Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

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Meat/Poultry

One-Pot Lamb with Orzo (Yiouvetsi)

A Cypriot-inspired dish known as Yiouvetsi or lamb with orzo casserole. Perfect for feeding a big family, or a crowd. One of our favourites.

Cypriot Lamb with Orzo

7 votes

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One-Pot Cypriot Lamb

Delicious and comforting and very easy to make. Orzo is a type of pasta, shaped like slightly larger grains of rice. If you can't find orzo, try macaroni, or any very small pasta shapes. 

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 500g lamb, chopped into very small cubes (leg steaks or neck works well)
  • 2 white onions, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled, grated
  • 2 tsp tomato puree
  • 400g tin plum tomatoes
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tbsp. fresh or dried oregano
  • 1 litre lamb or chicken stock
  • 250g orzo pasta
  • Large handful fresh mint, roughly chopped
  • 100g feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large casserole pot and brown the lamb pieces, ideally in batches, making sure the first lot is brown before moving on and browning the next amount. Lift each batch out of the pan and set to one side until all of it has browned. Keep the browned lamb covered with a plate. 
  2. Add a second tablespoon of oil to the pan add the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan where the lamb has been browning. 
  3. Cook the onions very gently for 10 minutes until softened. Add a few tablespoons of water to help the onions along and keep the pan from drying out. 
  4. Add the garlic and tomato puree, stir and cook for a further five minutes.
  5. Tip the browned lamb back in, add the tin of tomatoes and then half fill the can with water and tip that in. Add the cinnamon and dried or fresh oregano. Cook on a low, gentle heat for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Bread up the tomatoes with a spoon if they were whole and not chopped. 
  6. Stir the orzo into the casserole pan, stir well and pour over the stock. Cook, uncovered, for a further 10-11min or until the orzo is tender. It should not be too soft, but rather al dente. Season with lots of salt and pepper.
  7. Once cooked, carefully spoon onto a large serving dish, sprinkle over the fresh mint and the crumbled feta. Serve immediately. 

Courses Main

Cuisine Cypriot

You may also like:

Lamb with wild mushroom sauce and dill mash 

Polish meatballs with mushroom sauce 

Turkey and leek meatballs with tomato tagliatelle  

Polish Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce

This is one of my favourite recipes from my cookbook Wild Honey and Rye for Polish Meatballs in a Mushroom Sauce, which you can find on page 118.

I serve my meatballs with a light cucumber, sour cream and dill salad and a grated beetroot salad. There’s no need for potatoes, although my Mama would serve hers with potatoes (the apple mashed potatoes on page 85 or  the new potatoes with butter and dill on page 89) both work really well. Small meatballs in Poland are known as kotleciki or pulpety, larger ones are called kotlety mielone.

Skip straight to the recipe here

Wild Honey & Rye - Meatballs with Cucumber Salad
Image Credit: Yuki Sugiura for Pavilion Books

Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes is available in the UK here, published by Pavilion Books. 

The first American edition is also available for in the US here and will be published by Interlink Books in March 2018.

Thank you for all your support!

 

 

You may also like:

The Happy Launch of Wild Honey and Rye – read here.

Polish Mushroom Soup

5 Polish Recipes from Wild Honey and Rye 

 

With thanks to Pavilion Books for the permission to share this recipe from Wild Honey and Rye: Modern Polish Recipes.

3 Grain Risotto with Chicken and Dill

I travelled as part of a press trip to Milan in Italy to visit Gallo, the Italian family business, established in 1856 and spanning 6 generations, to learn about rice and grains from the best in the business. This is one of the recipes I tried in Italy, using Gallo’s 3 Grain variety, with rice, spelt and barley, which I came home to re-create. 

3 Grains Risotto

 

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3 Grains (Rice, Spelt and Barley) with Chicken and Dill

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Yield 4

A perfect balance of three cereal varieties, this recipe uses Riso Gallo 3 Grains, Italian Rice, Spelt and Pearl Barley – all with the same cooking time – just 18 minutes. This is a healthier alternative to a traditional risotto dish as it is higher in fibre. 

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 300g Riso Gallo 3 Grains (Rice, Barley & Spelt)
  • 1 white onion, peeled chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
  • 1 stick celery, peeled, chopped
  • 1 courgette, chopped
  • 250g cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded
  • A splash of white wine or water
  • Fresh dill
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Tip in the '3 grains' and cook for 18 minutes. If using the pre-cooked 3 Grains 'express' variety, you can skip this step. 
  2. In the meantime, place a large frying pan onto a medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, add the onion and cook for five minutes until translucent. Add the carrots and celery and continue cooking. 
  3. Once the vegetables have softened, add the courgette and chicken and cook for a further 5-6 minutes, adding a splash or wine or water to the pan. 
  4. Drain the 3 grains, rinse and add them into the pan (or tip in a pre-cooked packet of grains).
  5. Drizzle over a little more olive oil, stir and coat all the grains and season with sea salt and black pepper. Ensure the chicken is piping hot. 
  6. Serve, adding a little dill.  

Notes

The dish can also be chilled and served cold, as a salad. 

You may also like:

Katie’s Slimming World-Friendly Chicken, Dill and Vegetable Rice Pots, also inspired by our trip to Riso Gallo in Milan.

Delicious too – my Quick Risotto Stuffed Vegetables

Risotto Caprese with Tomato, Mozarella and Basil

Feeding children – they may like our favourite carrot and parmesan risotto 

Samples provided by Riso Gallo, this is an unpaid recipe post. 

Sausages Baked with Squash [One Pan]

In partnership with Iceland #ad

One Pan Baked Sausages and Squash
Sausages Baked with Squash

If you regularly cook for your family, you’ll probably find, as I do, that some of the biggest challenges you face in a typical week revolve around coming up with a constant stream of nutritious meals, whilst fitting things in around your family’s schedule and dietary requirements. This is when a bit of meal planning comes into its own, as do shortcuts by way of handy items that can easily be pulled out of the freezer.

How can the freezer help?

  • I keep key items on hand, ready for when I’ve not had time to plan ahead, allowing me to quickly and easily rustle up a healthy family meal, such as frozen rice for stuffed vegetables or one-pot dishes, frozen chopped onions, frozen fruit (for quick smoothies), frozen seafood such as king prawns and salmon fillets for fishy pasta, and frozen pastry for quick my quick chicken pie.
  • Frozen food, especially frozen veggies, can often be just as good frozen as fresh
  • The freezer can act as a great back up, saving space in the fridge

So, this week our meal plan will feature some of Simon’s recipes, such as Sausages Baked with Squash and Rosemary (see the recipe below) and a retro Chocolate Trifle for pudding which will last a couple of days at least as it’s so big!

 

My ultimate food hacks

  • Scale up and batch cook so that one meal lasts a couple of nights
  • Keep things such as frozen chopped onions and packets of frozen vegetables to hand in the freezer
  • Go for ‘tray-bakes’ or one-pan dishes as much as possible – this is where you throw lots of items together and bake them on one tray in the oven. We love chicken thighs with chorizo and new potatoes, or salmon with roasted vegetables too.

Commissioned post by Iceland #PowerofFrozen #ad

Lamb Steaks Wild Mushroom Sauce and Dill Mash

A comforting recipe for Eat Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef

welsh-lamb-ren_-2

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Lamb Steaks with Wild Mushroom Sauce and Dill Mash

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Yield 4 servings

A creamy and comforting recipe using Welsh lamb steaks. 

