Slow Roast Lamb, Spiced Cauliflower & Creamy Potato Gratin

I’ve mentioned before the half lambs purchased from bf’s boss, well we were onto half lamb number 2 and at this point all we had left was shoulder. As the bf’s offspring was with us for the weekend it seemed a good time as any to have it. Well, that and the fact that for once we actually remembered to take the lamb out of the oven to defrost ready for use for a Sunday lunch feast.

Slow-cooking is the only way to go really with shoulder: which means that I can get it ready, bung it in and then get on with prepping and worrying about the rest. One thing to worry about with anything slow cooked and ergo at a low temperature is that choosing sides to accompany is a bit of a pain in the arse. Unless you have a double oven (one day, one day..) you are stuck at the one temperature for the duration of the roasting: roast potatoes for instance are out as they need a high temperature for at least 45 minutes.

So I decided on a couple of things that could be semi-cooked at a reasonably low temp, or on the hob and then blasted for 15 minutes at a higher temperature while the lamb was rested and subsequently shredded and the gravy / sauce made.

My advice here therefore is to get the lamb in and then a couple of hours later prep the ingredients for the cauliflower, gratin and sauce.

Half an hour before the lamb is due to come out (so about 3.5 hours in) get the potato slice, milk, cream combo going on the hob and chuck the cauliflower in the oven. Keep an eye on the latter and take out again once it starts to brown.

When the lamb comes out, whack the oven temperature back up to 240C, tip the potato mixture into a dish and grate over the cheese, dot with butter and put that on the top shelf with the cauliflower on the bottom. Get on with sauce and then shred the lamb. 15 minutes later everything should have come together beautifully.


Slow Roasted Lamb

2.5 kg shoulder of lamb
2 onions, sliced thickly
3-4 carrots, halved lengthways
4 -6 large sprigs rosemary
4-6 large springs of mint
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves (unpeeled)
olive oil
za’atar
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
200ml white wine
200ml chicken or vegetable stock

Preheat the oven at its highest temperature (usually about 250C).

Lay the onion slices over the bottom of a high sided roasting tin then lay half of the garlic cloves on top along with half of the rosemary and half of the mint.

Score the skin side of the lamb by using diagonal cuts about 1-2 cms apart, no deeper than about an inch.

Rub all over with oil and za'atar and a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Place skin side up on top of the garlic and herbs and then add the rest of the herbs and garlic on top of the lamb.

Tip in the wine and stock and tuck the carrots alongside the lamb.

Cover as tightly as possible with foil then place in oven and turn down to 150C/340F.

Roast for four hours by which time the lamb should be very tender and falling off the bone.

Remove the lamb and carrots to a plate, set aside on top of a wooden chopping board and cover tightly with foil and a tea towel on top of that. Leave to rest for 15 minutes before shredding or pulling the meat off in chunks.

Piquant Gravy 

½ tbsp flour
the liquid from the lamb roasting tin
1 heaped tbsp capers, soaked, drained and finely chopped
½ large bunch fresh mint, leaves picked, finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Discard any bits of rosemary & mint stalk from the tray. Pick out the garlic cloves and about half of the onion and set aside.

Tip the liquid into a measuring jug, let it settle and then spoon off and discard most of the fat from the top. Spoon 1-2 tbsp of the fat back into the roasting tin.

Using a stick blender whizz up the contents of the jug very carefully.

Put the roasting tin on the hob over a medium heat and mix in the flour, scraping up any stuck on bits from the bottom as you go. Add about ⅔ of the cooking liquid from the jug, stirring all the time.

Leave to simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes more.

Just before serving add the mint & red wine vinegar to the sauce, give it a stir and pour into a jug.

Spiced Cauliflower

I’d bought a little selection pack of Halen Mon salts when we were in Wales (and on Anglesey specifically) earlier this year but if you’re not lucky enough to have any at your disposal use some spices such as cumin & turmeric as well as some smoked or normal Maldon sea salt.

1 small/medium cauliflower, broken into small florets
Halen Mon sea salt with spices
Halen Mon sea salt smoked over Welsh Oak
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil spray

Preheat the oven to 240C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place the florets on the baking tray and spray with olive oil a few times, toss the tray around a little and spray again.

