oven to 200C
To make the meatballs mix the first 5 ingredients and half the mint in a large bowl with some salt and pepper. Shape into about 16 patties and set aside
In a large roasting tin put the courgettes, potatoes and onions, drizzle with olive oil plus s&p and mix well.
Nestle in the lamb meatballs and put in the oven for 20 mins on a high shelf
Remove from oven and turn everything over. Add the tomatoes and put back in the oven for another 20 mins.
When cooking time is up, sprinkle over the feta and remaining mint.

I served this with toasted pittas and a large pot of tzatziki, utterly gorgeous even if I do say so myself !!

Balsamic lamb salad

Ok, so maybe a bit of an exaggeration ! For the first time in months the sun has been shining, the weather warm enough to think about digging out my summer clothes and most of my menu features something with salad and new potatoes.

The foodie joys of summer, Jersey Royal potatoes, English asparagus and English strawberries which taste like proper strawberries. Ice cream, barbeques etc etc etc

So, after a rummage through my fridge I came up with this rather adapted salad. The original recipe is from an Australian website but I felt that while it was nice, it was lacking something.



BALSAMIC LAMB SALAD
serves 2

2 lamb leg steaks
1 tbsp each of balsamic vinegar and garlic oil
1/2 large butternut squash peeled and cut into chunks
1 red onion cut into wedges
1 bunch of asparagus cut into thirds
Salad leaves and new potatoes to serve
Mix the oil and vinegar together and coat the lamb. Marinate for at least 30 minutes
Heat the oven to about 190C, toss the onion and squash in olive oil and roast until tender. Add the asparagus for the last five minutes.
Heat a griddle pan (this will be very hard to clean afterwards !) and sear the lamb for about 3-4 mins a side depending on how pink you like the lamb and how thick the steaks are.
Rest then cut on the diagonal.
Assemble the salad and add a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you wish.

Leftovers lamb curry

As the title really, what more do I need to say.

My step-Dad always says that a good curry burns twice, once on the way in and once on the way out. While I don't subscribe to that theory - I like my curries to be flavourful rather than hot hot hot. The husband though loves a really hot curry so we have to compromise on the heat factor.

I went off curry big time when I was pregnant with son no 1 but have recently (nearly 7 years on !) rekindled my love of the stuff. We've recently discovered a great Indian takeaway in town which delivers, always a bonus, and I think I've been inspired by that.

Last Sunday I did a traditional roast leg of lamb for family and I had a lot of leftovers so decided to make a curry. Usually I use Patak's pastes of which I have several in the cupboard chucked in with onion, garlic, tomatoes and the meat of choice. This time I decided to have a change and did the "chuck it all in and hope for the best" method.

LAMB CURRY
serves two

Glug of groundnut oil
1 onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tsp each of lazy chilli and lazy ginger
1 tsp each of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, ground cumin and ground coriander
4 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
1/2 tsp of crushed chillies if you like it really hot
1/2 a cinnamon stick
200g cooked lamb - amount isn't really important, whatever you have.
1 400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
approx 10 nuggets frozen spinach
Fresh coriander to finish

Toast the whole spices in a frying pan until they smell gorgeous
Lightly crush the whole spices (apart from the cinnamon stick) in a pestle and mortar.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion until golden.
Add the chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for a few minutes.
Add the spices and fry until fragrant.
Then add the meat and tomatoes, tomato puree, seasoning and a pinch of sugar.
Cook slowly for at least 30 minutes.
Add the spinach and heat through.
Serve with rice and sprinkle over coriander to serve.

Spiced lamb casserole

The last few weeks have been so busy I just haven't had time to update things.

The best bit is that my low-carb diet has resulted in a 7lb weight loss over the last 2 weeks !!! I'm totally thrilled with that and my jeans have lost their "post Xmas pinch" ;-)

Today we had friends over for lunch and I'm ashamed to admit that I fell off the low carb wagon with some style. It damn well tasted good though. Firstly I did a rather adapted version of JO's spiced lamb shanks, although I couldn't get hold of any lamb shanks. This was then followed with mandarin cheesecake.

SPICED LAMB
serves about 6

2 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp dried oregano
S&P
flour - about 2 tbsp
1 large shoulder of lamb
Olive oil
3 onions chopped
6 stalks of celery halved and sliced
2 large carrots diced
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3x400g cans of plum tomatoes

Crush the coriander seeds and chillis together and mix with the oregano and rosemary
Rub all over the seasoned meat and then sprinkle over the flour
Add a lug of olive oil to a large pan and sear the meat, remove to a large casserole dish
Add some more olive oil and fry the vegetables until just tender.
Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce slightly.
Finally add the tomatoes and vegetables to the lamb. Stir well and season. Add about 1/3 a can of water and put the lid on the dish.
Cook for 2 hours at 180C and then a further 30 mins with the lid off.
Stir through some chopped fresh basil and serve with mash and green veg.

The original recipe calls for 6 anchovies but due to the Husbands irrational fear of these I left them out ! I may sneak them in next time because I swear he wouldn't notice.

Lamb meatball and pea pilaff

Son no2 is going through a picky phase. I'm trying to not rise to the bait and get stressed about it but remember that he is only 2 and as such it's his perogative. It is quite frustrating though as what is happily eaten one day is the food of the devil the next. So, I was quite surprised when he polished off a huge plateful of dinner tonight and then reached over and started eating what was left on my plate ! Shame Son no1 wasn't quite so enamoured.

This is a recipe taken from Good Food magazine which I've tweaked several times.

Lamb meatball & pea pilaf

Serves 4

For the meatballs

400g lean lamb mince

4 spring onions finely chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

1tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder

For the pilaf

1 onion chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

1tsp ground cumin

300g basmati rice

Vegetable stock

300g frozen peas

Juice and zest of a lemon

Handful chopped mint

Firstly to make the meatballs mix all the ingredients together with some seasoning. Shape into 16 balls and dry fry in a pan until brown all over and just cooked through.

Set aside and drain fat from pan.

Heat a dribble of olive oil in the pan and add the onion and garlic and soften. Then add the cumin and rice and cook for a few minutes.

Then add enough stock to cover, put a lid on the pan and cook until just tender.

Finally add the peas and meatballs back to the pan and heat through. Finish with the lemon, mint and seasoning to taste.

I served this with a green salad and a pot of tzatziki - from Waitrose, not home made ! It made enough for 2 adults and 2 kids for dinner plus I have lunch for tomorrow all wrapped up too.