Instructions

  1. Season the lamb steaks with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, on both sides. Drizzle a little oil onto the steaks and rub the oil into the meat. Set to one side.
  2. Drain the peeled potatoes and put them into a pan of fresh cold water, cover, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain into a colander and set to one side to dry.
  3. Place a dry frying pan onto a low heat. Throw in the pine nuts and allow them to toast until they turn golden – this will take around 30 seconds. Tip the pine nuts onto a plate and set to one side.
  4. Add a little oil to the same pan, turn up the heat to medium-high and add the lamb steak to the pan. Fry for 5 minutes on one side then flip them over. Add the mushrooms to the pan and a teaspoon of butter and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the lamb steaks (which will be cooked rare-medium rare) and leave them to rest on a plate.
  5. Pour the stock into the pan, swirl the stock around and allow to bubble for a minute. Add the fresh dill and double cream, stir and and bring up to the boil. Then take the pan off the heat.
  6. Mash the cooked potatoes, or put them through a potato ricer. Add one tablespoon butter, double cream and the fresh dill. Season with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, stir the butter, cream and dill into the mashed potatoes, until the potatoes are creamy and smooth.
  7. Divide the potatoes onto 4 plates. Slice each lamb steak in half and place on top of the mash. Spoon over over the creamy mushroom sauce. Sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and serve straight away.

Courses Main

Cuisine British

You may also like:

Lamb Steaks with Mint Ajika Sauce (Olia Hercules for Marley Spoon)

One-Pot Cypriot Lamb with Orzo 

Make-Ahead Lamb and Potato Moussaka

Jamie Oliver’s Mothership Roast Lamb

This is a paid recipe commission for Eat Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef. Find more Llambassador recipes here.

 

Seattle-Style Cream Cheese Hot Dogs with a Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad

It’s been a few years since my last visit to Seattle, where my sister lives, which means too long since my first taste of a Seattle Dog – cream cheese adorned hot dogs sold by street vendors around Seattle. A little stand in Pioneer Square called ‘Dog in the Park’ sold me my best-ever Seattle Dog…in case you are ever visiting. The Seattle Dog is often made with a Polish hot dog sausage (bonus) and is usually served with cream cheese, onions, sauerkraut or cabbage and fried potatoes, oh, and mayo or chilli sauce. The cream cheese, in case you are wondering, is spread onto the inside of the toasted hot dog bun. They are not the easiest things to eat (pick up an extra large stash of napkins) but my goodness, as street food goes, they are really good.

Seatle Cream Cheese Hot Dogs

A few little tips to make this recipe extra special: after boiling the hot dogs, split them and griddle them in a hot pan. Also, split the buns and griddle them, too to warm them up a little. You can make the Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad in advance – store in in a jar for up to three days in the fridge.

Sarsons Street Food Recipe

3 votes

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Cream Cheese Hot Dogs with Pickled Cabbage

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Yield 4

A Seattle-style hot dog, with cream cheese and onions. 

Ingredients

  • 4 good quality hot dogs – all-beef, or Polish sausage preferable
  • 4 hot dog buns
  • 4 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 medium white onion
  • ½ head of white cabbage
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pickling vinegar, I used Sarsons 
  • 1 tsp mild olive oil
  • 2 tsp caster sugar

Instructions

  1. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the hot dogs into the water and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the water, place on a plate and keep to one side.
  2. In the meantime, finely chop the onions. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the onions to the pan. Cook for ten minutes on the heat, stirring occasionally, and cook until caramelised.
  3. Very finely shred the cabbage and grate the carrot and tip into a large bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and mix well. Set to one side.
  4. Heat a separate frying pan. Split the hot dogs in half lengthways and place them into the frying pan, flat-side down. Gently fry the pre-cooked hot dogs until they are a little browned. Split the hot dog buns in half and gently toast them in the griddle pan, split side down for a few seconds.
  5. Drain some of the liquid away from the salted cabbage and pour in the Sarsons malt vinegar, olive oil and sugar. Mix well.
  6. To assemble the dogs, spread the cream cheese onto the inside of the toasted hot dog bun. Add the griddled hot dogs, sprinkle over some of the caramelised onions and top with the quick pickled cabbage salad.

Cuisine American

What has been your best street food experience ever? I’d love to know!

With thanks to Sarsons for commissioning this recipe. Photo credit: Sarsons #ad

Pizza Pasta Soup

Think of this as a hearty soup, suitable for stretching a little leftover bolognese. You could also use a jar of tomato sauce – a good quality one and add the same amount of stock to achieve a soup consistency. On other occasions, I’ve thrown in chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken. A good sprinkle of mozzarella is a must and a big heap of grated Parmesan cheese for the top. Fresh basil or oregano is lovely, too. Get creative!

Pizza Pasta Soup

5 votes

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Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

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Yield 4

A great way to use up leftover tomato or Bolognese sauce. Simply add a handfull of pasta and some of your favourite 'toppings' such as chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms, or shredded chicken. Add grated mozzarella and a good handful of Parmesan cheese on the top.

Ingredients

  • 500g/two cups Bolognese or good quality tomato sauce (leftovers are ideal)
  • 250ml/one cup vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • sea salt
  • black pepper
  • 280g/2 cups cooked pasta
  • 100g mozzarella, torn or grated
  • 100g fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves and stalks separated
  • (optional - fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken)

Instructions

  1. Pour the Bolognese or tomato sauce into a large pan. On a medium heat, bring to the boil. Add in the stock and stir well. Add in the bay leaf. Stir in half a teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper.
  2. When hot, add in the cooked pasta and stir. Remove the bay leaf Add the optional extras, such as pepperoni, if using. Divide the soup between four bowls.
  3. Add the torn mozzarella, and top with grated Parmesan cheese and a few basil leaves per bowl.
  4. Serve straight away

Cuisine Italian-ish

Pizza Pasta Soup

 

Let me know if you make this by tagging me on Instagram or Twitter as @foodren

Or, add your recipes and ideas to our Pizza Love Pinterest board (338K followers)

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French-Style Irish Beef Salad by Bord Bia

When the Irish Food Board sent me this recipe to try recently, I couldn’t wait to make it, pack it up and take it on a picnic. It almost looked too pretty to transport, but actually, it travelled well. I kept the tomatoes and the boiled eggs whole and in a separate container until I was ready to serve the salad. Although the star of this salad if the grass-fed Irish Beef, there’s a French influence from the Dijon mustard and I loved the addition of the capers and gherkins, too. A fresh baguette on the side and a glass of perfectly chilled rosé is all you need for a perfect al fresco, French-inspired supper.

Bord Bia French Beef Salad

Photo Credit Irish Food Board/Bord Bia 

Bord Bia French Beef Salad_3

7 votes

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French Style Irish Beef Salad by Bord Bia

Yield 4

A protein-packed salad with grass-fed Irish bullet steak, which is best served blue or rare. With new potatoes, eggs, tomatoes and a French-style Dijon mustard dressing.

Ingredients

  • 500g piece bullet steak
  • 700g waxy new potatoes, scrubbed or scraped
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 plum tomatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
  • For the dressing:
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 120ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large shallot, very finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, extra to garnish
  • 2 tbsp tiny capers
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped gherkins
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Lightly dressed green salad and French baguette, to serve.