Sprinkle over the sea salts and freshly ground black pepper and toss around again so that the florets are evenly coated in oil and spices.

Shake the tray so the florets are in as evenly a single layer as possible then place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the tray every now and again (NB see note at top).

Creamy Cheesy Potato Gratin
Serves: 3-4

1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into slices 1 cm thick
250ml full fat milk
250ml double cream
1 small banana shallot, peeled and halved
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt flakes
25g unsalted butter
50-60g jarlsberg cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 240°C.

Put the potato slices into a large saucepan with the milk, cream, onion, minced garlic and salt.

Bring to the boil and cook at a robust simmer until the potato slices are tender but not dissolving into mush (this is a fairly tough call to be fair!). Discard the shallot.

Use a little of the butter to grease a medium sized tin or lasagne dish and then pour the milk, cream & potato mixture into it.

Sprinkle over the grated cheese then dot with the remaining butter.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until the potato is bubbly and browned on top. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Finally, serve everything up on to the middle of your dining table and let everyone serve themselves!

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Black Bean Chicken & Dry-Fried Green Beans

Once again some Fuchsia Dunlop recipes here: slightly adapted in both cases and from “Every Grain of Rice” rather than Sichuan Cookery.

The black bean chicken is of Hunanese origin and employs two of its most distinctive seasonings: fermented black beans and chillies. On the other hand the dryfried green beans are from the Sichuan province and one that I have cooked many times before although from the aforementioned Sichuan Cookery. This is the vegetarian version from Every Grain of Rice where ya cai or preserved vegetable are used in place of minced pork for a savoury kick.


Black Bean Chicken
serves 2 with one other dish & rice

2 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-2cm cubes
1 small green pepper, cut into 1-2cm squares (to match the chicken)
2 tbsp groundnut oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled & sliced
20g ginger, peeled & sliced
2 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed & drained
1 tsp ground chillies
salt
2 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
For the marinade
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
¼ tsp salt
1½ tsp potato flour
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high flame and add ½ tbsp oil. Add the peppers and stir-fry until slightly cooked but still crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Reheat the wok over a high flame and add the remaining groundnut oil. Swirl it around to coat the sides of the wok then add the marinated chicken and stir-fry until the pieces have separated.

Add the garlic and ginger and continue to stir-fry until they smell fragrant.

Add the black beans and stir around a few times.

Add the ground chillies and also return the peppers to the wok.

Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is just cooked through. Season to taste if necessary with a little salt then stir in the spring onion greens. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil before serving.

Sichuanese Dry-Fried Green Beans
serves 2 with one other dish & rice

300g green beans, trimmed & halved
4 dried Facing Heaven (or other red chilli), snipped in half and seeds discarded
2 spring onions, white parts only, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
20g ginger, peeled & finely sliced
2 tbsp Sichuan preserved vegetable, rinsed, drained & chopped (optional)
salt
1½ tbsp groundnut oil
½ tsp Sichuan pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

Blanch the beans until just tender in a pan of salted, boiling water. Drain thoroughly.

Heat a wok over a high flame and add the groundnut oil then the chillies and Sichuan pepper. Let them sizzle until the chillies have darkened (be very careful not to let them burn) and it all smells very fragrant.

Add the spring onion, garlic & ginger and stir-fry for a minute then add the preserved vegetable and stir a few times.

Add the blanched beans and stir-fry for a few minutes more over a fairly high heat until they are coated in the fragrant oil and puckered and browning in places.

Add salt to taste then stir in the sesame oil and serve.

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Pork & Ginger Gyoza with Dipping Sauce

Gyoza actually originated in China, but as with many other things it's gotten assimilated into everyday Japanese cooking. Closely related to shumai and wonton, the filling is usually pork- based, with cabbage, spring onion, garlic or garlic chives, and ginger although there are many variations.

You really need to have as thin a gyoza skin as possible - and of course you can always make your own but even in Japan thin, ready-made gyoza skins are usually used. I think my dumpling skins, bought in Chinatown were for wonton and I’m honestly not sure if it would have made a difference: I think my technique was more of an issue really!

