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Red Wine Lamb, White Bean and Fennel Pie

Don’t judge, I actually find making pie an incredibly enjoyable way to spend a Sunday. I made two kinds, this one was really nice and for my first attempt at a rough puff pastry, it wasn’t too bad. Really though, just use store bought. It’s way easier.

Ingredients:

500g diced lamb
Juice of 2 lemons
1 red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1 cup plus a good splash of red wine
1/4 cup chopped rosemary and thyme
1 tsp cumin
1 fennel bulb, small, diced
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 can of white beans, drained
Salt, pepper and olive oil
Frozen puff pastry, thawed

If you want to speed this up, use a pressure cooker. If not, I’ll give you the slow cooking instructions.

Brown the lamb for 5 minutes in a splash of olive oil, then add the garlic, onion, fennel, and cumin, and saute for 5-10 minutes more, until the vegetables are soft. Mash together the butter and flour with a fork, and mix into the pan. Toss everything into the slow cooker with 1 cup of wine, juice of 1 lemon, fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for about 6 hours, until the lamb is soft.

Next, add in the white beans, remaining lemon juice, and another hit of wine. Cook on a medium heat for about 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is thick. You may need to put it back into a pan for this (my slow cooker/pressure cooker has a saute setting, so it all just hangs out in there).

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper accordingly. Cool completely in the fridge. Once cool, fill into individual pie pans with pastry on the top and bottom, and freeze. To reheat, cook on 200C / 375F for about 45 minutes to an hour. Once the inside is bubbling out a bit and the pastry is brown, it’s done.

Lamb Rump Roast with Lentils

After a few weeks getting food at the pub while the oven’s been broken, and a terribly inconvenient case of bronchitis over New Years, I’ve gotten back into cooking. The lentils, we won’t talk about. They didn’t go so well. But, in general, lentils of some sort would be great with this roast.

Last time I made this, I had two smaller rumps, and it worked out great. This was a bit larger, enough for 2, but I still marinated for 24 hours prior and that really makes a big difference. The recipe is only altered slightly, and it’s served with greek yogurt that’s been blended with some mint and jalepeno for a bit of kick.

Ingredients (lamb):

1 lamb rump roast (enough for 2 people)
1/2 cup thyme
1/2 cup oregano
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, diced
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients and toss into a tupperware to marinade overnight. Remove lamb from marinade, and set the herbs aside. Get an oven-proof pan smoking hot, add a bit of olive oil, and sear the fatty side of the lamb for about 5 minutes, until it’s starting to get really brown and burned. Flip it over, toss the marinade into the pan around the lamb, and bake for 30 minutes at 175C / 350F. Remove when the internal temperature is 50C, let rest for 5 minutes or until the temperature comes to 55C. Slice and serve on lentils.

Harissa, Yogurt and Tomato Lamb Shanks with Zucchini, Pea and Mint Salad

I had a drawer full of zucchini when I saw this recipe from Gourmet magazine, but I hadn’t started a day ahead. I made my own version of the harissa with some different chilis I had around, and tried a slow cooker attempt at the lamb. It worked exceptionally well, it was spicy, sweet and creamy, and easy to put together.

Ingredients (lamb shanks)

1/4 cup Harissa
2 lamb shanks
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup fresh oregano and cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime
Half an onion, sliced
Salt, pepper and olive oil

Coat the lamb shanks in salt and pepper, and brown in a hot pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the onion, then toss in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lamb back, and pressure cook for 40 minutes, or cook on low heat for about 3-4 hours, covered. You could even leave it in the slow cooker for the day.

Remove the lamb and reduce the sauce. Serve with a scoop of the sauce, and the zucchini salad.

Lamb and White Bean Pie

This is a pretty trusty recipe, but it has never looked this good. I have 2 4 inch ramekins that I used to try and create individual pies, and it was pretty simple. I changed a couple things (really just the order I cooked things in), so I’ll repost the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
Leftover lamb roast, diced, with juice
1 can white beans, drained
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp butter
1 cup red wine
Salt, pepper and thyme

In a hot pan, melt the butter and saute the onion. Once soft, mix in the flour until it’s a past. Add the lamb, beans and spices. Add the red wine, you may need more or less depending on how much leftover juice you have left (you’ll want about a cup of liquid, total, in the pan). Cook for about 10 minutes until the liquid is thickened.

