Na na na na na na na na, naan bread!

It's finally getting cooler here in south east Queensland and that makes me think of one thing - curry!  My letter to cook with this week was 'N' and I could have been boring and cooked nachos, with all the usual accompaniments, but nooooooo!  Instead, I started the day before and cooked up a Northern Indian Curry and home made Naan Bread.  Whilst some of my friends (Elaine!) think 'Northern' Indian Curry is a cop out as an 'N' dish, I can assure you that I don't really care, because it was so delicious and for me, it was more about trying something new and making my own naan.  The naan was easy to make, easy to cook (on the pizza stone or I've heard some people use their wok), and it was most definitely easy to eat.  Of course, being 'N' there had to be nuts to nibble on, as well as Nutella, in the form of a baked cheesecake. 

Northern Indian Curry (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Vegetable oil
1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
2 - 3cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
2 green chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 - 1 teaspoon chilli powder (or half cayenne pepper and half chilli powder - to your liking)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
750g Lamb neck, cut into 4 - 5 cm chunks
2 x 400g tinned diced tomatoes
1 cinnamon quill
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
coriander, to serve

1. Heat some vegetable oil in a large casserole dish over a medium heat (on the stove). Add onion and ginger and fry for 10 minutes until golden.
2. Add garlic and green chillies, and fry for a further 2 minutes.
3. Stir in turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, cloves and cardamom. Cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add lamb and toss to coat in all the spices. Fry until meat is sealed and starting to colour (about 10 minutes).
5. Stir in tomatoes, cinnamon and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
6. Cover with lid, reduce heat to low and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until meat is starting to fall apart. Stir periodically. You can also transfer the covered casserole dish to a 180C preheated oven at this point, and cook for the same length of time.
7. Remove lid and stir. If it's too watery, turn stove heat to medium, remove lid and allow to reduce for 5 - 10 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with garam masala and coriander leaves. Serve with rice pilaf. mint yoghurt and naan.

Notes

1. Buy about 1.25kg of lamb neck from the supermarket or butcher. As when you cut it off the bone there is quite a bit of waste.
2. You can start this curry the day before and stop at the end of Step 5, then cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove casserole dish from refrigerator, stir and allow to sit on the bench for 10 - 15 minutes, before putting it on a cold element on the stove. Turn the element to low and slowly bring the pot up to temperature (so it doesn't crack!). Then let it cook away till the meat is falling off the bone, as above.

Naan Bread (makes 4)
250g pizza/bread flour
7g sachet (2 teaspoons) dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
100g natural or Greek yoghurt
90ml (3/4 cup) luke warm water
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
20g butter, melted
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1. Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add water, oil and yoghurt and mix well.
2. Knead for 4 - 5  minutes, until dough is smooth. It will be a bit stickier than pizza/bread dough.
3. Place dough ball in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about an hour, until it's doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven and pizza stone to 250C. (Do this now so your pizza stone is piping hot when naan dough goes on.)
5. Divide dough into 4 portions and flatten out (by hand) into desired shape.  Sprinkle both sides with flour.
6. Place dough pieces onto preheated pizza stone and cook 4 - 5 minutes each side, until puffed and light golden. If you don't have a pizza stone you can use a preheated (15 mins) oven tray.
7. Combine melted butter and sesame seeds. Brush this over one side of naan once removed from oven.

Nutella Cheesecake
125g plain chocolate biscuits (I used Arnott's Choc Ripple)
60g unsalted butter, melted
250g philadelphia cream cheese
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150mL thickened cream
100g Nutella
50g hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed and lightly crushed

1. Grease base and sides of four small loose-bottomed (individual) tart tins.  Line the base with baking paper.
2. Crush chocolate biscuits to a fine crumb and add to melted butter.  Mix well to combine.
3. Press into the base of the prepared tins. Refrigerate for at 30 minutes or until firm.
4. Preheat oven to 140C.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and flour for 3 - 4 minutes until smooth.  
6. Add eggs, vanilla and cream and beat 1 - 2 minutes until combined.
7. Add Nutella and beat 2 - 3 minutes until combined. 
8. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate base and smooth the tops.  Place individual tins onto a baking tray and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until almost set in the middle.
9. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecakes in the oven, with door ajar for 1 - 2 hours or until completely cooled. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.
10. To serve: top with roasted hazelnuts, flaked chocolate and cream.