Instructions

  1. Heat a cast-iron griddle pan until searing hot. Add the steak and cook for about 5 minutes each side or until rare. Set aside for at least 15 minutes to rest or up to an hour is fine, then cut into thin slices, trimming down as necessary.
  2. Place the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender, then drain. Cook the eggs in a pan of simmering water for 7 minutes until soft-boiled. Drain and run under cold running water, then shell.
  3. Meanwhile, make the dressing; place the vinegar, mustard, honey and seasoning in a screw-topped jar and shake until the salt has dissolved. Add the oil and shake again vigorously until you have a nice thick emulsion. Add the shallots, chives, parsley, gherkins and capers, shaking gently to combine.
  4. While the potatoes are still warm, cut them into slices and arrange half in the bottom of a serving dish. Spoon some of the dressing over and then cover with a layer of the slices of beef. Repeat the layers, spooning a little dressing over each one. Cover with clingfilm and set aside at room temperature for an hour to allow the flavours to combine.
  5. Just before serving, cut the soft-boiled eggs into quarters and arrange around the edge of the salad with the tomatoes. Garnish with parsley and serve straight to the table with a separate bowl of green salad and some crusty French bread.

Courses Salad

Cuisine French

Notes:

Grass-fed beef is a healthy option, with high levels of vitamins A and E, and a good balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. 

Irish Beef produced under the Irish Food Board’s Quality Assurance Scheme is found in leading UK supermarkets and assures you that the beef you buy is sustainable and reared to the highest standard.

With thanks to the Irish Food Board, Irish Beef and Bord Bia for letting me share this recipe.

You can find more Bord Bia/Irish Food Board Recipes Here

Follow Bord Bia @BordBia

I’m linking this to my July and August Simple and in Season challenge, as the salad uses new potatoes and in-season tomatoes.

Simple in Season

You might also like my Polish-inspired beetroot salad if you’re packing up a picnic!

I’m going to be hosting a number of handpicked recipes over the summer holidays to keep you all inspired while I get stuck in various holiday traffic jams, picnic with my kids and work on updating my recipe index.

If you like them, please tweet me or instagram me @RenBehan using the hastag #handpicked  or in this instance @bordbia

Editorial/Unpaid content
 

Make-Ahead Leek and Poppy Seed Sausage Rolls

Sausage Rolls

We’ve only recently started making our own sausage rolls at home, but now that we’ve tried them, there’s no going back to the shop-bought variety. The homemade version is altogether a different thing – flaky pastry, good quality sausage meat of your choice (I get mine from Hedges Farm in St Albans) and a few optional extras, like some softly cooked leeks (there was a lone leek in my veg box), or caramelised onions, and a sparkling of poppy seeds, or even sesame seeds. We look forward to having these as an after-school snack (they are super-quick to whisk out of the freezer) or as party food and they’d certainly be great for serving up as a homemade canapé to Christmas visitors. Here’s my recipe, hope you get to try them….

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Easy Stove Top Chicken Casserole

As we ease ourselves into autumn, there is plenty to encourage us into the kitchen. Perhaps we might be inspired to preserve some of those late summer gluts, or try a recipe from an ‘up and coming’ cuisine, or to simply dig out those slow-cookers and cast-iron pans to get a nice, warming stew or casserole on the go. There are lots of recipes that have caught my attention already in the various food magazines that I subscribe to popping through the door, in particular, the classic, stove top chicken casserole I’ve shared below. I’ve also noticed a number of new cookery related supplements and magazines recently, which is a good thing, as it means larger brands and retailers are continuing to see an upwards trend in home cooking. Pinterest is another wonderful place to gather some autumnal cooking ideas together, too. This week I’ve bookmarked a lasagne soup to try as it pretty much ticks every box on my comfort food hit-list.

Cook Edition
Images taken from JohnLewis.com with permission

One of the latest, free, foodie publications that you might spot is ‘Cook Edition’ at John Lewis. I had a good flick through – very much admiring the food photography within it. I was very tempted by Trine Hahnemann’s sticky, sweet and perfectly spiced cinnamon rolls (featured on page 2 of the Autumn supplement) but in the end, I decided on a family favourite instead; a classic chicken casserole (featured on page 10, alongside some one-pot tips). If you have an ipad, you can also find Cook Edition for free via iTunes. 

Aside from my slow cooker making a reappearance, autumn cooking is also brilliantly suited to more robust pans and stew-pots. I was recently sent a 24cm lidded casserole pan in a new shade of cotton, which although takes up a bit of kitchen cupboard space, means that you can comfortably cook a casserole, or a stew for a family of four with minimum fuss. I’ve also used the pan this week to make a generous risotto. It’s also ideal for soup and can also go into the oven (with its lid) when making a roast chicken, for example, or an oven-baked casserole or pasta bake.

Le Creuset

Le Creuset is a brand that has become very well known in the UK for classic, durable and long-lasting cookware; it is made in France, each piece is hand crafted and it is guaranteed for the lifetime of the original owner, whether a self purchase or a gift. Note, the guarantee doesn’t cover wear and tear or misuse, so you do have to show your pans a little bit of love. I do put mine into the dishwasher, but in fact, they are very, very easy to clean with liquid soap and water, too. I’ve never had any issues with my Le Creuset pans or cookware – I also own a square griddle pan and two 18cm round casseroles. The diametre of the pan is etched into the lid – in case you ever want to know! I always remember my sister using Le Creuset and in fact, when she read this post, she confirmed she had owned her 24cm casserole for 24 years and that it is most often used for making a ragu al bolognese.

Classic Chicken Casserole

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Easy Stove Top Chicken Casserole

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A classic stove top chicken casserole made with sweet onions, pancetta, mushrooms and baby potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 pieces of high welfare chicken, e.g thighs, legs
  • 250g cubed pancetta
  • 1 large, sweet white onion
  • 200g baby chestnut button mushrooms
  • 1 litre hot chicken stock
  • 500g baby potatoes
  • 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3-4 tbsp cold water
  • Fresh herbs, such as parsley, to flavour

Instructions

  1. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a stove top safe casserole pan. Add the cubed pancetta and cook on a medium heat until the pancetta starts to become crispy and any fat renders. Add the chopped onions and cook for ten minutes on a very low heat, until translucent. Add the button mushrooms and cook for a further few minutes. Remove the pancetta, onions and mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
  2. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and place the chicken pieces, skin side down, into the pan. Sear them until golden brown, then carefully flip the pieces over and cook for a further few minutes.
  3. Pour in the chicken stock and add in the baby potatoes - the potatoes and chicken should be covered. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer on a gentle heat for twenty minutes.
  4. Add the pancetta, onions and mushrooms back in and cook with the lid off for a further ten minutes. The sauce should reduce slightly. Stir in the cornflour mixed with water and bring the casserole back up to the boil. The sauce should thicken.Take the casserole off the heat and leave it to sit on the stove for ten minutes before serving. Add any fresh herbs just before serving.

Notes

You can use a whole chicken and chop it into eight pieces instead if your prefer. Be careful when using poultry shears or a sharp knife to chop the chicken.

So, this week I’ve made a lasagne, risotto, a chicken casserole and a Victoria plum fruit bowl cake – what should be next on our comfort food cook list?

Here are some other recipes I have bookmarked –

Slow Cooked Beef Brisket with Celeriac Mash and Wild Mushrooms – own recipe

Veggie Packed Lasagne by Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter

Healthier S’mores Smoothie – by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours

Cinnamon Apple Meringue Tartlets by Nazima at Franglais Kitchen

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of Cook Edition to review and cook from, as well as a 24cm Le Creuset Casserole and some vouchers to pay for the ingredients I used. 