The usual method for cooking gyoza is to “steam-fry” them so that they are crispy on the bottom and smooth and slippery on the top. It can be tricky to get it right to be honest - when you add the water you need to be sure not to add too much: obviously it is easy to add extra if needed but if you add too much at the outset you’re a bit stuffed really.

Gyoza are a traditional accompaniment to ramen in Japan, so I cooked these when I made ramen number 2 of the preceding post. The recipe came from a recent issue of Olive magazine but since making this I did of course go to Tokyo and gyoza were one of the things we made at the cooking class that I attended. That recipe will follow soon - and thankfully my technique improved a fair bit.

One final point to make: the Olive recipe didn’t specify light or dark soy sauce (and I’m used to the distinction with most regional Chinese recipes I follow) so I used dark but, as this was clearly an error, do use light soy if you can.

Oh, and by the way, a good tip is that you can freeze any extra gyoza that you don't think you'll eat in the first sitting (so to speak). The best way to do this is to put them on a metal baking tray in a single layer and pop the tray in the freezer. Once the gyoza are frozen you can then put them back in the freezer in a freezer bag or plastic container and TA-DAA - they won't get stuck together, and you can take out as many as you want, when you want.

Pork & Ginger Gyoza

makes about 20

100g spring greens, shredded, blanched for 2 minutes then drained & cooled

2cm ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, crushed

200g minced pork

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 egg white, lightly beaten

2 spring onions, finely chopped

20 gyoza / dumpling wrappers

1 tbsp sunflower oil

For the Dipping Sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 red chili, finely chopped

Squeeze out any excess water from the greens then finely chop. Put in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, pork, spring onions, soy and 1 tbsp egg white.

Season then mix well and set aside to marinate for about an hour if possible.

Make your dumpling assembly station ready: you'll need a little bowl of water, a baking tray lined with parchment, the dumpling wrappers, the filling and a teaspoon. Keep the dumpling skins under a damp cloth or in the plastic pack they come in to keep them from drying out.

Put a skin / wrapper on your palm and using the tip of your finger moisten the edges with water. Put a teaspoonful of filling in the middle - try not to overfill them or you'll have trouble closing them up.

Bring the 2 sides together to make a crescent shape and pinch firmly in the middle. Fold over the skin on the side facing you, from both sides to make pleats, pinching firmly as you go. Place on the baking tray so that the top edges are straight up and push down slightly to flatten the bottom. Repeat with the other dumpling wrappers until you are out of filling.

When ready to serve, heat a little vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan that has a lid. Put in the gyoza flat side down and cook over a medium to high heat for a couple of minutes until the bottoms have started to crisp up and are golden. Lower the heat.

Add 125ml of water to the pan, immediately popping the lid on.

Steam for 5-10 minutes or until the wrappers are tender and look sort of transparent

When the water is almost all gone, take off the lid and turn the heat up to high to evaporate the rest. Place on a serving plate and repeat with any remaining gyoza.

Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together in a small, shallow dipping bowl and serve.

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Pork, Thyme, Mustard & Mushrooms with Lemony Beans & Hasselback Potatoes

I feel terrible but I can’t remember at all where the inspiration came from for the pork chops - so if anyone recognises this as an adaptation of one of their own, I do apologise.

What I do remember is that I used quark but in hindsight - and what I would suggest - would be to use double cream or even creme fraiche.

This is very simple really for what comes out as a visually pleasing and utterly delicious main. Definitely fit for a dinner party. Just do the shallots slowly at the back of the hob while you do the chops, or do them in advance if you like.

The potatoes are simply put, amazing: tender slices of potatoey buttery goodness with a delicious crisp bottom. They are definitely my new favourite way of doing the humble spud and once you get into the groove of the slicing method (which is excellent and comes courtesy of Nigella), really a piece of.. um, really easy to prepare!

The beans are also inspired by Nigella and a way of cooking them that I turn to often.


Pork in a Creamy Mustard Thyme Sauce with Mushrooms and Caramelized Shallots
serves 2

2 pork loin chops
olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
large handful mushrooms (I used a mix of organic brown button & forestiere)
1 shallot, thinly sliced & slowly caramelised in a little oil & a pinch of sugar
½ tsp soft brown sugar
100 ml chicken stock
1 tbsp grain mustard
2 tbsp quark (or double cream)
a few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked + couple extra sprigs to finish

Season the chops all over with salt and pepper and then brown them in heavy based sauté pan over a medium/high heat with a splash of olive oil.