To make one large cheesecake, double the ingredients above and use a 23 - 24cm springform or loose-based tart tin.

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All my favourites

I was totally spoiled for choice having to cook with the letter 'L' for this week's #abcmeals challenge.  A lot of my favourite foods begin with 'L' - lamb, lasagne, lemon, lime, leek, linguini (well any pasta really), lollies, limoncello, lemon lime and bitters, licorice, lemongrass, lamingtons, the list could go on and on.  Narrowing it down to two courses, manageable on a week night was a big challenge.  I settled on lamb, leek and lemon, but changed my mind so many times on what I might actually cook.  In the end I couldn't go past a classic lamb rack, which are honestly one of the easiest things you can cook.  For dessert I went with my new favourite tart - a No-bake Lemon Tart, which only requires four ingredients.  And of course we had real Lemon, Lime and Bitters to drink!

Rack of Lamb with Leeks and Potato Gallette
Lamb
1 whole rack of lamb, fat trimmed (3 - 4 cutlets per person)
2 - 3 fresh Rosemary sprigs
2 - 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup good red wine (whatever you plan to drink when cooking and eating)

1. Place lamb in a large snaplock bag.  Add rosemary leaves and garlic and rub them into the lamb.  Add red wine.  Seal bag and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Heat an oven-safe frypan on a medium-high heat.  Remove lamb from marinade and place directly into pan.  Sear for 3 - 4 minutes on each side.
3. Place frypan into a pre-heated over at 180C and allow lamb to roast for up to 10 minutes - depending on the thickness of the piece and how you like your lamb cooked.
4. Remove lamb from frypan to a warmed plate.  Cover with alfoil and keep in a warm spot to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Potatoes
2 Kipfler potatoes
80g unsalted butter, melted
1 - 2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Slice potatoes into thin discs.  If you use a mandolin for this, please make sure you use the guard so that you don't slice your finger tips!
2. Combine all ingredients.
3. Arrange potato in an overlapping circle on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
4. Season with salt and a little pepper.
5. Bake at 180C for 15 - 20 minutes, until potatoes are browned and starting to crisp up.

Leeks
1 Leek, white part only, sliced finely
80g unsalted butter
50mL cream

1. Place sliced leeks in a small pan with the butter, over a medium-low heat.  Allow them to gently soften and cook.  Add more butter if it's getting a bit dry, so that they don't burn.
2. When leeks are cooked add the cream and season with a little black pepper.

No-bake Lemon Tart
1 packet Arnott's Granita biscuits (250g)
125g unsalted butter, melted
2 cups lemon curd
500g creme fraiche or mascarpone cheese

1. Using baking paper, line the base of a 20 - 25cm loose-bottomed tart tin. 
2. Crush biscuits in a food processor and combine with melted butter. 
3. Press into the base and up the sides of the prepared tin.  If you use a smaller tin, don't overfill with the crust.  Instead use the remaining crust in mini tart tins or a muffin tin to make some smaller tarts as well.  No point in wasting it!
4. Refrigerate base for at least 20 minutes.
5. Combine lemon curd and creme fraiche.  Pour into chilled base.  Refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours.
6. Serve with fresh berries or lemon and lime wedges and a dollop of cream.

 Thanks to Cooking with Nonna for this recipe. 

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How good is harissa!

