Recipe: Spiced Lamb Burgers, with Chargrilled Aubergine and Coriander Yoghurt

Yes indeed folks- another yoghurt recipe! This time in the form of a creamy herb yoghurt, to dollop on top of sizzling spiced lamb burgers! I love those chargrilled antipasti things you get in jars/packets- aubergines, courgettes, peppers- whatever! I figured because of the moussaka link, that chargrilled aubergines would go well with the lamb. What is also nice in this is a tsp of red onion chutney spread on the base if you fancy it.

Spiced Lamb Burgers, with Chargrilled Aubergine and Coriander Yoghurt (serves 4)

Burgers:
500g lamb mince
1 egg
30g breadcrumbs
2 tsp dried mint
1 tbsp garam masala
1 green chilli, deseeded and diced finely
2 banana shallots, diced finely
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Generous amounts of salt and pepper

Yoghurt:

180g Greek yoghurt
4 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
Salt and pepper to taste

4 toasted sesame buns

4 slices of chargrilled aubergine (from deli/or antipasti jar)
Salad and fries to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix together all the burger ingredients, shape into 4 large burgers, and put into the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up. Put a griddle pan onto high heat, and fry the lamb burgers for 2 minutes on each side.
2. Transfer these burgers to an oven tray, and put in the oven for 8 minutes, to fully cook through (if cooking these on a barbeque, just transfer them to the lower heat part of the barbeque, and turn them occasionally until cooked in the middle).
3. Meanwhile, mix together the yoghurt, herbs and seasoning. Lay a slice of chargrilled aubergine on the base of the buns, top with the hot lamb burgers, and with a dollop of the herb yoghurt. Serve, with salad and fries if desired!

Recipe: Port Braised Lamb Shanks with Herby Roasted Gnocchi

11 Days since my last post- it has been a while! I do however, have a valid excuse- I have been on holiday recently, firstly a couple of days in Penzance with the boyfriend, and then off to good old Glastonbury Festival! In the coming week I will be writing a festival foodie review of Glastonbury, so keep your eyes and taste buds peeled! This dish is a little bit special (and by that I don't mean.....simple!). I've never cooked lamb shanks before, nor tried roasting pre-prepared gnocchi, but I gave this idea a whirl and it was a resounding success! Some larger lamb shanks may need a longer cooking time- basically you know when it's done if the meat comes nice and easily (pretty much falls) off the bone.

Port Braised Lamb Shanks with Herby Roasted Gnocchi (serves 2)

Shanks

2 lamb shanks

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

200ml port

300ml beef (or lamb) stock

1 garlic clove, bashed

1 tsp herbs du provence

½ orange, diced up

30ml Worcestershire sauce

Gnocchi

400g fresh gnocchi

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp freshly finely chopped mint

1 tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat, and add the lamb shanks. Season the lamb with salt and pepper, and sear the shanks on all sides for a couple of minutes.

2. Add the shanks to a small casserole pot, with all the other ingredients. Put the lid on, and cook for 2 and a half hours (removing and basting halfway through cooking time).

3. Meanwhile, put the gnocchi on a roasting tray with all the other ingredients. Mix these ingredients all together, making sure the gnocchi is all coated with the oil and herbs. Bake in the oven (200C) for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

4. Meanwhile, remove the lamb from the oven. Remove the lamb from the bone, set aside, and strain the cooking juices. Boil the strained cooking juices for 6 minutes, to create a concentrated lamb jus.

5. Serve the warm lamb and roasted gnocchi, with the jus poured over, and some buttered green vegetables if desired. 

Recipe: Tandoori Lamb Salad

Bit of a cheat recipe, but it's so quick to make, delicious, and super healthy! These "Minted Lamb Kebabs" are 2 packs (with 4 kebabs in each) for £5 in Sainsburys at the moment. Totally worth it! Using the griddle pan reminds me of when in some Indian restaurants, when you order a tikka, tandoori, or shashlik dish, and the waiters come to your table with a big sizzling griddle full off spiced meat and onions- yum! This is definitely a MAN salad!

Tandoori Lamb Salad (serves 2)

 

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garam masala
4 Sainsburys Minted Lamb Skewers
12 cooked small new potatoes, halved
½ white onion, sliced
¼ tsp garlic salt
140g spinach
12 cherry tomatoes

Dressing

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Put a griddle pan onto a high heat with the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the garam masala over the lamb skewers, and put onto the hot griddle pan, cooking for 2 minutes each side.
2. Place the skewers on an oven tray and put into the oven for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, put the new potatoes, sliced onion and garlic salt straight onto the hot griddle pan, and cook for 7 minutes, stirring often.
3. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until well combined, season to taste and set aside. Place the spinach and cherry tomatoes on two plates. Remove the lamb skewers from the oven, remove the sticks, slice, and put on top of the spinach and tomatoes.
4. Top the salads with the fried onions and new potatoes, drizzle over the dressing and serve!