Grease ramekins with olive oil, and line with puff pastry. Add meat, piling high, and make a lid for it. Bake at 200C / 375F for 20 minutes until the top is golden. Let cool for 10 minutes, until you can run a knife around the outside to loosen, and then using oven mitts you can shake and maneuver it out of the ramekin.

Thyme and Red Wine Lamb Leg Roast with Roasted Vegetables

Simple Sunday roast recipe, as long as the liquid doesn’t run out it’ll be tasty.

Ingredients:

1 big leg of lamb
1 bunch of thyme, chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 cups of red wine
2 cups of beef stock
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Vegetables. I used parsnip, mushroom and tomato.

Score the top of the roast, and mash up the garlic with a mortar and pestle. Add in salt and a bit more than half the thyme, and combine. Pour the wine, lemon juice, and stock over the roast, then rub with olive oil, and your garlic mixture. Season with salt and pepper, and cover with foil to bake for the first hour at 150C / 300F. Remove foil, baste, and cook uncovered at 220C / 400F for 30 minutes. My roast was massive and needed a bit longer, but use a meat thermometer to get to the desired level of done-ness. 160C in the center turned out to be medium-well.

In another dish, mix veggies with remaining thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roast for the last 20 minutes of cooking.

To keep things easy the next night, chop up any leftovers so they’re small pieces and can easy turn into the pie recipe to follow.

Rosemary and Thyme Lamb Shank

I’m always trying to find the best way to cook a lamb shank, really it’s probably just to slow cook it, but I gave this a shot and was really happy with how it came out. It’s the same effect as slow-cooking, while giving it a bit of a “crust” at the end.

Ingredients:

4 lamb shanks
1 cup fresh rosemary and thyme, stems removed (doesn’t need to be diced)
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil, sea salt, and pepper
1 cup red wine

Marinate the lamb overnight in some salt, pepper, lemon, the herbs, and a healthy glob of olive oil. When you’re ready to cook, put the oven on low heat (150C / 300F), and get out some tin foil. What you’re going to do, it make little “packages” of lamb, adding a quarter cup of wine into each, and wrap 1 shank per “package”. Bake for 1.5-2 hours (the longer the better, but you can get away with 1.5 hours if you’re in a hurry).

Remove the lamb from the oven and get the oven hot (220C / 425F). Take the lamb out of the foil and leave the juices out (you could make these into a sauce if you’re so inclined). Place on a backing tray, and salt (don’t by shy) with nice course sea salt. Bake for 5 minutes, flip over, salt the other side, and bake for 5 more minutes. What you’ll have is a nice tender, juicy lamb shank in the center, with a salty crust on the outside. Serve with whatever the hell else you made.

Lamb Rump Roast with Herb Roasted Potatoes and Spinach Salad

Hands down, this is the best lamb I’ve ever eaten. As part of the endless amount of meat I picked up from the market, I grabbed 2 lamb rumps and marinated them for 24 hours before cooking them. It was quite easy to do, since I just put it together Sunday night, and then could throw it in the oven on Monday after work. The salad was simple, and the potatoes I cooked with some of the reserved duck fat from the weekend. You can buy it in the shop, but I just skimmed it from the bottom of the pan and put it in a container.

Ingredients (lamb):

2 lamb rumps (think fairly large single serves… with leftovers)
1/2 cup thyme, roughly chopped
1/2 cup rosemary, roughly chopped
Juice of half a lemon
3 garlic cloves, diced
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Toss everything together and marinade for at least a few hours to overnight. It could probably even go 2 days. Remove lamb from marinade, getting off the herbs, and set aside. Get an oven-proof pan nice and hot, and sear the fatty side of the lamb for about 5 minutes, until it’s starting to get really brown and burned. This is going to get the lamb all sorts of juicy while it’s cooking. Flip it over, drizzle with a bit of olive oil (I also added some carrots, but I don’t think it did anything for the lamb, they were just going off and needed eating), and bake for 30 minutes at 200C / 375F. Remove, let rest for 5 minutes, and slice to serve. If you want it to look really pretty, you can remove that fatty top bit, it’s done its job.