This week it was 'h' week for me in our #abcmeals challenge - so what else to choose but haloumi, harissa, herbs, honey, honeycomb and hazelnut spread.  Now, haloumi I could eat for every meal of the day and still not get sick of it's salty, squeaky taste and texture.  There's nothing much you need to do to prepare it, just pan fry till it browns and throw on a plate.  Eat it plain if you want or with some sweet chilli sauce drizzled over the top, or with rocket and a squeeze of lemon juice as we did.

As for harissa, it goes with any red meat you care to choose and I chose my favourite - lamb.  To help cut the heat of the harissa I added a honey lemon mint yoghurt, which sounds like an interesting combination and not one you might normally think of.  However, it was delicious and sure did it's job, especially since I used double the harissa suggested below!

Time got the better of me for dessert and it wasn't till the last minute that I decided to whip up some crepes (thanks for the suggestion Sue) with hazelnut spread, and by hazelnut spread you know I mean Nutella but that doesn't start with 'h'!  It's been a long time since I've made crepes and needless to say I was out of practice!  We managed to get two almost decent ones and once spread with Nutella and crumbled honeycomb (i.e. Crunchie) on top, they were quite delicious.  Forgive the picture here, as I will definitely have to work on my crepe making skills and will write another post about them once I remember how to do it so that they don't just taste good, but also look good.

Harissa Lamb with Honey Lemon Yoghurt (Serves 4)

1 - 2 tablespoons of harissa
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
salt and pepper
500g lamb rump steaks

Couscous
1 1/2 cups couscous
20g butter
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or 2 cups boiling water with stock powder/concentrate/cube)
large handful of mint, roughly chopped (about 40g)
1/3 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced (the long green ones)

Honey Lemon Yoghurt
1/2 cup greek or natural yoghurt
small handful of mint, roughly chopped (about 10g)
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. For the lamb - combine harissa, garlic, olive oil and water in a bowl, with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add lamb and toss to coat.  Cover and set aside for at least 10 minutes to marinate.
2. For the couscous - warm up the stock (or combine boiling water with stock powder/concentrate/cube.  Place couscous and butter in a large bowl, and pour hot stock over couscous.  Stir until butter has melted. Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Use a fork to fluff up the couscous and add chopped pistachios, mint, spring onions. Season to taste.
3. For the yoghurt - combine all ingredients and refrigerate until required.
4. Cook lamb for 3 - 4 mins on each side or until cooked to your liking.  Allow to rest for 3 - 4 minutes, then slice.
5. Serve sliced lamb on top of a couscous, with yoghurt drizzled across the top.  Add a lemon wedge on the side and a sprig of mint too.

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E is obviously for Eggplant

'E' was a hard letter to come up with ideas. Apart from the obvious: eggs, eggplant, elderberry. Yes, elderberry was one of the first ingredients to come to mind. I liked the idea of something eggplanty and had a few ideas. Moussaka was the idea that kept coming back to mind and it was easy to do for a Wednesday night. Another influencing factor on tonight's dinner was the result of a cholesterol check. OK, I need to bring it down, I know. And I hear you saying Moussaka is not going to help out with that. Well, I just happen to own a book that is entitled 'OMG!!! I can eat that?' by Jane Kennedy. 'So here is a ripping non-boombah version of moussaka. You know, that delicious, fragrant, cheesy, white-saucey almost national dish of Greece? Well, this version has less fat and lower calories than the traditional one!!!' - Jane Kennedy

3 long thin eggplants, cut lengthways
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tbs olive oil
500g lamb mince
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup white wine - (I put a bit more in)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup tomato passata
1 bay leaf

Bechamel Sauce
300g Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
pinch of nutmeg
sea salt and pepper
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
30g feta cheese

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the eggplant on a lined tray. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 20 minute Take out of oven and keeping the eggplant on the baking paper, slide off the tray and set aside.
Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the mince and lightly brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Pour off liquid and using the same pan, add 1 tbs of oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, carrot and 1 tbs of water and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and let it sizzle, then add the lamb mince and all the spices, Stir through. Add the tomato passata and bay leaf.
Turn the heat down to simmer, pop the lid on and cook for about 30 minutes. stirring occasionally. Take off the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes and let some of the liquid evaporate,
Line a large ovenproof baking dish with some slices of the eggplant. Top with a layer of the meat mixture. Add another layer of the eggplant and then the rest of the meat.
To make the bechamel sauce, combine the yoghurt and the eggs, add the nutmeg and the S&P. Pour the mixture over the meat and sprinkle with the parmesan and feta.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden  brown and the cheese sauce is bubbling.