Lamb and Potato Moussaka

With less than two weeks to go until my third baby arrives, I’ve been in nesting mode  – it’s amazing really how this instinct kicks in just when you think you have no energy left! For me, this has also meant batch cooking and madly bookmarking easy and healthy recipes to support being a new mummy again, such as Pinch of Yum’s Creamy Potato Kale Soup, portions of vegetable lasagna (also layered up with kale and spinach) and ‘quick to throw together or stick in the oven’ recipes, such as the easy Lamb and Potato Moussaka below. A traditional Moussaka would use layers of grilled aubergine, but my kids are really not keen on the texture, so I just replace the aubergine with thinly sliced potatoes. I’m also sure I won’t want to be standing around stirring a Béchamel (white sauce) so a fail-safe tub of crème fraîche along with some grated cheese is a useful back-up plan for making a super-quick cheese sauce ready to pour over the top of this dish before it goes into the oven. I’ve included tips for making ahead and freezing in the recipe notes below.

Lamb and Potato Moussaka

Part-way through my marathon batch-cook, the freezer decided to break down. So I’ve been scrubbing, clearing out and cleaning that, too. Remind me never to freeze red wine in sandwich bags again for later use in sauces, since that’s what created the biggest mess. Can I blame Nigella for that one?! I’m sure it was one of her tips… Luckily, I’ve saved most of what I had already prepared food-wise, but still, it’s not what you need. On the plus side, everyone, including the husband, declared the Lamb and Potato Moussaka dish to be super-tasty – so much so that I’ll have to make another batch to freeze. If you are vegetarian or simply looking to include more pulses into your diet, you can add a tin of cooked lentils to the lamb or leave out the lamb altogether and just make the base out of beans and/lentils (with onions, garlic, the tomato sauce and spices).

Lamb Moussaka

I’ve also been busy road-testing a new kitchen gadget – the Sage By Heston Blumenthal Kitchen Wizz Pro, which I hope to be writing about tomorrow. It’s really a super-powerful food processor, with plenty of chopping and slicing options. I was able to quickly whizz up the onions and garlic for this Moussaka, make my own quick lamb mince (I used British lam leg steaks) as well as thinly slicing the potatoes for the top of this dish. I’ve been extremely pleased with results so far and look forward to coming up with more time-saving recipes, soon.

5 votes

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Easy Lamb and Potato Moussaka

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Yield 4 -6

A quick and tasty Lamb and Potato Moussaka recipe, using potatoes in place of aubergine, flavoured with cinnamon and oregano and topped with an instant, tangy cheese sauce.

Ingredients

  • 5-6 large potatoes, I used Maris Piper, peels and finely sliced
  • 2-4 tablespoons olive oil or rapeseed oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 500g/one pound lean ground lamb mince
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste/puree
  • 1 can chopped plum tomatoes
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • For the cheese sauce -
  • 200g/one cup crème fraîche
  • 50g/half a cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 50g/half a cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • A dash of milk
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • A little butter for the baking dish

Instructions

  1. Heat a tablespoon of rapeseed oil in a large, flat pan. Firstly, start by gently browning the potato slices. Do this by frying a few slices for one-two minutes on each side, in batches, until they are all slightly golden. Add a little more oil to the pan as necessary. Keep all the potatoes to one side, on some kitchen paper, until later. You can skip the potato-browning stage if you want a quicker version.
  2. Once that's done, in the same pan, add a further tablespoon of oil and cook the onions and garlic until soft and golden. Add the minced/ground lamb, turning up the heat a little to brown the meat all over. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and dried oregano and stir. Add in the tomato paste, canned tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for 30 minutes.
  3. In the meantime, make the quick cheese sauce by gently heating the creme fraiche and stirring through all the cheese until melted. Add a splash of milk to loosen the sauce, take it off the heat, allow to cool a little then whisk in the beaten egg.
  4. When you are ready to eat, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
  5. Lightly grease three small dishes or one large baking dish with a little butter. Spoon in some of the lamb sauce, then a layer of potato, then a further layer of lamb sauce followed again by potato. Pour the cheese sauce over the top.
  6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the top is golden.

Notes

Freezer Tip: Bake the Moussaka and cool completely. Portion up into small containers, double-wrap in foil and freeze. Defrost in the usual manner and reheat in microwave (or oven) until thoroughly heated through for a quick meal.

Courses Main

Cuisine Greek

I hope you feel inspired to give this easy Lamb and Potato Moussaka a try – it’s a great family-friendly meal or perhaps even a crowd-pleased to bookmark for the upcoming World Cup!

What are your favourite batch-cook or make ahead recipes?

Shredded Chicken Pancakes for Chinese New Year

This Friday lots of people will be marking Chinese New Year. It’s out with the old and in with the new and if you’re up for a spot of Chinese-themed celebrating, there’s plenty out there to be enjoyed. Last year we took the children into Chinatown in London to show them some of the Chinese festivities and symbols – red lanterns and flags, Chinese dragons and very loud drums. We also enjoyed a tasty Taiwanese meal in a surprisingly authentic restaurant called Leong’s Legend, which had a very simple interior (based upon a Chinese tea house) but some really great food and was much less busy than the main streets in China Town. Try the ‘pork buns’ or Taiwanese mini kebabs, as recommended by Jay Rayner in The Observer.

Shredded Chicken Pancakes

I’ve written about what we’ll be doing this year along with some recipe suggestions in my weekly blog for Jamie Oliver. In the meantime, I’ve also come up with a family-friendly starter – a simpler (and slightly healthier) version of crispy duck pancakes made with shredded chicken. I know, I know, it’s not authentic and there’s no crispy skin to feast on, but my kids are a bit picky when it comes to duck fat so I’ve gone with shredded chicken (from a leftover roast) instead. Thankfully, they like the Hoisin sauce and the building aspect of this for tea keeps them extra quiet.

Shredded Chicken Pancakes

I’m hoping to be able to pop into Chinatown at some point over the weekend to hunt for some more steamed buns and to stand by the windows watching homemade dumplings being crafted by hand.

Shredded Chicken Pancakes

Time for a little link-love. Firstly, I’m joining in with Extra Veg, a new monthly blog event hosted by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy – lots of raw sliced carrots, cucumber and spring onions here. I’m also sending this to January’s Feel Good Food Challenge over at A Kick at the Pantry Door, which has a theme of tasty and inexpensive – this is both,  especially by using chicken instead of duck and adding lots of raw veggies. For the same reason, January’s Four Season’s Food Winter (co-hosted by Eat Your Veg and Delicieux) gets a hit too, with a theme of virtuous food – less duck fat! I’m also linking up to Credit Crunch Munch, also jointly hosted by Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours – leftover chicken, a substitution for duck and lots of veggies. And finally, to my own Simple and in Season – the carrots, cucumber and spring onions are all British and in season in January!

Blog_Events

Shredded Chicken Pancakes

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Shredded Chicken Pancakes

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An alternative to 'cripsy duck pancakes' - this is a kid-friendly and budget-friendly recipe using leftover roast chicken and plenty of raw veg, instead.

Ingredients

  • 200g shredded leftover roast chicken (around two breasts)
  • Half a cucumber
  • 2 carrots, peeled
  • 4 spring onions
  • 12 Chinese pancakes
  • 80g Hoisin or plum sauce

Instructions

  1. Shred the chicken with two forks - preferably whilst its still warm.
  2. Finely slice the cucumber, carrots and spring onions and warm the pancakes slightly, if you like.
  3. Set out the chicken, sliced vegetables and Hoisin or plum sauce. Fill each pancake with the prepared ingredients, roll up and eat.

