Recipes

[Bleep]

I guess from the plethora of excellent food sources that a fair few on here have good recipes to share.

Well, here's one from me - taken from the excellent Tom Norrington-Davies who used to be the chef at the fabulous Eagle Pub in Farringdon.

Spring lamb tagine

This is vibrant and colourful, despite the long cooking time. The principle of tagine cooking is the order in which items are added to the pot. The meat must cook for longest, the broad beans for a short while only. So you don't really need to stir or intervene generally. My kind of cooking.

You don't need a tagine (terracotta pot with a conical lid). A casserole will suffice.

# 1 x 2.5lb/1.3k shoulder of lamb. Ask the butcher to remove the bones and use them to make the stock if you have time.

# Half tsp ground cumin

# 1 tsp salt

# 4 tbsp olive oil

# 1 onion

# 2 leeks

# 6 cloves garlic

# 12oz/350g new potatoes

# 8oz/250g cherry tomatoes

# Quarter tsp (i.e. a pinch) saffron threads

# 1 tsp dried mint

# 4 small artichokes (or 1 small tin artichoke hearts)

# 1 preserved lemon OR the peeled zest of half a lemon

# 8oz/250g broad beans (podded weight). Thaw if using frozen.

# Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

# A small bunch of chopped dill, coriander or parsley to garnish

Cut the lamb shoulder into eight pieces, roughly the same size. Mix the meat with the cumin and salt. Heat the oil in a large pot or tagine and brown the meat briskly.

Chop the onion, leeks and garlic then add them to the pot. Lower the heat and cover the pot. Halve the new potatoes and tomatoes and add them to the pot with the mint and saffron. Continue to cook on a very low heat.

If using fresh artichokes, peel the tough outer leaves, trim the tops and cut each one in half down the length. Pull out any "choke" and halve again.

Add these quarters to the pot with about 8fl oz/250ml of the stock. (It doesn't seem much but don't add more as the meat and vegetables produce lots of juice.) Now cook the tagine for about one-and-a-half hours.

Meanwhile, dice the preserved lemon roughly. (If you can't get one of these, use the peeled rind of half a fresh lemon. To ape the taste of the preserved version you could chop it with a teaspoon of capers, or a handful of pitted olives, which will add the slightly briny taste.)

Shuck the broad beans out of their little membranes by squeezing them between forefinger and thumb. Add the lemons and beans to the pot and cook for another 30 minutes. By this time the meat and vegetables should be very tender.

Let the tagine rest for 10 minutes before seasoning, garnishing with chopped herbs and serving. Some people like to eat couscous or rice with tagines, but my favourite is pitta-type flatbread. That way you can mop up all the lovely stock.

Serves 4.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Bleep

thanks for the recipe. I intend to reply in full later when i reach a proper connection. But a recipe thread is a great idea

[TillieTrotter]

OMG, this is soooo sexy.>:D

[Asset]

you alright love?

[TillieTrotter]

Ermmm, think so. I do find men talking about recipes quite sexy. Do you? Please say you do!!

[Asset]

Nope - cooking 'em maybe.

[TillieTrotter]

Youre just spoilt, just because Mr Asset is a mean cook.

[*Bob*]

Don't men generally like cooking cos they know da lay-deez love it?

Good cook = knicker access.

Go on - deny it.

[*Bob*]

Naturally I have some wonderful recipes myself, girls.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Put it this way, it's never been a hindrance ;-)

Any road - these days it's as much about relaxation as it is about seduction. And working in an office job it's good to actually start and finish something tangible and the end of the day

I still haven't posted any recipes because I haven't had the time to sit down and type - I expect I'll go for the slow-baked (5 hours!) spicy chicken breasts when I do get around to it

[Floating Onion]

Yikes! I'd starve if I had to wait 5 hours to start & finish something at the end of the day. That & I don't have the patience.