Now for dessert. I know this definitely is not good for the cholesterol, but 'E' is such a hard letter to find anything, except for Eton's Mess. YUMMO!!
For those that don't know, Eton's Mess is fruit in layers of cream and meringue. I chose strawberries and raspberries. I made the meringues early in the afternoon to make sure they had enough time to dry out. These were definitely the best meringues i have made. I made a nice strawberry sauce by processing some strawberries and lemon juice with some caster sugar to balance the flavour. Play around with it and with different fruit combinations and see what kind of mess you can come up with.

Bring on the cooler weather

It's supposed to be getting cooler at this time of year, but as I write this I'm sitting in brilliant sunshine, not a skeric of breeze and it's approaching 27 degrees - very unusual for the last week of autumn in this part of Australia.  This is usually the time of year when we start thinking about and cooking up rich, hearty and comforting meals.  The kind that involve a long, slow cook and then a big bowl that you can wrap your hands around to warm them up.  So, in preparation for the winter months, that will inevitably arrive in these parts, below is a very adaptable Lamb Ragu with pasta.  Once you read through the recipe, you will realise that you can throw in whatever you like and there's no need to stick strictly to the measurements (where I've given measurements).  I've cooked this on the stove, as my saucepan's create a water seal, but you can cook this in the oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker - however you feel comfortable.

I've also included a recipe to make your own pasta too.  It's not a difficult process, but you'll need some time and a pasta machine to roll it out.  I love that my $15 pasta machine (bought from a discount department store a few years back) is still going strong! If you're keen to try making your own pasta, keep an eye out for a cheap machine next time you're at the shops. The amount of dough in this recipe will feed 8 or more people.  I'm not usually feeding that many people so once it's rested I usually divide it in half, wrap one piece in glad wrap and put it in the freezer for another day.

Lamb Ragu (serves 4)
2 lamb shanks (500 - 600g) - buy them already frenched if you can, it will save you some time
Olive oil
1 small-medium red onion, halved and slice thinly
3 - 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 small red chilli, seeds removed, finely diced
1 - 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/4 - 1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
1 cup water (or vegetable stock)
large handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper
Fresh pasta sheets (make your own or use torn up fresh lasagna sheets)
Parmesan cheese

1. Heat a medium-sized heavy based saucepan over a medium-high heat.  Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil.  Place lamb shanks in pan and brown all over (2 - 3 mins per 'side').  Remove from pan and set aside.  If there's a lot of fat in the pan, drain most of it out.
2. Add onions, garlic, chilli and rosemary and cook over medium - low for 6 - 8 minutes, until onion softens and starts to caramelise.
3. Pour in the red wine and stir to deglaze the pan.
4. Add the tomatoes and water, stir to combine.  Add lamb shanks back to the pan, season with salt and pepper and put the lid on.
5. Allow to gently simmer for 3 hours, or until the meat is beginning to fall off the bones.  Turn the lamb shanks over each hour during this time.
6. Remove the lamb shanks and allow to cool slightly.  Remove the meat from the bones and shred.
7. Turn up the heat on the sauce and allow it to reduce to a thicker consistency.  Add the lamb back to the pan, along with parsley and stir to combine.  Season.
8. Serve over fresh pasta, with extra chilli or chilli flakes, parsley and parmesan cheese on top.