Cuisine Asian

Let me know if you get up to anything exciting for Chinese New Year!

Farfalle with British Pancetta and Italian Artichokes

I have an Italian recipe for you today – using ‘farfalle,’ bow-tie or butterfly pasta and a tasty sauce flavoured with British pancetta, garlic, artichokes, fresh spinach, tomato and cream. This is a lovely supper for a chilly evening and one that reminds me of our wonderful trip to Northern Italy late last spring. A piping hot plate of pasta is the perfect dish to serve up to a large family. The recipe itself is inspired by a new range of Italian products called Parioli Cucina to the theme of ‘seasonal, Italian and savoury.’

Parioli Pasta

One of the things I noticed in Italy, particularly when wandering around the food markets of Bologna, was the abundance of fresh artichokes on offer. The same doesn’t really translate over in Britain and I always think that we’re short of ideas on what to do with artichokes. Granted, preparing fresh artichokes takes a tiny bit of practice, although I follow the steps outlined by David Lebovitz here. As David says “Artichokes are not hard to prepare but they do take a bit of determination.” Since fresh artichokes usually come into season during the late spring (May/June) a good alternative is to use an authentic supply of artichokes in a jar, which are harvested in season, marinated, grilled and then preserved in vegetable oil. I’ve also added British spinach to my dish, from Kent.

Parioli Pasta

A quick note on the British pancetta, too. I was looking out for Italian pancetta, but this caught my eye at the supermarket and as I haven’t seen British pancetta before I was keen to try it. I was impressed to read that it is hand-cured, made with outdoor bred pork and is air dried for ten days. The smoked pancetta really made the dish. It gave it a little extra edge, complimenting the grilled artichokes and fresh spinach beautifully. If you can find some smoked pancetta, do try it in this recipe. Otherwise, use any good quality Italian pancetta you can find.

Parioli Pasta

As to the rest of the ingredients from Parioli Cucina, these are made and imported from Italy. Parioli is a neighbourhood in the north of Rome in Italy and the range includes dried pasta, sauces, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, chopped and plum tomatoes, antipasti (including the grilled artichokes) and olives. For this recipe, I used the Parioli farfalle pasta – which I really liked because the pasta bows were quite small and bite-sized; smaller than farfalle I’ve tried in other ranges. The pasta had a good bite and worked really well with my sauce. I also used some of their tomato sauce called ‘Basilico’ – a Sicilian basil and tomato sauce, made with vine ripened tomatoes from the Puglia region and fresh basil leaves from Neapolitan farms. The sauce had a very rich flavour and I would say was of a better quality to any of the more well-known branded pasta sauces that I’ve tried.

So, all in all, a lovely mix of flavours and textures with both British and Italian ingredients.

I hope you get to try this dish. Let me know if you do and whether you agree with me on the quality of the products used.

Parioli Cucina Range

Parioli Pasta

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Farfalle with British Pancetta and Italian Artichokes

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A family pasta recipe made with both British seasonal and Italian ingredients from the Parioli Cucina range

Ingredients

  • 400g Farfalle or bow-tie pasta (100g per person), I used Parioli Cucina Pasta
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil or oil from the jar of artichokes
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
  • 180g pancetta, I used Tesco finest British smoked pancetta
  • 280g jar grilled artichoke hearts, drained, oil reserved, I used the Parioli Cucina brand
  • 170g or half a jar tomato and basil pasta sauce, I used Parioli Cucina ‘Basilico’
  • 450g/ 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 80ml or 1/3 cup double/heavy cream
  • Sea salt for the pasta water
  • Optional, Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the farfalle according to the packet instructions, or until al dente. When the pasta is cooked, take out one cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the rest of the pasta until the sauce is done.
  2. Heat two teaspoons oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and chopped pancetta. Fry until the pancetta is golden brown. Finely chop the artichoke hearts and add them to the pan, stir well. Pour in the tomato sauce and bring to the boil. Stir in the fresh spinach and keep stirring until wilted. Finally, add the reserved cup of pasta water to the pan and stir in the double cream and take the pan off the heat.
  3. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce. Serve whilst piping hot, with Parmesan cheese grated over the top, if you like.

Courses Main

Cuisine Italian

I’m linking this recipe up with Simple and in Season, a community blog event hosted by me here. The spinach wilted down so much I could have really used twice the amount. It’s also a lovely recipe to bookmark for late Spring when we start to see fresh artichokes in season, too.

Simple and in Season

With many thanks to Parioli Cucina for inviting me to create this recipe. 

Recipe:Turkey Stroganoff with Soured Cream

It’s time to think smart when it comes to making the most out of the food we buy and using up our leftovers. I was pretty shocked to read that the average family in Britain wastes nearly £60 a month (the equivalent of 6 meals a week or 24 meals a month) in unused food. As we approach Christmas, two for one deals and special offers go into overdrive, which means that if we’re not careful, we’ll end up buying too much and then throwing some of it away. The one thing we are very good at doing is coming up with ways to use up our turkey leftovers and I’ve been challenged to do just that by the Lean on Turkey campaign. Although we shouldn’t just be thinking of leftovers at Christmas or Thanksgiving, using up all the little bits we have in the fridge and making the most of a roast should be the way forward all year round. I’m tapping into my Eastern European roots a little with this recipe for a turkey stroganoff, which uses up leftover turkey (or any poultry, really) along with some red onions, mushrooms, mustard, soured cream and a few sprigs of dill. It’s perfect for a Boxing Day buffet or for a quick family supper, whenever you have some leftovers to use up. Stroganoff can be made with a tablespoon or mustard or tomato puree and an optional sprinkle of paprika. Always use ‘smetana’ or soured cream.

Turkey leftovers (1 of 3)-2

Costings (to come in at under £10 for 4)

  • Leftover Turkey (nominal as it should be leftover) – £2
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (store cupboard)
  • 1 red onion – 40p
  • Mushrooms 200g – £1.69
  • 1 tablespoon mustard – 5p
  • Soured cream 300ml – 99p
  • Fresh dill – 25p
  • Noodles/Rice – £1.50

Total – £6.88 to feed 4 (Ocado)

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Turkey Stroganoff with Soured Cream

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A quick and easy dish to use up leftover turkey

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 300g mushrooms
  • 500g leftover turkey
  • 300ml soured cream
  • A splash of whole milk
  • Fresh dill to garnish
  • Noddles, pasta or rice to serve

Instructions

  1. Cook the noodles, pasta or rice according to the packet instructions.
  2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large frying pan. Cook the onions over a medium heat for five minutes, until soft. Stir in the wholegrain mustard and the mushrooms and season with freshly ground black pepper and a little salt. Cook for a further five minutes.
  3. Add the leftover turkey to the pan and mix together well. Pour in the soured cream, adding a splash of milk if the sauce is a little thick. Cook for another five minutes, or until the turkey is piping hot.
  4. Serve on a bed of noodles, pasta or rice and garnish with fresh dill. Optional: drizzle over a little extra olive oil.

Previous #LeanonTurkey recipes

Challenge 5 – Turkey and Leek Meatballs with Tomato Tagliatelle

Challenge 6 – Coronation Turkey Picnic Rolls

Lean on Turkey Blogger’s Page

This is a recipe commission in association with Lean on Turkey. Ingredients + development time paid for.  

