Lamb Cutlets with Cannelini Beans and Leeks
The official title for the beans is actually “Warm leek and white bean salad with mustard dressing” but that seemed just a little too wordy and unnecessary to me so I’ve taken the liberty of abbreviating. I’m pretty sure Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall doesn’t read Dinner Diary so I think I’ll get away with it. I wish he was a reader though because then I could say what I really mean which is: HUGH! What’s with floweriness? It’s not what I’ve come to expect from someone who has a best-selling book named simply “Meat”.
Anyway, this recipe was recommended to me by a friend and seemed perfect for the quick dinner of lamb chops we had planned for tonight. The recipe uses tinned beans which I’m not keen on so I soaked some cannelini beans overnight and cooked those this afternoon, before adding them to the leeks and cooking as per the instructions. I think I need to get over my tinned-bean fear though since I find dried beans can cook rather unevenly which I imagine isn’t an issue with the pre-cooked version.
Despite some of the beans being rather a little on the tough side, this worked really well. The mustard, while not an entirely traditional accompaniment to lamb, was a good match and added a real bite to the beans. The lamb was simply seasoned with salt and pepper and then fried.
Hugh mentions this is a good dish to serve cold and I think it would work well for packed lunches, especially with some good toast.
Chickpea Curry
Having gone wild in the ethnic aisle on Saturday, we went a bit wild in the kitchen later on and ended up with rather a lot of leftovers, some of which Stephen took for lunch today. In order to use everything else up this evening, we made a quick chickpea curry, following this recipe.
It was very quick and easy to put together which worried me slightly but, after a weekend of intensive cooking, I was happy for something straight-forward. The dish did suffer for this though and while it was edible, it didn’t have a huge depth of flavour. I don’t think I’d cook it again but it did fill us up and helped to empty the fridge.
Herbed Chicken with Persian Jewelled Rice
We fancied roast chicken for lunch but with today marking the official arrival of Spring (and the weather actually co-operating), we wanted something lighter than the traditional Sunday Roast.
Stephen made up a marinade consisting of olives, lemon zest, coriander, parsley, mint, onion and garlic. This was blended with oil and salt and pepper in the food processor before being slathered liberally all over the slashed chicken.
As an accompaniment, we decided on jewelled rice, a dish we’ve always wanted to make but been put off by the long ingredient list and complicated method. We got up early this morning though and, having thoroughly spring-cleaned our garden, had plenty of time to spend in the kitchen.
The rice dish is lengthy and does have a number of steps but it’s really worth spending the time on, if only for the crunchy, buttery pieces of rice that stick to the bottom of the pan (the ‘tahdeeg’) and get sprinkled on top at the end. It’s a dish that’s heavy on the sweetness which I find challenging but it did work really well with the heady, slightly bitter paste that the chicken was cooked in.
Stephen also made up a ‘gravy’ from the pan juices the chicken was cooked in which was brilliant. All he did was deglaze the roasting dish with some water, add a squeeze of lemon juice and then thicken it, but it made the most amazing, deep, meaty, fragrant dressing for the chicken.
Persian Jewelled Rice (from Diana Henry’s “Crazy Water Pickled Lemons”)
Serves Two
150g basmati rice
Salt and Pepper
1 orange
1 carrot
15g almonds, cut into slivers
1.4 tsp saffron threads
3/4 tsp dried rose petals (we didn’t have these so substituted rose water)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Seeds of 5 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
20g unsalted butter
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
15g pistachios, chopped
15g raisins, soaked in warm water and drained
15g dried barberries (we didn’t have these so left them out)
Tahdeeg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
15g unsalted butter
Wash the rice, cover with lightly salted water and soak for 3 hours.
Remove the peel from the oranges, leaving the pith behind, and cut into julienne strips. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for two minutes, then drain and rinse.
Peel the carrots and cut them into narrow strips.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan.
Soak the saffron in 1 tbsp of boiling water.
Mix the rose petals, cinnamon and cardamom together.
Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and saute the carrot for about 4 minutes until it is softening. Add the sugar and the orange peel and cook for a further minute. Pour on the saffron water and add the almonds, pistachios and dried fruits. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, drain and rinse the rice and add to the boiling water. Bring the rice back to the boil and cook fairly vigorously for no more than 3 minutes, then test it – the grains should be beginning to soften on the outside but remain firm in the centre. Drain the rice and rinse in tepid water.
To create the tahdeeg: In a separate pan, heat the butter and oil and, when sizzling, spoon on a layer of rice. Separate a quarter of the carrot mix and put aside. Layer up the remainder with the rice, sprinkling the rice on gently and seasoning with the spice mix and salt and pepper.
Make three holes in the ice with a spoon handle, wrap the saucepan lid in a tea-towel and cover the pan. Leave on a high heat for 4 minutes and then cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.
Once the rice has cooked, put the saucepan onto a cold surface to make it easier to remove the crust later. Spoon the rice on to a hot serving dish and garnish with the reserved carrot mix.
Kaalee Mirch Cha Mutton, Moong Dal, “Sag” Aloo and Chapatis
We got a bit over-excited in the ‘ethnic’ section of our local supermarket this morning and ended up with enormous bags of yellow moong dal and chapati flour. With Indian food a given for this evening’s dinner (particularly with an afternoon with IPL cricket on in the background) we just needed to decide on a main course and for that we went back to Camelia Panhabi’s 50 Great Curries of India.
This lamb dish stuck out because it was different to any Indian lamb we’ve cooked before, due to the inclusion of mint. The ingredient list is long but it’s easy to put together, just as long as you’ve got all the ingredients ready before you start. “Mutton” in India usually refers to goat rather than sheep, but as that is hard to get hold of here, we went for lamb – and the recipe actually specified lamb too.
The mint was indeed noticeable in the finished dish and it jarred against the other earthy flavours for me to begin with but as I got used to it, I enjoyed the fragrant lift it provided.
The dal (not pictured) was much soupier in consistency than I’m used to and was heavy on the chilli but it worked well as a dressing for the rice and provided some much needed liquid to the dry curry.
The “sag” aloo was really only there to use up some leftover potatoes and cabbage. We almost forgot about the chapatis but since there isn’t any yeast, they were easy to make at the last minute.
Kaalee Mirch Cha Mutton
Serves Two
1 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
10 unsalted cashew nuts
3 green chillies
Pinch mustard seeds
2 tablespoons oil
1cm cinamon
2 green cardamon pods
2 cloves
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped
500g diced lamb
1/5 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp coriander seed, crushed
1/2 tsp cumin seed, crushed
50ml natural yoghurt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
In a food processer, blend the coriander leaves, mint leaves, coconut, nuts, green chillies, mustard seeds with 30ml water.
Heat the oil, then add the cinamon, cardamoms and cloves. After 1 minutes, add the onions and saute for 15 minutes until the onions are beginning to brown. Then add the garlic, ginger and lamb. Turn the heat to medium-high and fry the lamb for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander and cumin powders and stir continuosly for a few minutes so that it is coated with the spices.
Turn the heat down low and slowly add the yoghurt, fry for a couple of minutes. Add the green puree, 200ml water and 1 teaspoon salt, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes over a low heat. Add the lemon juice and check the seasoning.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with black pepper and garam masala. Stir and serve garnished with fresh, chopped coriander leaves.
Moong Dal
200g yellow moong dal
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt
1 tbs coriander leaves, chopped
8 curry leaves
1 tbs oil
Wash the dal and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
Add the dal to 1 litre of boiling water along with the tomatoes, chillies, ginger, two-thirds of the garlic, the cloves and the turmeric. Return to the boil and add salt. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and blend until the grains are completely mashed. Add the coriander and curry leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
Heat the oil, add the garlic and fry until golder. Pour into the dal and serve.
Sag Aloo
We loosely followed this recipe, increasing the spices and substituting cabbage for spinach since we had some leftover.