Notes

• Once the sauce is reducing add sliced pitted olives or roasted capsicum.
• You can omit the red wine, and just go straight to adding the tomatoes, as this too will deglaze the pan. No need to add any extra liquid as there'll still be enough to cook the meat.
• If cooking in oven, once you've combined everything in step 4 transfer to a casserole dish and cover with alfoil.  Cook at 150C for 3 hours, turning meat every hour.  Then continue from step 6 back in your first saucepan.
• Left over meat sauce will freeze well.  
• You can make this 2 - 3 days ahead of time and keep refrigerated.

Pasta
250g Pasta flour
pinch salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
water

1. Place flour and salt in a medium sized bowl, and make a well in the middle.
2. Pour oil, eggs and egg yolks into the well and mix with your hands to form a smooth dough.
3. If it's a little dry (this depends on the size of your eggs) add some water a little bit at a time until it comes together.
4. Roll dough on floured bench until it becomes a smooth consistency (3 - 5 minutes, depending on your flour and your strength!).
5. Wrap dough in glad wrap and allow to rest on the bench or fridge (if the weather is warm) for 1 - 3 hours.
6. Remove from fridge and divide into 3 - 4 portions.  (At this stage I divide in half, wrap half and freeze it.) 
7. Working with one portion at a time (keep the others covered), roll them through your pasta machine, dusting with flour as needed, until you have long thin sheets.  Cut or tear into desired size, dust with flour and set aside.  Repeat with remaining portions.
8. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook pasta in batches (depending on size of pan) for 2 - 3 minutes, until al dente.  Strain and serve (or keep warm whilst cooking remaining pasta).

Notes

• Make the pasta whilst the lamb is cooking.  Lay the sheets into a container and dust each layer with flour and store in the fridge till required.
• Thaw frozen dough in the fridge, then dust with a little flour and give a quick knead before rolling through pasta machine.

A Collective Sigh

This week my challenge was to cook with Quinoa. It wasn't so much a challenge, as a request. I had wanted to cook Quinoa for quite some time, seeing as it seems to be popping up everywhere these days. Quinoa is touted as a 'superfood' and is a grain-like food. It can easily substitute in recipes for cous cous or rice. I found the texture to be softer than cous cous, probably because it swells up, when cooked, a little more like rice. For many people one of the advantages of quinoa is that it is gluten free, and thus far easier to digest. You will definitely pay more for quinoa (around $6 for a box of 3oog at my local Coles), than rice or cous cous, but I think it is worth it for a change every now and then, for a texture part way in between those two.

So what did I cook? First course was a Carrot and Ginger Soup. And then being my first test (and taste) of quinoa, I simply boiled it up and served it as a side with some beautiful Lamb steaks, a lemon and fennel salad, and home-made harissa.

Carrot and Ginger Soup (serves 6)
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled, chopped
5 1/2 cups chopped carrots
2 tsp minced fresh ginger (I used heaps more than that)
1 1/2L chicken stock
150mL whipping cream (optional) nutmeg chives salt and pepper

1. As with all soups, melt the butter, then add the onion and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Add potato, carrots, ginger and chicken stock. Stir, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 mins, until all veges are cooked.
3. Blend/puree/process the soup till it's smooth.
4. Grate fresh nutmeg over the top. Stir. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the cream to the soup and stir to combine, or just add a dollop as you serve, topped with chives.

This soup certainly did the trick. I had actually made it a few days earlier, and in a triple batch. We have a tradition at work to share a soup/curry/risotto etc on a Tuesday and I was first cab of the rank. I used a huge nob of ginger from my garden, as I didn't think that only using 2 teaspoons would be anywhere near enough.

Ginger from my garden

Ginger is one of the easiest things to grow yourself. Next time you buy some from the supermarket or fruit shop, snap off a bit and put it in a snaplock bag on your bench until it starts to produce a shoot. Then plonk it in a pot or straight in the ground, and give it a good drink of water. It will do it's think and keep growing and growing. Wait till you see the tall green shoot come up - the taller it is the bigger the ginger underneath I've found. So when you need some ginger, pull it up, snap off what you need, and rebury it. Keep dividing it up and your ginger will just keep re-generating and you'll never have to buy it again.