A Sneak Peek of Jamie’s Mothership Sunday Roast Lamb Recipe

Everybody in our house loves roast lamb, particularly when it has been slow roasted, making it perfecty tender and soft. I’ve been given special permission to share a recipe by Jamie Oliver from his latest book, Save with Jamie, for his Mothership Sunday Roast Lamb, accompanied by a great photograph by David Loftus (I’m a huge fan!) This recipe is perfect for the weekend and I’m sharing it here ahead of it being shown on Jamie’s Money Saving Meals on Monday night on Channel 4 at 8pm. The idea is that you make a huge roast on a Sunday and then use the leftover meat as the basis for more meals throughout the week.

Mothership Sunday Roast Lamb
The recipe itself is one of my favourite’s from this latest installment by Jamie Oliver and there are even a couple of bonus recipes within it, too. You also get the instructions for perfectly crispy rosemary and garlic roast potatoes, an easy fresh mint sauce and a quick Savoy cabbage and streaky bacon dish for the side.

Slow roasted lamb is something that you really can’t go wrong with – you’ll need around 3-4 hours to get this lamb cooked to perfection and literally falling off the one, but I promise you’ll have a really tasty Sunday roast with plenty of meat for leftovers throughout the week. Plus, using a cheaper cut of lamb from the shoulder means you’ll end up with a more flavourful and cost-effective end result.

Other than this Mothership Sunday Roast Lamb recipe, I’m not sure which other recipes Jamie is going to highlight on the show this Monday, but after my recent trip to America where I ate plenty of Tex-Mex rolls and wraps, I’m really hoping that the Bad Boy BBQ Burritos on page 196 of the book will make an appearance at some point as well.  This recipe along with a few other recipes from the book will then be featured on the Save with Jamie recipe page  over on JamieOliver.com.

Jamie Oliver’s Mothership Roast Lamb

Serves 6 plus leftovers
Total time: 4 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bulb of garlic
1 bunch of fresh rosemary (30g)
olive oil
1 x 2.5kg shoulder of lamb, bone in
3 onions
1.5kg potatoes
1 bunch of fresh mint (30g)
1 teaspoon golden caster sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
1 large Savoy cabbage
1 tablespoon plain flour
500g frozen peas

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°C/gas 3. In a pestle and mortar, bash
4 peeled garlic cloves, half  the rosemary leaves and a pinch of  salt and
pepper into a paste, then muddle in a good lug of oil. Stab the lamb ten
times, then stick your finger in each hole and massage the marinade in and
all over. Peel and quarter the onions and place in a snug-fitting roasting tray
(this is important), with the lamb on top. Add 50ml of water, cover tightly
with tin foil and cook for 3 hours. Remove the foil, pour away all the fat
(save as dripping – see page 158) and add another 200ml of water to the
tray. Cook for 1 hour more, or until the meat falls away from the bone,
adding another good splash of water, if it starts to dry out.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, halving any larger ones, and parboil in a large
pan of boiling salted water for 12 minutes. Drain and shake to fluffup, then
tip into a roasting tray. Strip in the rest of the rosemary leaves, drizzle with
oil, bash and add the remaining unpeeled garlic cloves, and toss with salt and
pepper. Place in the oven under the lamb tray for the final 1½ hours. With
20 minutes to go, pick and very finely chop the mint leaves, scrape into a small
jug and mix with the sugar, vinegar and 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Chop
the  bacon  and  cook  in  a  large  frying  pan  on  a  medium  heat  until
golden. Trim, roughly slice and throw in the cabbage with a splash of water,
cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until softened, then season to perfection.

Remove the lamb from the oven, transfer to a platter and cover. Put
the tray on a medium heat on the hob and stir in the flour, then pour in
600ml boiling water and any lamb resting juices. Stir well and simmer until
you’re happy with the consistency. Pour the gravy into a jug, or if you
prefer it smooth, pour and push it through a sieve first. Quickly blanch
the peas in a pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain.
Serve everything in the middle of the table, with all the usual trimmings.

Taken from Save with Jamie, published by Michael Joseph
Recipes @2013 Jamie Oliver
Photography @2013 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Ltd. Photos by David Loftus

For more lamb recipes, take a look here.

More related posts on RenBehan.com –

Jamie Oliver Warmly Welcomes Food Bloggers

Recipe – Almost Spring Lamb HotPot – also great with roast lamb leftovers

Disclosure – this is an unpaid post. The recipe and photograph is reproduced with permission. I write a weekly blog for JamieOliver.com

Coronation Turkey Picnic Rolls

Ever since eating a steaming hot jacket potato recently in a Welsh café, topped with coronation chicken (and discovering that the kids liked it, too) I’ve been making my own version at home. So, when Lean on Turkey asked me to create a recipe suitable for kids and picnics (under £10) we decided on some coronation turkey picnic rolls. You could also fill some tasty wraps with the filling, or even stir it through some pasta to make a coronation turkey pasta salad. Coronation chicken was a dish first said to have been created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, made with cold chicken, raisins, herbs and spices. We swapped traditional chicken for some shredded, cooked turkey adding a few dollops of light mayo, curry powder, raisins and chopped mango. If you don’t want your rolls or wraps to go soggy, either line them with lettuce (as we did) or else take the coronation turkey mix in a separate jar and fill when you arrive at your favourite picnic destination!

Coronation Turkey

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Coronation Turkey

Breakdown of costs – with some ingredients leftover

Roast Turkey Breast Slices – £2.49

Essentials Waitrose Mayonnaise – £1.09 (500ml)

Curry Powder – £1.25 (100g)

Raisins – £1.00

Mango – £1.75

Lettuce – £1.00

Oaten Bread Rolls x 4 – £1.14

Total – £9.72 

Coronation Turkey

More picnic recipes –

Polish Carrot and Apple Salad

Nigella’s Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

Seasonal Cherry and Almond Traybake

Pear and Chocolate Brownies

You could also try my first recipe for the Lean on Turkey Challenge – Turkey and Leek Meatballs with Tomato Tagliatelle.

Sponsored Post + cost of ingredients covered

With many thanks to Lean on Turkey for asking me to create a picnic recipe. 

Easy Chicken Recipes – Good Food Channel

I’ve been a little busier than usual, creating some easy chicken recipes for the Good Food Channel . A particular highlight, I’d say, was cooking Buttermilk Fried Chicken on the hottest day of the year – a cold beer was necessary at the end of that shoot, I’ll tell you! It’s hard to pick a favourite recipe out of this batch – we loved the Easy Chicken Pie (it was slightly cooler that day!) and I think the Caribbean-inspired Jerk chicken has become a firm summer favourite, too.

Click through the links below the photos to go straight to the recipes.

Easy Chicken Pie

Easy Chicken Pie {Recipe Here} for the Good Food Channel

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken {Recipe Here} for the Good Food Channel

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Buttermilk Fried Chicken {Recipe Here} for the Good Food Channel

Chicken and Parmesan Pasta

Chicken Pasta with Parmesan and Basil {Recipe Here} for the Good Food Channel

Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken {Recipe Here} for the Good Food Channel

You can keep track of all my recipes for the Good Food Channel by checking out my profile here.

Earlier on this year, I was also interviewed by the lovely food journalist Katie Bryson and created a Rhubarb and Almond Cake to accompany the feature.

Ren Behan is a freelance contributor to UKTV Food/Good Food Channel – styling, photos and recipes author’s own.

