Like a good Bordeaux, a pair of worn-in shoes and women (of course!), lamb is even better when it matures, as I learned this evening when I cooked it for the first time. I’ve wanted to try it for some time and was urged to do so by the readers who commented on this thread but until today I’d not seen it available. It was in the John Lewis Food Hall yesterday that I saw a sole packet of organic mutton, which I snapped up
We’ve had some beautiful days this week, with clear, bright blue skies and sunshine, the kind you often get on cold, cold days, as these have been. The last few mornings have seen frost; pretty on grass while a nuisance on cars that need driving.
As you probably know by now, I love my creature comforts. When it’s cold and drizzly I want to come home to a warm house, a hot bath, soft blankets and comfort food. And today was one of those days.
As the weather has turned rather autumnal so has my cooking. Gone are the light fish dishes and long forgotten are the salads. As suddenly as the turning of the weather I’m craving pies, roast dinners and mashed potato. The chicken legs in the fridge were destined for one thing and one thing only today; stew.
I wanted a particularly comforting and warming stew so I opted for sweetness provided by spring carrots, sweet potato and Madeira and, to balance this out, I thought I’d add a little heat in the form of dried chilli flakes, thyme and lots of black pepper. Except I added more than ‘a little heat’. I didn’t measure the chilli flakes but lobbed in what I thought was about a teaspoon. This was far too hot for me and left me doing a goldfish impression as I tried to get some cool air into my mouth. Rob, on the other hand, loved it, so it really does depend on your own tolerance of heat I guess. Nether the less I suggest a prudent ½ teaspoon in the recipe below. For my own portion of stew I added in some natural yoghurt in order to take out some of the heat, which not only cooled it but made it deliciously creamy and it worked really well with the sweet potato so I’d highly recommend doing this if you fancy a creamier version.
For an authentic Coq Au Vin you should use a cockerel as this gives deeper, richer flavour. However, in the UK it can be difficult to get hold of one so most often a chicken is used. In fact, I hear that this is often the case in France too. Your chicken should be a [...]
Brown lamb shanks in olive oil over a high heat, then remove them from the pan. Add to the pan 1 stick of celery, 1 onion and 2 carrots, all finely chopped. Sauté the vegetables with 3 crushed garlic cloves until softened. Stir in a tablespoon of flour then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, [...]
Sauté about 500g of good casserole beef in olive oil over a high heat until well browned. Remove the beef from the pan then sauté 2 sliced red onions in the same pan until they start to soften and colour. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves and sauté for a couple of minutes more. Put the [...]