Chapatis
Makes four
140g chapati flour
85ml tepid water
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (or ghee, if you have it)
1/4 tsp salt
Mix the flour, oil and salt. Add the water to make a thick dough. Knead until soft and pliable then set aside for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into golf ball sized pieces, dust with dry flour and roll out until approximately 15cm in diameter.
Heat a frying pan and add oil. Place chapati in pan, cook each side for 90 seconds until small bubbles appear and the chapati has turned brown. Brush with oil and serve.
Hamburgers
Stephen and I have been ill all week and existing on plain pasta and dry toast. While I like to think our readers are fascinated by what we eat every night, even I’m not stupid enough to think anyone is interested in looking at pictures of that, hence the lack of posts.
Knowing we were both feeling better and in need of something more interesting than just plain carbs, we decided to make hamburgers for dinner. I also wanted to see whether last week’s success with hamburger buns was a one-off and test them with beef instead of pulses.
I made one batch yesterday but they were a disaster: the complication of converting the original recipe into metric and then quartering it was beyond me and I ended up using enough water for 16 buns instead of the four I was planning to make. Maths never was my strongest subject.
Luckily, I got home early enough today to start again. This effort was slightly more successful but still not as good as last week. The buns were too heavy and stuck to the (oiled) greaseproof paper meaning that they baked unevenly. The hamburgers were good though, if a little on the large side. I kept this recipe quite simple: seasoned minced beef, Dijon mustard, English mustard and Tabasco.
We also attempted to make fries which were OK but the potatoes were old and had that strange, sweet note to them. We cut them using a mandoline which meant they were slightly flat and I think we probably fried too many at once as they weren’t all crunchy.
I’ve copied the bun recipe below (including the conversion to metric and the scaling down from 16 to four) for when I feel ready to get back to baking.
Hamburger Buns
Serves Four
1/4 tablespoon yeast
285g white flour
1 egg
70ml water (possibly a little more if the dough won’t come together)
15g melted butter
15g honey
1/4 tablespoon salt
Sesame seeds
1. Combine the yeast and flour. Blend in the egg, water, buter and honey and knead to a smooth dough – this should take about seven minutes using a hand blender and a dough hook. Add the salt and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise in the fridge until doubled in size.
2. Divide the chilled and risen dough into four and shape into balls. Put them on a baking tray lined with oiled greaseproof paper, cover with oiled cling-film and leave to rise until doubled in size – about 30 minutes at room temperature.
3. Once risen, flatten the balls into hamburger size shapes, cover and leave to rise again – about 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cook at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until browned.
Sausages and Mashed Potatoes
We spent the morning at a farmer’s market local to where my mum lives in Kent and, while we were there, picked up some sausages for dinner. Having used up all my cooking creativity over the last few days, I threw these in the oven while I made some mashed potatoes and some onion gravy. It was a relief not to have to weigh anything or consult any recipe books and while it’s not exactly gourmet, you can’t really go wrong with sausages and mashed potatoes
Rosewater Pavlova with Lavender Scented Rhubarb
When I realised I had nine egg whites in the freezer and plenty of people to feed over the weekend, I decided to make a pavlova. I divided the egg whites in half so that I had about 4.5 and adjusted the sugar, mixed it up, added some rosewater and some pink food colouring and then sprinkled the top with the lavender sugar.
Cooked for an hour and then left to cool overnight in the oven, it looked brilliant when I checked it on Saturday morning. And then I tried to remove it from the greaseproof paper and realised it was completely under-cooked. I thought about trying to rescue it but decided it would be easier to start again when I got to my mum’s.
The second version turned out OK but it cooked a lot quicker than I was expecting and went much browner than the original version. Still, it tasted good, topped with rhubarb that had been cooked in more of the lavender sugar. It didn’t look as pretty though.
Lasagne
We celebrated Mother’s Day on Saturday night and my mum requested lasagne for dinner. I actually made up the ragu (roughly according to this recipe) on Friday with the intention of taking it back to Kent with us on Saturday. Only we got halfway there and realised we’d left it behind. A short dash back to our flat and with the precious Tupperware safely on board, all that was left when we arrived was the assembly. And the salad preperation, that definitely included more than half a cherry tomato per person!