Thyme Lamb with fennel and parsley quinoa (serves 2)
100g quinoa
2 lamb backstraps (150g - 200g each) - I used lamb sirloin steaks
1 - 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 - 2 tbsp thyme leaves (could use lemon thyme if you can find it)
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 lemon - finely grate rind, then juice it
lemon wedges and harissa (to serve)

Lamb sirloin steaks

1. Cook quinoa in pan of boiling water for 12 minutes or until tender. Drain, cover and keep warm.
2. Rub lamb with mustard (use more if you need it), then roll in thyme, salt & pepper. Heat large lightly oiled pan over med-high. Cook lamb for 3 mins each side (med-rare) or to your like. Remove and rest, covered for 5 minutes.
3. Toss fennel with parsley, lemon rind, lemon juice, garlic. Add in quinoa or serve separately.
4. Slice lamb thickly and serve on quinoa and salad, with lemon wedges and harissa (see recipe below)

Neil Perry's Harissa
4 hot red chillies, coarsely chopped with seeds
2 red capsicum, roasted, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
Sea salt and olive oil

1. In a mortar and pestle pound up the chilli, garlic, cumin, coriander and salt. Taste the chilli to check how hot it is! Add a bit of olive oil if you need to, to make a smooth paste.
2. Add in the thinly sliced capsicum and pound till it has broken up and is well combined with the chilli mixture.
3. Serve immediately, or spoon into sterilised jars and cover with some olive oil. Refrigerate.

Thyme lamb with fennel and parsley quinoa

This harissa is one of my stand-by favourites. It is quick and easy, and oh so tasty with lamb, fish, chicken, silverside, any meat really. It is also good as a dip for veges or with some cheese. Many many uses, I think you all should add it to your repertoire.

The whole dish was amazing. The quinoa was surprisingly light and fluffy. I thought it would be a little coarser like cous cous. The harissa had a beautiful hit of chilli and balanced out the lemon and fennel in the salad. The lamb was perfect - so tender, so juicy. If I do say so myself, this was brilliant. I give myself 5 out of 5 wooden spoons!


Lucky me I had the leftovers for lunch, the next day in the form of a quinoa harissa salad. I mixed the remaining quinoa with the remaining harissa, then added a whack of chopped flat leaf parsley. I had some left over silverside, which I chopped up and threw in as well. It was so good. You've just got to love a dinner, that keeps on giving.

All Hands on Deck

Well, this was a mammoth dinner for a Wednesday night. It pays to read ahead of your recipe, especially for the bits that say refrigerate for one hour, or cook for one hour then refrigerate for another hour. However, I must say that this was a corker of a dinner and I am glad I persisted. Tonight we had Lamb cutlets with lemon pignoli crust, served with potato galette and Lemon souffle crepes with sauce suzette. When telling friends what I was cooking for dinner 100% asked, "What is Pignoli". Well to this day I don't know but it was delish.

I started out cooking the sauce suzette. Blanch lemon and orange rind 3 times in boiling water and rinsing in cold water. Set aside. Place 1/2 cup lemon and 3 cup orange in saucepan and let reduce for 45 minutes on medium heat to 1 1/4 cups. Add 1/2 tsp dissolved cornflour and whisk in. Whisk in 1/4 cup caster sugar and 1 1/2 tbs grand marnier. Add zest. till thickened.

Next I started on the potato galette. Heat up sliced potato in saucepan with 300ml thickened cream and 300ml milk and one small clove garlic. simmer till just tender. Transfer to oven proof dish, top ith parmessan cheese and bake for one hour. Let cool then place in fridge for a further hour. I cheated and only had it in the oven for 30 minutes. let the cream set a bit the cut out with food moulds or cookie cutter desired amout of galette. reheat in oven before serving.

