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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.

Borlotti Bean, Tomato and Egg Baked Breakfast

Ingredients:

1 can of borlotti beans, drained
1 can of diced tomatoes
4 eggs
1/4 cup fresh oregano (or thyme, or rosemary)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper, and olive oil

Saute the beans and onions in a bit of oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer before making 4 holes to crack each of the eggs into. Top with parmesan, salt and pepper, and bake for 7 minutes at 200C / 375F.

Chorizo, Chicken, Chickpea and Tomato Salad

I’m totally sick of buying $10 salads for lunch when I can make it at home. It was very quick to throw together and made 2 big serves, and I would guestimate cost about $5.

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs
1 tbsp paprika
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chili
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 bunch of oregano, chopped
1 chorizo sausage, diced
1 punnet cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 spring onions, diced
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Coat chicken in paprika, salt and pepper, and sauté in olive oil for 3-4 minutes on each side. In the meantime, mash up the garlic with some salt and the chili in a mortar and pestle until you have a paste. Remove the chicken from the pan (it’s ok if it’s not cooked through totally), and add the chorizo to the pan, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the chickpeas, oregano, and garlic/chili mash and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, while you chop the cooled chicken into roughly 1x1cm cubes. Add the chicken back to the pan, and cook for 3-4 minutes until just cooked through. Let cool before adding the onions and tomatoes, mix and season if there’s not enough salt or spice.

Roasted Garlic Pork Burger with Onion Relish and Roasted Beetroots

Serves 4.

Ingredients (beetroot):

1 bunch of beetroots, washed and cut in half
1/4 cup chopped fresh thmye
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Toss together and roast on 200C / 375F for 40 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Ingredients (relish):

1 red onion, quartered (paper can be on)
1 punnet of cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped oregano
Olive oil, salt and pepper
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

Roast the onion and tomato, tossed with oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper, for about 20 minutes on 200C / 375F. Remove from the oven and let cool enough to remove the papers. Add to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients (add a bit of cayenne if you’re brave), puree and refrigerate.

Ingredients (pork burger):

500g ground pork
1/4 cup chopped oregano
1/2 bulb roasted garlic (wrap in foil, drizzle in oil and bake for 20-30 minutes)
Pinch of chili flakes
Salt and olive oil

Mix together and grill, on either an indoor or outdoor grill, for about 5 minutes on each side. If indoor, toss in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes to make sure they’re cooked through since it’s not as hot. Serve with the relish, sliced cucumber, and a side of the roasted beetroot.

Mountain Rice Paella

I made this one before, but made a few changes to my last recipe; this time I used 1 tsp juniper berries in the marinade, switched white wine for red, and tried some different peppers out… it was delicious. Really awesome way to break in my new cast iron skillet.

Butternut Squash Stuffed with Chorizo, Tomatoes and Feta

Ingredients:

1/2 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise with the center cut out (chop the good bits and toss the seeds)
1 punnet cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 chorizo sausages, sliced
1/2 cup chopped thyme and oregano (and/or rosemary)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/4 butter, chopped

In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, chopped squash bits from what was removed from the center, chorizo, salt, pepper, olive oil, and herbs. On parchment paper on a baking tray, place the squash rounds and split the filling between the two. Top with butter and then another piece of baking paper. Bake for 40 minutes at 200C / 375F. Split the feta between the two, replace the paper and bake for about 5-10 minutes. Remove with a spatula to keep it together and serve.

Pistachio and Oregano Crusted Snapper with Quinoa Stuffed Pepper

I usually wouldn’t buy pre-packaged fish, but it looked fine so I went for it. Meh. Kind of a waste of an awesome recipe, but on fresh fish this would be killer. Oh, and maybe pan-seared instead of baked. Who needs health.

Ingredients (peppers):

2 green peppers, lids sliced off and centers removed
1 cup quinoa
2 cups of water
1 punnet of grape or cherry tomatoes
1 portabello mushroom, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tbsp fresh thyme
Salt, pepper and olive oil

Boil quinoa in the water, stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick or burn. When finished, toss in everything but the peppers, seasoning with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste. Fill the peppers (there will be leftovers), put the lids on, and bake for 30 minutes at 200C / 375F.

Ingredients (fish):

1/2 cup pistachios
1/4 cup oregano leaves
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
2 big or 4 smaller pieces of snapper

In a food processor, grind up everything but the oil and fish. Don’t grind it to a pulp, just pulse. Use the oil to coat the fish, and then top with the nut mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, under the grill, at 200C / 375F. Or just fry it, it’ll taste better.

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Herb Roasted Mushrooms and Tomato with Smoked Salmon and Avocado

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 tomatoes
3 tbsp fresh oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 thick slices of bread (toasted)
1/2 avocado, sliced
Small packet of smoked salmon

Heat the oven to 200C / 375F. Toss the tomatoes and mushroom in herbs, oil, salt and pepper, and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring the mushrooms halfway though. Layer the avocado and salmon between the 2 slices of toast, top with the mushrooms and serve with the tomato.

Oh, and just a friendly reminder to vote for me in the Blogster Awards, not that you haven’t already :)

Lamb and Eggplant Meatballs

Ok, so that roast, from yesterday? Here’s what you do with the rest, you could do this with a lot of leftovers, but this worked especially well since the eggplant kept it moist.

Ingredients:

Leftovers (about 1 cup of the eggplant and onions, 1 cup of chopped lamb)
1 egg
1 cup of breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp fresh thyme or oregano

In a food processor, pulse to puree the leftovers until they’re minced but not complete mush. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding the breadcrumbs gradually until it forms, well, a meatball consistency. It needs to be dry enough to be rolled into small balls, but not too dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and bake, 10 minutes on each side, at 200C / 375F.

Serve with tzatziki.

Balsamic and Honey Roasted Leg of Lamb with Eggplant and Fennel and Thyme Crusted Beetroot

Believe it or not, this was a “quick” weekend roast. I always do the same thing to a lamb roast, so I tried something new, and while it was good, I just generally prefer the red wine/lemon/herbs combo. What was amazing actually was what I did with the leftovers, the whole dish was probably worth it for that.

Ingredients (beetroot):

1 can of baby beetroots, drained
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Roll the beets in the rest of the ingredients and bake for about 30-40 minutes.

Ingredients (lamb)

Half lamb leg (a 4x6x6 inch slice, about a kilo, bone in)
1/2 cup chopped oregano and thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic
2 tbsp honey
1 onion, diced
1 eggplant, sliced
2 cups beef stock
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 325F. Using a stove-save dutch oven, brown the meat (2 minutes on each side), coated in the herbs, in olive oil and half the balsamic with the onions. Once you’ve turned to the last side, add the eggplant and stir into the onions. Add the rest of the ingredients, give it a stir, and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes, depending on the size of your lamb leg. When finished, remove the lamb and cover, and set the eggplant aside. Finish the remaining juices on the stove until it forms a sauce to serve with.