Remove the chops and set aside on a plate.

Add another splash of oil to the pan and turn up the heat then sauté the mushrooms: again, set aside when tender.

Add enough chicken stock enough to cover the bottom of the pan and let it bubble to deglaze.

Remove from the heat and then add the grain mustard, the thyme leaves and Quark. Stir constantly until the quark has incorporated back into the sauce then put back onto a low heat and place the chops back in along with the mushrooms and simmer until the meat is cooked through.

Serve garnished with the caramelized shallots and sprigs of thyme.

Hasselback Potatoes 

serves 2

12 fairly small (but not tiny) new or salad potatoes
15 grams butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Halen Mon salt

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put each potato, in turn, in the bowl of a wooden spoon and cut across with a very sharp knife at about 3mm intervals.

Once prepared, put the baking tin on the hob with the butter and oil and heat up until the butter is bubbling. Add the potatoes turning them well, putting them in upside down (ie, cut side down) first, then the right side up, and spoon the fat over them.

Sprinkle each potato well with salt and put in the oven to cook for about 40 minutes.

Serve immediately.


Lemony beans
serves 2

200g fine green beans, topped & tailed
15 grams unsalted butter
a splash (barely) of olive oil
½ lemon, juiced
sea salt
freshly ground white pepper

Cook the beans in a big pot of salted boiling water for about 6 minutes until they are al dente.

Drain and then put back on the hob over a low heat with the butter, olive oil and lemon juice.

Stir around to coat the beans in the lemony butter then add lots of freshly ground white pepper and a little salt to taste.

Serve immediately.

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Beef with Cumin and Sichuan Broad Beans

Number two in operation “Open a Cookbook at Random”. Spookily Beef with Cumin was one that I first remember seeing (and thinking looked great) in Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook but as I tend to shy away from deep frying as I find it a bit of a faff (and don’t have a deep frying pot and can’t think of where to store the oil after) I never tried it. That’s not to say I haven’t attempted any of Fuchsia Dunlop’s other “deep fried” recipes as I have, namely here. 

Pre deep-frying is a method known as “velveting” which results in tender & juicy meat. When I have done it before the results really do speak for themselves but all the same I was glad to see a version of the same recipe in Every Grain of Rice where just stir-frying is employed. And more, what I found was that if you buy a good cut of beef - a very good sirloin steak in my case - and make sure to cut the slices across the grain, the result will be in my opinion, pretty close to that derived by velveting anyway.

As ever, this is slightly adapted and as I wanted a bit more sauce coating the meat I increased the quantities of marinade (bar the potato flour).

The chilli I had incidentally was quite large so I actually only used half of it in the end... that said, I’m effectively using 4 types of chilli here: fresh, dried and “red pepper” flakes and sedimented oil. The original recipe calls for dried chilli flakes and optional fresh which I’m sure would be quite sufficient. The other two I added for further depth of flavour and the fact that I bloody love Sichuanese chilli oil.

Overall this seems to be another great book from FD, her latest, and concentrates on Chinese (and again largely Hunanese and Sichuanese) “home cooking”. A lot of recipes showcase humble vegetables: very simple preparations that make these simple ingredients sing.

This broad bean recipe (not by the way chosen at random but selected as I had some fresh broad beans in the fridge) is a very good example; admittedly they are probably one of my favorite veg anyway but with just a couple of other ingredients and pretty quick cooking and prep they are taken to a whole other level.

Cumin with Beef - Zi ran niu rou (孜然牛肉)
serves 2

250g v. good quality beef steak, cut into 1-2cm wide slices 

½ red pepper, cut into strips 1–2cm wide on the diagonal
½ green pepper, ditto
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp chilli oil with sediment
2 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
for the marinade
4 tsp Shaoxing wine
½ tsp salt1 tsp light soy sauce
1½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp potato flour

Mix the marinade ingredients with 1½ tbsp water in a bowl and stir the meat in. Set aside

Heat a wok over a high heat and when hot add 3 tbsp and swirl it around.