Will any of these recipes take your fancy over the summer?

Recipe – Bethany Kehdy’s Whipped Hummus with Lamb

Yesterday I wrote about a stunning new book by Bethany Kehdy called The Jewelled Kitchen and today, as promised, I’m sharing a recipe I made from the book called Whipped Hummus with Lamb. I very nearly made the Spiced Naked Sausages from the Mezze section, but at the last minute the children asked for hummus and so it was that I made this recipe instead. The recipe is in two parts – the hummus, made with either dried chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked) or canned chickpeas, which is what I used.  I used my Vitamix machine, but you could use a standard food processor. The second part is the cooked lamb. Adding the lamb is optional, but cooked with onion, garlic, pine nuts, pomegranate molasses and a pinch of allspice you won’t be able to resist those heady, Arabic smells. Grab some warm flat bread, drizzle with olive oil and dig in!

Whipped Hummus with Lamb
From The Jewelled Kitchen by Bethany Kehdy © Duncan Baird Publishers 2013, commissioned photography by Šárka Babická

Recipe extracted with permission from The Jewelled Kitchen  ©  Bethany Kehdy 2013 published by Duncan Baird Publishers, London

Whipped Hummus with Lamb

Hummus means chickpea in Arabic. This is a great blank canvas recipe for the simple hummus b tahini dip everyone is now familiar with (see steps 1–4). Adding lamb or preserved meat (awarma) is one serving option which is traditional in the Levant, but feel free to omit the lamb topping or allow your imagination to take over. Olive oil is not an ingredient used to make whipped hummus and is only used as a garnish.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus soaking the chickpeas (optional)

Cooking time: 15 minutes, plus cooking the chickpeas until they are very soft (optional)

FOR THE HUMMUS

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp lemon juice, plus extra if needed

100g/31/2oz/1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked (see page 215) or 200g/7oz/1 cup tinned chickpeas

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

3 small ice cubes

a pinch of ground allspice

sea salt

FOR THE LAMB

15g/1/2oz salted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

85g/3oz minced lamb

11/2 tsp pomegranate molasses

a pinch of ground allspice

pomegranate seeds (see page 216), to sprinkle

chopped mint leaves, to sprinkle

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

TO SERVE

warm Arabic Bread (see page 217)

or Toasted Triangles (see page 49)

Method

1 To make the hummus, put the tahini, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl and mix until well incorporated.

2 Drain the chickpeas, then immediately loosen their skins by rinsing them under cold running water several times. Cover the chickpeas with water and swish them with your hands several times to loosen any more skins. Discard any of the loose skins. Drain the chickpeas again.

3 Immediately transfer the drained chickpeas and the garlic to a food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. Add an ice cube to the chickpea mixture and pulse again until it’s incorporated, then repeat with the remaining two ice cubes until a smooth paste is formed.

4 Pour in the tahini and lemon mixture and pulse again until it forms a smooth, well-blended purée. Add the allspice and season to taste with salt, then pulse once more for about 1 minute until all is well incorporated. If the hummus is too thick, add a little more lemon juice and/or water (being careful not to dilute the zesty flavours). Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover and set aside.

5 To make the lamb mixture, melt the butter in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for 3–4 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the pine nuts and cook for a further 2 minutes until they just start to brown.

6 Add the garlic to the pan and mix well, then cook for about 1 minute until aromatic. Add the lamb and stir well, then cook for no more than 3–4 minutes, until just browned. Pour the pomegranate molasses over the lamb mixture, stir in the allspice and season with salt and pepper.

7 Create a crater in the middle of the hummus and spoon the hot meat and any juices into the well. Sprinkle the lamb with pomegranate seeds and mint and serve with warm Arabic Bread.

Whipped_Hummus
My version – a big thumbs up!

With many thanks to Bethany and Duncan Baird Publishers for allowing me to share this recipe with you as part of The Jewelled Kitchen virtual book launch.

 

Chicken and Mushroom Lasagne (Great British Farmhouse Cookbook)

Weekends are for leisurely cooking, the kind that allows you to pull a cookbook from the shelf, put a little more time into something and maybe try a recipe you haven’t tackled before. There’s something about country cooking or farmhouse cooking that particularly lends itself to the weekend, too. Flicking through The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook by Sarah Mayor, my thoughts look forward again to summer holidays in Wales, to being woken up by the sound of free-roaming sheep or cows in the fields surrounding us and of fresh, local produce in abundance. Cookbooks always take us somewhere; whether to foreign lands, a family farmhouse or even just to a pantry stocked with homemade jams and preserves. This particular cookbook took me straight to the West Country with fresh British produce at the heart of the adventure.

Yeo Valley Orange Cheesecake
Photo credit Andrew Montgomery

Sarah Mayor wrote The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook from her family home in Somerset, England. Her family have been farming there historically since 15th Century. Sarah’s parents bought Holt Farm in 1961 and later opened up a small tea room. Since there was plenty of skimmed milk leftover from creating clotted cream, they started to produce yoghurt and ‘Yeo Valley’ was born – the largest organic business in the UK. Produce is made with an astonishing 2 million litres of milk per week, some of which comes from the families own British Friesian herd.

The cookbook tells lots of stories from field to fork, taking in The Dairy, The Farmhouse Kitchen, The Veg Garden, The Farmyard, The Pastures, The Woods, Hedgerows, Fields and Streams and The Fruit Garden. Even before you are introduced to any recipes, the scene is set, with photographs of fresh produce, vintage farmhouse crockery, baby lambs, British seasonal fruit and family gatherings inspired by the great British outdoors. Its ‘wellies’ all around and the food is hearty and welcoming.

In the first few pages, Sarah focuses on milk, the staple ingredient of the farm, with recipes for your very own DIY Dairy including yoghurt, ricotta, butter, cream cheese, crème fraiche, clotted cream and the all-important milkshakes. So, if you fancy trying your hand at becoming an artisan for the day or even for longer, dip in and give these recipes a go.

Whether you are making your own diary produce or simply buying the freshest ingredients that you can get your hands on,  you can look forward to trying Sarah’s Orange yogurt cheese cheesecake (photo above) or a Poppy seed and lemon ice-cream cake with stewed blackcurrants, or our very favourite, Lemon curd and raisin bread and butter pudding for a zesty twist on a great British classic.

A friend of mine recently said that she acquired a glut of broad beans via a local delivery scheme, so I pointed her in the direction of Sarah’s Broad bean paté on toast with torn mozzarella, basil and lemon oil. These would make a great addition to an outdoor lunch or a summer family picnic.

Yeo Valley Broad Bean Pate
Photo credit Andrew Montgomery

Whilst we were still in the mood for a spot of comfort cooking and so made Sarah’s Chicken and mushroom lasagne, with chestnut mushrooms, leftover chicken, Parmesan, thyme, cream and the addition of seasonal leeks.

Yeo Valley Chicken and Mushroom Lasagne

I also spotted a lovely list of top ten foods to forage, including wild garlic, blackberries, wild plums and elderflowers, with which you could make a Spinach, wild garlic and filo pie or Elderflower rhubarb and jelly creams. I don’t think there is a single recipe in this book that I wouldn’t be tempted to make and as clichéd as it will sound, The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook immediately made me want to plan my own escape to the country!

You can find the recipe for Sarah’s Chicken and mushroom lasagne here.