Mexican Bean Burgers
In keeping with the Mexican theme, we started with some chilli popcorn. Pop your corn and, in a seperate pan, melt some butter with some chilli powder and salt. Add that to the corn and eat. And eat and eat if you made as much as I accidentally did.
Next we moved on to the “burgers”. I don’t think this is a particularly authentic dish and we certainly didn’t follow any of the suggested recipes online. Instead, we took the Mexican Bean recipe we’ve cooked a few times, shaped it into burger-shapes and grilled them. They didn’t really hold together very well which I suppose means they were a failure but they tasted good, especially with some guacamole and cheese.
The really exciting part of the post though is: I MADE BREAD! REALLY GOOD BREAD! I’m not a natural baker and wouldn’t normally attempt this kind of thing but, the combination of reading about bread lately and a general lack of enthusiasm when it comes to shop-bought hamburger buns spurred me on. I followed this recipe and it worked really well. Not only did the buns taste good (yeasty with a slight sweetness) but they also looked like proper hamburger buns. Almost. I admit I have some work to do on my shaping and my sesame seed sprinkling could do with a little attention too but, overall I was happy with the result. OK, I admit, I was overjoyed and may have danced around the kitchen a bit.
Cauliflower and Potato Curry
We decided to go meat-free this evening and didn’t need to look much further than Camelia Panjabi for inspiration. This cauliflower and potato curry had caught my eye last week and since I had everything else I needed, apart from the cauliflower, it had the added bonus of being an economical dish too.
This recipe is slightly more complicated than the chana dal I cooked on Monday but still wasn’t that taxing, even when I had to dash out midway through for coconut milk (so much for having everything I needed). I had to tweak the recipe slightly since I’d been unable to track down a fresh coconut and I suspect this may have upset the careful balance of sauteeing and simmering that Camelia talks so much about. I also didn’t have any fenugreek so left that out too. Definitely not winning any points for careful-recipe-following tonight. Recipe below is therefore different to the version that appears in the book.
This was an interesting dish, since I’m really only used to coconut milk featuring in Thai curries. The sweetness of the coconut seemed to jar against the deep, earthy Indian spices at first but the more I ate, the more I found myself getting used to it and enjoying it. Despite that and while I know it’s not a very imaginative view, I would have preferred this as a side dish since the lack of meat (even though we had double carbs in the form of potatoes and rice) left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
Cauliflower and Potato Curry
Serves Three
Oil, for frying
4 small onions, chopped (Camelia has the same habit as Madhur in referring to onions by weight, this is roughly equivalent to the 300g stated)
5 dried red chillies (I used 3 fresh chillies)
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 1/2 cm cinnamon stick
4 peppercorns
2 cloves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon tamarind juice
1 tin coconut milk
2 cm piece of ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large potato, chopped
Salt
1 medium cauliflower, divided into florets
Saute half the onions for 2 – 3 minutes and then set aside.
Next, saute the chillies, coriander, mustard and cumin seeds, cinnamon, peppercorns and cloves for 30 seconds then remove.
Transfer the onions and spices into a blender, add the turmeric, paprika and tamarind and the coconut milk and blend until smooth.
Saute the ginger and garlic for 15 seconds, followed by the rest of the onions for 7 – 8 minutes. Add the spice paste, cook for 2 minutes and then add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the salt, 100ml water, cover and cook for 6 – 7 minutes.
Finally, add the cauliflower, cover with water and cook until tender.
The original recipe calls for the onions and spices to be blended with the fresh coconut to make a paste. Not really paying attention, I also added the coconut milk at this point which meant I didn’t really end up with a paste, instead rather a lot of liquid with some bits floating in it. In hindsight, I would add the coconut milk at the end of the cooking, at the same time as the cauliflower.
I’d also reduce the amount of water, since I needed to reduce the sauce quite drastically towards the end of the cooking time.
Or, perhaps, next time I’ll just follow the recipe.