Recipe: Perfect Shepherd's Pie

Might not look like much, very simple I suppose, but this is my tried, tested, and perfected Shepherd's pie recipe and it is OUT OF THIS WORLD. May seem a bit weird, adding mayonnaise to the mash- but it actually works and gives the mash a really nice flavour and texture. If feeding a family this dish can of course be very easily multiplied. Also, if you wanted to make a veggie version (a "Shepherdess's Pie") then you can easily replace the lamb with quorn and the beef stock with veg stock. Probably wouldnt be as delicious though...lol!!

Perfect Shepherd’s Pie (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
1 white onion, diced finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 celery stick, diced finely
1 carrot, peeled and diced finely
250g minced lamb
4 chestnut mushrooms, finely diced
1 tsp sundried tomato paste
Splash white wine
Handful fresh parsley
300ml beef stock
1-2 tbsp bisto gravy granules
Salt and pepper to taste

700g maris piper potatoes, peeled and diced
Knob of butter
2 tbsp mayonnaise
Splash of milk
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the onion, garlic and celery for 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Add the minced lamb, increase the heat, and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the mince has been browned.
2. Add the mushrooms, tomato paste, and wine, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the parsley, beef stock and bisto, and cook on a medium heat for about 20 minutes- or until the mixture has become thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste and set aside.
3. Boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain, add the butter, milk, mayo and seasoning, and mash until smooth. Spoon the mince into two separate serving dishes, and top with the mashed potato (you may want to fork lines, or pipe the mash on, for decorative purposes).
4. Put under a hot grill for about 5 minutes, or until the top is beginning to brown. Serve!

Recipe: Scottish Pasties

This is a cheeky little take on the typical cornish pasty- using very similar ingredients in the original cornish recipe, but using haggis instead of lamb! This is a fabulous recipe to make the day after Burn's night, because it's the perfect way of using up any leftover haggis, and any extra swede you may have still. These pastys are really good too, because they can be eaten hot with gravy and veg, or cold as well- just had one cold for my lunch with some of my homemade green bean piccalilli on the side, REALLY nice.

Scottish Pasties (makes 6)

2 tbsp olive oil
½ white onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp thyme
200g finely diced swede
1 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 potatoes, peeled and finely diced
500ml beef, chicken or veg stock
1 tsp bisto gravy granules
1 tbsp Worchester sauce
200g cooked haggis
Salt and pepper to taste
2 sheets ready rolled Short crust pastry
Milk or egg (for brushing)

1. Sautee the onion, garlic and thyme in the olive oil for five minutes, or until softened. Add the carrots, potatoes, swede, stock , Worchester sauce and bisto, bring to the boil, and cook on a high heat for 20 minutes, stirring often.
2. Remove this mixture from the heat, stir in the haggis, and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 200C. Roll out the two sheets of pastry. Using a bowl as a guide, cut out two circles out of each sheet. Re-roll the trimmings of pastry until the same thickness, and cut out two more circles.
3. Fill these six circles with a generous amount of the haggis mixture. Fold the pastry over and crimp at the edges, and put on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Poke out a couple of little holes in the top of each pasty, brushed with egg or milk, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve- hot or cold!

Recipe: Lamb and Courgette kebabs, with Red onion and Walnut Couscous

Well I told you i'd be writing up less recipes up on here- and I was dead right! I told the guys at Cosy Club that I was happy to do anything from 15-40 hours (see- nice and flexible!), and this week i've done over 45, and i'm pretty sure i might be doing the same next week. I mean, i am very much thinking about all the money at this point, which is why i am battling with myself whether i should moan about it really. On one hand the more money= the better, and even on 30 hours a week i'll have more than enough, but on the other hand....its LOTS OF MONEYYYYY. But yeah this is killing me man, full-time chef-ing again. I don't know when my next full day off is- last one was last friday and there aint a free in sight yet.....

Anyway only a few months more Mel, stick with it! Last time I had an evening free to myself, I cooked this dish for me and my boyfriend and we both loved it- very tasty and barely takes any time to prepare. The marinade for the lamb can also be used with bigger cuts of lamb to be slowcooked too- the flavours work particularly well with this type of meat. It isnt in the recipe, but I served this with a herby yoghurt- nom!

Lamb, courgette and red onion kebabs, with zesty cous cous

For the Kebabs
250g lamb leg steaks, cut into bitesize chunks
1 lemon (zest set aside for the couscous, ½ juiced for the marinade)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tsp dried mint
1.5 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp paprika
Seasoning
1 medium sized courgette, sliced

For the Cous cous

2 tbsp olive oil
½ red onion, sliced
2 clove garlic
1 tsp sugar
40g walnuts, chopped
130g couscous
200ml hot vegetable stock
Handful coriander stems and leaves chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra coriander for garnish

1. Place the lamb in a bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, mint, rosemary, paprika and seasoning. Mix together, and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least 2 hours. Soak 4 wooden skewers in water for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat up a fan oven to 220C. Thread the marinated lamb and courgette onto the four skewers. Put onto Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, turning once.
3. Meanwhile, put the couscous, lemon zest, walnuts, and coriander into a bowl. Add the vegetable stock and cover for about 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile in a saucepan fry the onion, garlic and sugar in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Mix into the couscous, fluff up with a fork and season to taste.
5. Remove the skewers from the oven, pour over any juices leftover in the tray and serve with the cous cous and some more fresh chopped coriander.

