EASY MARINATED LAMB

I had some lamb steaks left over from last weeks recipe of peppered lamb steak with pesto & goats cheese so I hunted through the recipe books to see what new thing I could cook. This is what I found - a super easy recipe from Fay Ripleys second cookbook which is quick and delicious and child friendly. I could easily have just had a cadburys creme egg and malteser tiffin but I need to set a good healthy example for Arabella!! 

Ingredients for 2 people:

1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 lamb steaks (around 100g each)
90g quinoa (you might want more depending on how hungry you are - it is generally 60g per person)
A pot of hummus 

The only thing you need to remember about this is to marinate the lamb beforehand - I left it for 5 hours however you can do 24 hours or as little as 1 hour.

Mix the oil, cumin, ginger and vinegar together and rub all over the chops. I dip this in a bowl, which I then covered and put in the fridge for several hours.

Cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions. Mine needed to be heated in 300ml of cool water, until it boiled and then simmered for 15 minutes.

Grill the lamb steaks under a medium to high heat for 5 minutes on each side.

Finally serve the lamb and quinoa with a big dollop of hummus.

This was good - I really liked the way the spices enhanced the lamb and I can never get enough of hummus however it was lacking some veg or salad and the quinoa was bland….it needed some green!! I would definitely do it again but instead I would either add a Greek salad or spinach and goats cheese quinoa or roasted vegetable and goats cheese quinoa. That would make the recipe perfect! 

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PEPPERED LAMB STEAKS WITH PESTO GOATS CHEESE

Arabella is a goats cheese fanatic - she loves the stuff and could literally eat an entire pack in one go. I love goats cheese but she takes the love to a whole new level!! Therefore I thought I needed to increase my goats cheese recipe repertoire! We regularly cook roasted tomato and goats cheese tarts or smoked salmon and goats cheese risotto (recipe to follow soon) or salmon wraps with goats cheese and palma ham but now it was time to include some meat.

This recipe is super easy and quick - you could make the pesto yourself however I just bought fresh pesto from the supermarket.

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 lamb steaks
2 tbsp of fresh pesto
75g of Capricorn English goats cheese
Black pepper
Salad to serve (you could use couscous or quinoa but like always I am saving my calories for chocolate)!

Turn the grill on to a high heat and pepper the lamb steaks on one side.

Grill the steaks for 5 minutes on each side until they are nicely browned but still a little pink in the middle (I cut into them and checked them a couple of times).

Cut the goats cheese so you have 2 big chunky slices and place a slice on the peppered side of each steak.

Put them back under the grill for a couple of minutes until they have melted and browned slightly.

Finally serve with a big dollop of pesto and tuck in.

I cannot believe I have not cooked this before as it is so easy and delicious - it is literally Arabella and my ideal recipe. We both cleaned our plates in a matter of minutes and have already discussed cooking it again next week. 

Guess what Arabella had for pudding?? More goats cheese…..like mother like daughter…..a cheese obsessive!

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LE GIGOT DAGNEAU PASCAL LAMB PASCAL

As we were flying home from France on Easter Sunday we were unable to have a proper roast lunch. My husband Pascal was most put out as it is tradition in France to have "Lamb Pascal" -  a simple roast leg of lamb with herbs. We ended up having it today as a belated Easter lunch - I am just gutted we have no Easter eggs left for pudding!

Cooking times totally depend on the size of your leg of lamb - ours was 1.940 kg and took 1 hour 35 minutes - it will say on the packet instructions.

Ingredients for 5-6 people:

Leg of lamb (around 2kg)
5 cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper
A good glug of olive oil
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 tbsp "herbes de Provence" (a mixture of savoury, thyme, lavender and other herbs)

If you can try to remember to take the lamb out of the fridge two hours before cooking so the meat is not too cold.

Preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / gas mark 5.

Run the lamb under cold water to remove any stickiness of the meat and dry it well with paper towels. Removing all the excess moisture will make for outside crispier when cooking.

Cut the garlic into small slithers and then cut holes/pockets into the lamb with a sharp knife and stuff the garlic in.

Add a glug of olive oil (not too much as lamb already has lots of natural fat) and generously season with salt and pepper and the "herbes de Provence". Next dress with some rosemary.

Put the lamb in the oven and roast for the correct time. Once it is ready, take it out of the oven, cover in foil and rest for another 10 minutes so the juices flow back into the meat.

Pascal doesnt like sauce so we didnt make any however you can put your roasting tin on the hob over a low heat (if the tin allows that) and add a large glass of chicken stock or red wine and deglaze the pan by scrapping all the good bits from the bottom. Reduce, season and then serve as a nice simple sauce. As I said we didnt do this, however I think it is a good idea.

Finally carve the lamb and serve with a vegetable of your choice. We chose the Mallorcan dish Tumbet (recipe to follow) however it would have been more traditional to do small roast potatoes and green beans.

This was so simple and easy but really delicious - a favourite of Pascals. Personally I prefer something with a bit more "sauce" but it was nice to eat something more rustic for a change. It went wonderfully with the aubergine, pepper, onion, potato and tomato of the tumbet - not very French but still Mediterranean - especially when I added a dollop of hummus on the side :-)

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SLOW COOKED ROSEMARY AND GARLIC SHOULDER OF LAMB

I am sure in past posts I have mentioned my love of Greece and especially Greek food, although Pascal is the exact opposite regarding the food and so it has been knocked off our holiday destination list…I guess I overdid it by dragging him there 3 summers in a row. Therefore I was dicing with danger when I suggested cooking a Greek lamb dish in the slow cooker which I had messed up completely when I tried to use it a few weeks ago (raw lamb anyone?)!!

This time I made sure I read all the instructions 3 times before attempting to do anything - luckily this slow cooking recipe was much more successful than my pressure cooking!!

Ingredients for 4 people:

3 garlic cloves
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
Salt and Pepper
750g boneless lamb shoulder
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm slices (roughly)
1 small onion, chopped (we had shallots in the cupboard so used those instead)
300ml hot lamb stock

To serve:
Feta or halloumi cheese (or both)
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Hummus
Flat breads or wraps or pitas

Cut one of the garlic cloves in half and rub it round the slow cooker basin, then chop it finely along with one of the other garlic cloves and slice the onion (shallots in this case).

Mix all the dry herbs, rosemary and a crushed garlic clove together in a bowl and then rub over the lamb and season well.

Line the slow cooker basin with the potato slices, making a few layers.

Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and surround with the chopped onion/shallots and garlic.

Pour over the hot lamb stock.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 6-8 hours until the lamb is easy to pull apart (we did 7 hours).

Once it is ready slice the lamb.

Put the potatoes in a bowl.

Finally serve in a wrap - I had hummus, feta, tomatoes, lamb and cucumber with potatoes on the side - yum!!

This was an incredible meal!! The slow cooker has got the big thumbs up and we devoured everything. Even though I only like potatoes covered in melted cheese, these were exceptional and Pascal pronounced it the best Greek food he has ever had!! It was so easy too - great for any type of meal, I think we will will be doing this for our next dinner party and next weekend we will try slow cooked pulled pork. 

I thank my friend Sally very much for buying me this fabulous cooking contraption!!

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