Ingredients (potatoes):

5-6 fingerling potatoes, skins scored with a fork, and chopped in half / thirds depending on size
1/2 cup chopped sage and rosemary
Salt and pepper
Heaping tablespoon of duck fat

Combine the ingredients and bake for 40 minutes at 200C / 375F, flipping halfway through.

Lamb Rack Roast and Grilled Veggie Salad

I have not been cooking this week. Tis the season for wine to be an acceptable substitute for dinner, apparently, although I’ve got to say I’ve been out to two new places this week that blew my mind.

I’ve heard a lot of hype about Ms. G’s in Potts Point, but I’ve been skeptical of the queues and overpriced cocktails. It was all true. I would eat there every day if I could. Besides everything being amazing, we finished off with a dessert called Stoner’s Delight 2.0, which pretty much tastes like magic on a plate.

I think I actually first discovered Duke Bistro in Surry Hills on the internet, somewhere. Thank you, internet! It’s one of the coolest venues I’ve found in Sydney, hidden upstairs in what feels like someone’s house, and the food was incredible. Anyplace that suggests you start off with the bacon jam is my sort of place.

Oh, in case you were more interested in the salad, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

.5 kilo lamb rack
1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme
Olive oil, salt and pepper
1/4 cup red wine
Juice of 1 lemon
1 red or yellow pepper, sliced in strips
2 portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 sweet potatoes, sliced
Lettuce and tomatoes, or whatever else you want in your salad

Rub the lamb rack with salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup of thyme (no olive oil). Let it hang out and get happy while you do the rest.

Toss the sweet potatoes in 1/4 cup of thyme, and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake on 200C / 375F, flipping halfway through, for about 30-40 minutes until they’re golden.

In a hot pan that can go in the oven, with a drizzle of olive oil, sear the lamb for 2 minutes on each side (including the top, so 3 sides), and rest it with the meatiest side touching the pan. Pour in the red wine and add half the lemon juice, and bake for about 10 minutes. Flip, and bake for another 10 before removing and letting it rest. When you flip the meat, grill the veggies with salt, pepper and olive oil. Or roast them with the sweet potatoes, or eat them raw. Assemble your salad and pour on the rest of the lemon juice. Serves 2.

Thyme and Lemon Lamb Chop Salad with Grilled Peaches, Haloumi, and Yogurt Dressing

In preparation for Thanksgiving, we had a really healthy salad for dinner the night before.

Ingredients:

5-6 lamb chops
1/4 cup fresh thyme
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
Olive oil, salt and pepper
2 peaches, cut in quarters with pits removed
6 thick slices of haloumi cheese
1/4 greek yogurt
4-5 cups baby spinach
A handful of cherry tomatoes

Marinate the lamb chops for 2 to 24 hours in the thyme, juice of 1 lemon, salt, pepper, and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Mix up the dressing, of the yogurt, remaining lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a few tablespoons olive oil. Coat the haloumi and peaches in a bit of oil, and grill the peaches on a barbeque or indoor grill pan for 5 minutes on each side, lamb for 2 minutes on each side, and haloumi for 1 minute on each side. Serve on a bed of spinach with some cherry tomatoes.

Red Wine and Tomato Lamb Shanks

It took five minutes to put this together, and 2 hours to cook. One of the better versions of lamb I’ve made, especially considering the effort put in.

Ingredients:

2 lamb shanks, rubbed with salt
1 large can of whole roma tomatoes
1 cup of red wine
1/4 cup chopped thyme
Salt, pepper and olive oil

Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in an oven-proof baking dish on the stove. Brown the lamb shanks for 3 minutes on each side, and then dump in the tomatoes, red wine, and top with thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and put in the oven for 1.5 hours at 250C / 425F with the lid on. Lower to 180C / 350F and remove lid for a half hour. Serve with tzatziki and salad.