Following the potato I made up the batter for the crepes - normal crepe mixture plus add in 2 tsp of dark rum and 2 tsp of grand marnier. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Up next was the pignoli crust for the lamb cutlets. place1/4 cup each of Italian parsley and basil leaves into a food processor along with 2 1/2 tbs of pine nuts. Whizz these ingredients together till combined and chopped. Then add 60 gr chilled butter, 1/4 breadcrumbs1 small garlic clove, and 1/4 preserved lemon wedge. Pulse until smooth. Transfer herbed butter to plastic wrap and roll into a short 3 cm round roll. Chill for 1 hour. Again I cheated and threw it into the freezer for a bit then down into the fridge. After chilling the herbed butter time to cook the lamb. I cooked mine on a grill pan for a couple of minutes each side. Then place sliced butter onto the top of cutlets and placed under the griller for another couple of minutes till crusty. Serve up and plate with the galette.

The souffle of the crepes came with the help of Rose. while she made the crepes I had time to whisk 3 egg whites with lemon into stiff firm peaks, and whisk 3 egg yolks with 1/3 cup of caster sugar till thick and creamy. Then combined and folded together whites and yolks. Working together we folded crepes into quarters and filled top with the souffle mix and baked in 200 oven for 5 minutes. Yes the souffle rose up!! Serve with a reappearance of Heston's ice cream from a few weeks ago and with the sauce suzette and you are on another winner.

If it wasn't for the time factor I would be giving this a 5/5 wooden spoons. However after some discussion about whether it needed a Jus, (Rose was for, I was against) I am going to give the Lamb with pignoli crust a 4/5 wooden spoons.

The crepes with souffle and suzette sauce were a winner with me, I will def be doing these again sometime. 4/5 wooden spoons

Walnut Wednesday

Well today was the first day back at work, after a 5 week break. So what did I decide to cook for dinner – a roast of course!!! Luckily I was home early and it was a cool day, so all was good. Instead of a traditional roast lamb and veges, I took a different tack and made a spiced roast leg of lamb with caramelised onion cous cous (based on Quick Smart Cook p158).

The flavouring on the lamb was delicious (cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic) and very aromatic. The lamb itself (from the amazing Cooroy Butchery – love buying locally) was tender and juicy, and cooked to a lovely pink medium. The caramelised onions and walnuts in the cous cous created a whole different flavour than you usually get with cous cous. Since lamb and lemon are old friends in my house, I added lemon wedges to serve. This helped to balance the sweetness of the caramelised onions in the cous cous. We had gravy from all the pan juices, but really it wasn’t necessary. Lucky those who are having leftovers tomorrow, including some friends’ lucky dog, Dozer, who gets the bone! Tonight’s lamb gets 4.5/5 wooden spoons (and yes I’m sticking with wooden spoons).

Spiced roast leg of lamb
3 tablespoons each of ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika, mixed with 3 crushed garlic cloves and 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil. Rub this over whatever cut of lamb you have. Cook your lamb to medium, however you like to cook a roast – bbq, stove top, oven.

Caramelised onion cous cous
Slice 2 onions and 2 tbsp rosemary (or thyme). Cook in a frypan over a med-low heat, with a little bit of oil, for about 4 – 5 minutes till the onions start to soften (try not to get too much colour on them). Add 1 – 2 tbsp caster sugar and 100mL balsamic vinegar to the onions, and cook over low, stirring ocasionally until almost all the liquid has been absorbed and it looks almost jammy. Make the cous cous as you would normally (200g cous cous to 400mL boiling water). Once the cous cous is ready fluff it up with a fork and add 2 tbsp chopped parsley, the onions (and any juice), 20 g butter and 100g toasted chopped walnuts. You may need to add a little olive oil to the cous cous to loosen it up a little. Slice the lamb and serve with cous cous and lemon wedges.