Add the beef (keeping the marinade to one side) and quickly stir-fry to separate the slices. When they have, but are still a bit pink, remove from the wok and set aside.

Return the wok to the flame with the remaining oil.

Add the ginger and garlic and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds until fragrant, then tip in the peppers and fresh chilli, and stirfry for a few minutes.

Add the beef slices and the marinade back into the wok, giving everything a good stir before adding the cumin, chilli oil and chilli & red pepper flakes. 

After a minute or so when it is all sizzling and fragrant add the spring onions. Stir around for 30 seconds then remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve with plain rice and the beans as below.

Sichuan-style Broad Beans with Spring Onion

serves 2

440g broad beans (about 145g podded)

salt

1½ tbsp oil

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Sichuan pepper oil

Boil the podded beans in lightly salted water for 3-4 minutes then refresh under cold running water. When they are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the broad beans.

Heat a small wok over a high flame, add the oil and thrown in the garlic & let sizzle for a few seconds.

Add the beans, the white parts of the spring onions and a little pinch of salt. Stir fry for a few minutes until the beans are heated through.

Add the green parts of the spring onions, stir around and then take off the heat. Sprinkle in a little Sichuan pepper oil and serve with the beef and steamed rice.

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Braised Beetroot With Sour Cream

Despite my beetroot bolting like mad I decided to try and cook with the last of it the other day, figuring that it was worth a go - at worst I would have to ditch it, at best I would have something yummy to eat.

I had some soured cream in the fridge, leftover from making beef stroganoff (which unfortunately I failed to take photos of) and had previously seen a Russian inspired braised beetroot dish online so opted to go for that.

The recipe that follows is adapted from that. It makes quite a lot as a side dish: the first day it accompanied a seasoned, pan-fried pork chop while the second day was alongside some boerewors (spicy South African beef sausages) and horseradish sauce as per the pictures.


Braised Beetroot With Sour Cream
Serves 2 very generously as a side

2 medium beetroot, peeled and cut into small cubes (wear rubber or latex gloves)
1 carrot, finely sliced
2 sticks celery, finely sliced
salt and pepper
1 tsp cider vinegar
50g butter
150ml sour cream
1 tsp flour

1 tsp sugar

Put the carrots, celery and beetroot in a heavy based pan. Season and add the vinegar and butter as well as just enough water to just cover the vegetables.

Cook very slowly (use a heat / simmer mat if necessary as you don't want the veg to catch on the bottom of the pan) for 45-60 minutes or until the beetroot is completely soft.

Stir in the flour then the sour cream and sugar. Make sure all combined and cook for a further 10 minutes.

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Hunanese Chopped Salted Chillies

I’ve cooked a lot from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook but I’ve always been missing a vital ingredient: salted chopped chillies. Instead I’ve generally substituted dried chilli flake and /or fresh chilli.  As it is one of my favourite cookbooks I decided enough is enough - the recipe to make homemade salted chopped chillies couldn’t seem any simpler so hey! time to go to it.

This really is simple, all that is needed is some salt, lots of chillies and lot’s of chopping - it will be about two weeks apparently before the chillies are “done” at which point, once opened they will keep in the fridge for months . I already can’t wait for the two weeks to be done...


Hunanese Chopped Salted Chillies
Will fill approx one 0.5l Kilner jar

330g fresh red chillies
60g salt

Thoroughly sterilise a kilner jar - I do this by washing the jar in boiling hot water then pop it (minus the rubber seal) in the oven at 120C for 10 minutes - remove and cool while preparing the chillies.

Cut off the stems of the chillies then chop coarsely. It’s a good idea to use rubber gloves - even if you think you wash your hands well afterwards, handling this amount of chilli will almost certainly cause you to have at least one part of your body stingily on fire at some later point in the evening if you don’t. If it’s your eyes or other elsewhere with a mucous membrane it’s really unpleasant ;)

Add 50g of salt to the chillies (and seeds) in a bowl and mix thoroughly. 

Then put the mixture in a glass jar and cover with the remaining 10g of salt. Seal and leave in a cool place for a couple of weeks. Once opened, store in the fridge.

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