Yeo Valley Family Farm The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook by Sarah Mayor is published by Quadrille Publishing, RRP £20.00

Yeo Valley Cookbook

With many thanks to Quadrille for my review copy.

Recipe: Turkey and Leek Meatballs with Tomato Tagliatelle

Turkey Meatballs

We love meatballs! If you make your own at home, you know exactly what’s gone into them and you can add lots of lovely flavours, too.  They are easy to make and the kids love them.

These are really tasty, I used turkey mince (very lean and great value) and added leeks and freshly grated Grano Padano cheese for extra flavour to make turkey and leek meatballs. Serve with lots of tagliatelle pasta and tomato sauce and everyone is happy! If you wanted to, you could use an onion, but my kids prefer leeks. You can also add a teaspoon of mustard or even a tablespoon of ketchup for something a bit different.

Turkey Meatballs

I’m really pleased to be taking part in the Lean on Turkey recipe challenge, as we’re really keen to eat more turkey, instead of beef or pork and red meat. This time, the challenge was to create a pizza or pasta meal for the family for under £10.

The total cost of this meal was £9.91 from Ocado, but in fact, the turkey breast mince was on special offer (3 for £10) instead of £4.50 for one 500g packet so I was able to freeze a couple of packets for another time, too. Grano Padano cheese is a great alternative to the slightly more expensive Parmigiano Reggiano, which is worth keeping an eye out for as it brings the costs down a little.

Turkey Meatballs

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Costing   

  •  £1.99 – tomato and Basil Sauce
  • £1.75 –  fresh tagliatelle
  • £4.50 –  turkey breast mince (500g)
  • 60p –  large leek
  • 20p – large egg
  • 10p –  garlic (one clove)
  • 12p – bread (2 slices)
  • 65p -Grano Padano cheese (50g)
  • Olive oil, store cupboard
  • Salt and Pepper, store cupboard

£9.91 at Ocado

Turkey Meatballs

Sponsored Post + cost of ingredients covered

With many thanks to Lean On Turkey for asking me to create a recipe for them

Have you tried making your own meatballs at home? What’s your favourite family meal? Let me know if you try these!

Other family favourites

Easy Macaroni Cheese with Baby Leeks

Easy Peasy Homemade Pizza

‘Almost Spring’ Lamb Hotpot

One of our favourite one-pot meals, by far, is a lamb hotpot. It is so easy to throw together and is incredibly warming and comforting. I am desperately willing for it to be brighter and warmer, but we’ve still got frost and grey skies – so an ‘almost Spring’ hotpot is called for. You could make this in a slow cooker, but the potatoes wouldn’t get crispy on top. The lamb and vegetables would be lovely and tender, though. My onions, celery and carrots were all from our veg box and this is a classic, seasonal British dish.

Lamb Hotpot

Spring lamb is just coming into season. I usually ask the butcher for British lamb neck fillet, but a traditional ‘hotpot’ can also be made with neck chops, stewing lamb, diced leg or shoulder or something with a bone for extra flavour.  For a Lancashire Hotpot, add 3 lamb kidneys, sliced, to the pan at the same time as browning your meat. Leave out the tomato paste and add a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce instead.

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Lamb Hotpot

I’m sending this recipe across to Louisa at Chez Foti who is hosting this month’s Simple and in Season.

I’m also sending this to Credit Crunch Munch  hosted jointly by Helen at Fuss Free Flavour and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All – although buying lamb fillet can be pricey, the carrot, onions, celery and potatoes are all in season and were all from my veg box. The stock and tomato puree are store-cupboard staples.

This recipe takes around one and a half hours to cook in the oven. You could follow all the same steps and instead of transferring the lamb and veg to a lidded casserole dish, layer it up in a slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on a low setting. Pop over to Mediocre Mum’s new site Slow Cooker Queen for more slow cooking ideas.

Finally, this is my first entry into Made with Love Mondays, too.

What’s your favourite warming one-pot meal?

Courgette or Zucchini Boats with Bolognese Sauce {Paleo Friendly}

Courgette or Zucchini Boats

One of the things that I enjoyed the most about my Paleo/Whole 30 challenge in January was the simplicity of it.  No processed foods, no heavy or starchy carbohyrdates, no gluten or wheat. Just plenty of lean and organic protein, fresh seasonal vegetables and lots of fruit. It’s not rocket science and it’s pretty obvious that you are going to feel a million times better and start to shrink. I got to day 26, having also had no alcohol, cakes or chocolate and had lost eight pounds. I also felt clearer headed, had lots more energy and had more ‘even’ moods. Unfortunately, a (stressful) overnight stay in hospital with my little one and then an over-indulgent family party weekend knocked me off my healthy eating pedestal. However, I was able to get back on track and I’d say that I’ve kept to my new rules about 80% of the time, which I think, and hope, is sensible in the long run. This recipe for  Courgette or Zucchini Boats with Bolognese sauce has since become of my favourite go-to Paleo recipes and I try to make it once every couple of weeks to stay on track.

Courgette or Zucchini Boats

Courgette or Zucchini Boats

Courgette and Zucchini Boats

 Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Courgette or Zucchini Boats

Breaded Pork Steaks (Polish Style)

Snowy weekends are all about cooking comfort food, in my case, this usually means recreating a Polish dish from my childhood kitchen. Whilst on a recent visit home, I borrowed an old 1970’s Polish cookbook, called Kuchnia Polska, to serve both as a reference point and as a reminder of home. For a quick alternative to a Sunday roast, we had Kotlety Schabowe today, which are Breaded Pork Steaks or Chops. We used to have these all the time at home, usually served with mashed potato, or new potatoes with butter and dill and my favourite, mashed beetroot!

Breaded Pork Steaks

An unexpected surprise when looking through old books at my mama’s house is that you often find leaflets tucked inside, in this case, I found an old baking leaflet, with recipes for ‘coconut pyramids’ and ‘melting moments’ – who remembers those? I love the fact that, in the days before the internet and blogging, you were invited to write to ‘The Home Economist’ for your free recipe leaflet. I also came across a very handy Herb & Spice Chart, which is probably around twenty years old.   

Kuchnia_Polska

I opened Kuchnia Polska at Kotlety Schabowe, or breaded pork chops. I had pork tenderloin steaks in the fridge, and since they are smaller than pork chops, I managed to make eight breaded cutlets.  

I set up my flour, egg and breadcrumb production line. For my own (Whole 30/wheat-free) portion, I used just the eggs and almond flour, they were tasty, too. We also had baby potatoes with dill and a cucumber salad on the side.

Flour Egg Breadcrumbs

There weren’t many colour photos in my book, just one or two, but every now and again there are lovely illustrations of the cooking process. Here’s our 1970’s housewife dipping her pork chops in flour!

Polish Pork Steaks

And here’s my crispy, tasty, full-colour version!

Polish Pork Steaks

You can use exactly the same method for chicken breast pieces, flattened out, and homemade fishfingers, too. These breaded pork chops are similar to Austrian Pork Schnitzel. I get my breadcrumbs from my local Italian deli.

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I’m linking this post up with Dom’s Random Recipes, this month the challenge is ‘Another Country, Another Kitchen’ – since my Kuchnia Polska book came from my mama’s kitchen, I am on brief!

Random Recipes #23 - December

Also, I’ve just launched a late January round of Simple and in Season. I served my breaded pork steaks with a very simple butternut squash mash, cooked in a little stock and lightly mashed with a bit of butter.

Simple and in Season

Hope you have fun playing in the snow – or keeping warm!