Keeping with the walnut theme was tonight’s dessert – Carrot and Walnut Puddings (from Delicious Sweet p79). I describe these as basically a little warm carrot cake, and who doesn’t love carrot cake.

After baking in the oven, these were served with a dollop of cream and a drizzle of

golden syrup on top and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. They were very tasty. But the size of “mould” suggested in the recipe was far too big and we only managed to eat half a pudding, despite the sensational flavour. Next time I’d do them half the size and make twice as many. These will definitely freeze and reheat well too! Also I think I’d also add some spice next time – nutmeg or cinnamon, or even a ground up cardamom pod or two perhaps, just for a little bit more something! If you’d like the recipe, let me know. 4/5 wooden spoons.

PS Yes, I know we cook lamb a lot - but we love it!

Something old and something new

This is my first jaunt in our Wednesday night meals for 2012, and I thought that I would start with an old favourite for mains and something new for dessert.

To kick off I made red wine lamb racks with mint pesto gnocchi and slow roasted tomatoes. A fairly simple dish, but a dish that has great memories associated with it. (It is all about the story we are told on Masterchef). The lamb and mint pesto gnocchi was a dish that I ate at Rose's 30th birthday dinner. As I was eating the meal I was thinking of the flavours of the meal and thought it should be easy to replicate. Also this dish had foundations even before the delish dish from "The Dish". Way back in my Townsville years living as a bachelor a dear friend took me under her wing and thought I needed some lessons in cooking. MB's first dish she "taught" me was a lamb rack with asparagus and eggplant. Many thanks MB. Don't forget it is all about the stories.

In case you are wondering about the Mint Pesto - Lots of Mint, a handful of toasted pine nuts, 2 cloves of garlic, a good whollup of olive oil, and some parmessan cheese.

The something new of our meal was dessert. Heston Blumenthal's Vanilla and Cinnamon Ice cream from his Heston Blumenthal At Home. Heston says," The starting point for this recipe was a scientific paper on a phenomenon called 'odour adaptation', which is when the brain stops us smelling something even though the odour is still there. This process helps us detect whether an aroma is getting stronger or not and saves us from sensory overload."

"take 2 squeezy bottles that are big enough to produce a good whooomph of air when you squeeze them, and place 2 vanilla pods in one and bash two cinnamon sticks and place them in the other. Eat a spoonful of the ice-cream, then take a sniff of the vanilla bottle. Now eat another spoonful of ice-cream - you'll find it only has a cinnamon flavour. And if you eat the ice-cream after sniffing the cinnamon bottle , it will seem to be pure vanilla." This experiment works with 85% of people.

6 vanilla pods, 360g whole milk, 200g raw caster sugar, 35g skim milk powder, 840g whipping cream, 2 whole esspresso beans, 1 large cinnamon stick bashed. Extra vanilla pods and cinnamon sticks for the squeezy bottles.

1. Milk, vanilla pods scraped, inot saucepan, add sugar and milk powder over medium heat stirring until milk powder has dissolved.

2. Add cream and esspresso beans and cinnamon stick, bring to boil. Remove from heat and remove to container. Allow to cool in fridge for 2 hours it infuse.

3. Strain mixture through fine sieve.

4. Put mixture into ice-cream machine as per instructions of machine.

5. Decant ice-cream into sealable container and place in freezer till needed.

6. Enjoy.

Apparently Rose and I are in the 15% that this experiment does not work with, or there was not enough flavour in the cinnamon stick that I used. Maybe I should have put an extra cinnamon stick. Even though it didnt work with us, the ice-cream was unbelievablely smooth and creamy and it was delicious.

My ratings for the meal:

Lamb and Gnocchi - 5/5 wooden spoons

Cinnamon and Vanilla Ice-cream - 4/5 Wooden Spoons (cause the experiment didn't work with us)

We love lamb!

It's become an Aussie tradition - lamb on Australia Day. And well lamb any other day as well. Have a look at Australia's Lambassador Sam Kekovich's new song.