Though I do love slow cooked meat. 24 hour beef. 48 hour pork shoulders. Now I'm getting hungry...

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ok - at home (at last - today was sloooowwwwww...)

So for this chicken malarkey - lets get the rub for the chicken ready -I've included measurements to get a rough idea of combinations but I often change amounts depending on mood/availability

1 tbs salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp freshly ground white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cumin

pinch each of dried basil, oregano & thyme

Pestle & mortar the lot (or use a coffee grinder I guess - more fiddly cleaning tho)

That should be enough to cover 4 big chicken breasts - speaking of which.. get your chicken breasts on the bone. You need that moisture. I am going to strongly suggest you get them at William Rose but if you doubt me, get some from there and some from whichever supermarket you usually go to - and cook them all together - if you can't tell the difference between the 2 then..... I despair

So - chicken breasts - dredge them in the rub. Don't spare the horses. Get it everywhere and get it on thick. Rub it on hard so it doesn't just fall off. But them all on a baking dish and pour 250 ml water and 250ml vegetable (not olive!) oil all over them. Sprinkle liberal amounts of hot paprika and chili powder over all of the chicken - several tablespoons in my case

Get your oven up to about 120 degrees C or 250 F (yes that is low) and bung the tray in. For 5 hours. That's FIVE hours. Baste fully every 30 mins or so.

After 5 hours it will be deeply brown and crispy on the outside and to die for in the inside

For me it has to be mash with this (tarted up with some spring onions and paprika) but you can have what you like

[bawdy-nan]

My favourite feast

Now we have the splendid William Rose - don't forget to ask for your giblets when you buy your chicken. Separate the liver from the rest and either freeze it (collecting enough to make a pate) or have it on toast for one thusly:

Heat a little butter in a small pan and lightly cook a chopped spring onion or bit of onion and an anchovy (or squirt of anchovy paste - use Gentleman's Relish in an emergency)

add the liver cook on both sides til done (not very long)

add a splash of wine (or a really good vineagar will do)

tip the whole lot onto a chopping board and chop together with some fresh parsley salt and pepper - the wet will mix in

Serve on toast

Yum

Use the rest of the giblets to make a stock with the usual stock bolsters (onion, carrot, celery and bay)

[SeanMacGabhann]

Jerk sauce (by request of Fear'n'Boozin)

grind about a tablespoon each of allspice & black pepper

add to a teaspoon of ground nutmeg and cinnamon, 2 tbsbs of salt, 2 tbsps dried thyme, 1 of cayenne pepper, 1 of dried sage, 1 of sugar

6 garclic cloves (peeled), 1 inch cube of ginger, fistfull of fresh coriander leaves only, a few dashes of soy sauce, juice of a lime, 100 ml peanut oil and a big bunch of chopped spring onions

Lastly 3 or 4 chilis - I go with the the wrinkly scotch bonnets that look like mini-peppers or some habeneros from chiliPete

http://www.chillipepperpete.com/

Stick the lot in a blender and blitz until smooth

Marinade the chicken (or pork) for at least 12 hours.

I wish I had a coal grill but I don't so I bake at a low oven temp for 20-30 mins and then but on a hot griddle ban to get the charring of the skin...

[Fear 'n boozin]

Cheers Sean - chilli pete maybe making a dent in my bankcard very soon!

[mockney piers]

and so it should. Plentiful fresh chilli produce available on the various outlets in peckham rye too.

[SeanMacGabhann]

The scotch bonnets, the tiny finger chilis and the more common or garden variety can usually be found around the LL outlets (Turkish shop, Val's, SMB etc) - I have yet to do a scout around Peckham for more exotic breeds...

[SeanMacGabhann]

Chilli Parcel arrived from

[www.chillipepperpete.com]

today.. took for EVER to get into it mind. File under "robust" packaging

I'm making something similar to this:

http://www.toptastes.com/recipes/entrees/yassa.htm

but with more variation on the chillis used.... results tomorrow