Recipe: Greek Lamb Broth

When looking at the ingredients, I'm sure a lot of you will think 'white wine? with lamb??" but seriously, it works really well. Infact my boyfriend says this is his favourite lamb recipe that I make him- and I think it's darn delicious as well! It uses Greek flavours (lemon, oregano, sundried tomatoes) and fresh mint, which of course compliments lamb beautifully. I reckon this mixture of ingredients (minus the stock) would also work as a really good marinade for meats such as beef, lamb or fish, to roast or to barbeque. I serve this with nice warm crusty bread to mop up the juices, around the beautifully lean and tender lamb.

Greek Lamb Broth (serves 2)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
350g lean diced lamb
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste (or pesto)
Pinch saffron
200ml white wine
250ml chicken or lamb stock
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint (plus extra for garnish)
Small Squeeze of lemon with a little zest
Sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

1. On a medium heat, sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Add the lamb, oregano and some salt and black pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add sundried tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes.
2. Add the white wine and saffron and cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock and mint and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the lemon and cook for a further 10 minutes.
4. Season to taste, garnish with fresh mint, and serve.

Recipe: Lamb and Green Bean Curry

This is a delicious creamy curry! Cooking the lean lamb in the stock and coconut cream in this way makes it SO tender- melt in the mouth! A little too mild for my boyfriend I guess, but he's the kinda type that enjoys ordering a curry with a multitude of chillies, and then sweats his way through the meal! This is mild, but sometimes i want something mild. It's a curry that's not as sweet or as creamy as a korma or a passanda, and has a nice rich meaty flavour from the lamb. With stage three, where i reccomend to add some yoghurt if it has become too salty, i think that has only happened to me over the last couple of times because i've used Knorr stocks. I'm sorry, but they are all FAR too salty! From now on I am sticking to good old Oxo cubes (or Oxo's nice concentrated beef liquid one).

Lamb and green bean curry (serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp crushed ginger
3 spring onions, sliced
400g lamb (lean diced leg)
2 tbsp Pataks Mild curry paste
1 small tin coconut cream
250ml chicken stock
150g French beans, ends trimmed and then halved
Handful Fresh coriander (separated into stalks and leaves)
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp natural yoghurt (optional)

1. Cook the red onion, garlic and ginger on a medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add spring onions and lamb, and cook for a further 3 minutes.
2. Add curry paste, stir to coat, and cook for 2 more minutes. Lower the heat a little, and add the stock and coconut cream and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Finely chop the coriander stalks, and leave the coriander leaves for garnish. Add the coriander stalks, green beans and sugar, and cook for 15 more minutes. Taste, and if it is too salty (which can happen depending on what chicken stock you use) add the natural yoghurt and stir in.
4. Garnish with the coriander leaves, and serve over some basmati rice!

Competition: Delia Online + New Zealand Lamb Competition

Hey y'all! So I entered a New Zealand Lamb and Delia Online recipe competition, and I was shortlisted! When I got shortlisted, I won a shiny new panasonic camera, and I had to video myself making my recipe. My recipe is the 'Spiced New Zealand Lamb and Fruity Wild Rice Salad'- a recipe I have on this site. Now, mine and two other peoples recipes, are vying to win a new Neff Oven- which, lets face it, as a poor poor student, I could really do with!

If you all could vote for my recipe, it could really help. I really really want to win this, especially since all of that "Linda Mccartney Bollocks"- which seriously, dont get me started on, my parents almost got into legal action with em.

Anyway, if you could go onto this link and vote for me, it would really help, thanks V V V much- Mel wants to win!!!!.......again.....

http://www.deliaonline.com/home/NZLamb.html

Recipe: Moussaka

I'm not one for blowing my own horn(....allright I am....just a bit!) but this is one of THE NICEST things I have EVER cooked. EVER. I mean, i'm not sure how traditional it is when compared to Greek or Cypriot recipes, but it's still lush. I believe roasting the aubergine off first, in nice thin slices, avoids the aubergine from becoming hard or slimy- a horrible texture you get sometimes in some other Moussakas. Try serving this with a delicious cucumber, tomato, kos lettuce, and mint salad.

Moussaka (serves 3)

1 aubergine, sliced into thin rings
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
500g minced lamb
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp dried mint
300g diced ripe tomatoes
30g butter
1 level tbsp plain flour
100ml skimmed milk
15g finely grated parmesan
30g crumbled feta
1 egg yolk
Small handful Fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, and lay the slices of aubergine on it. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, fry the onions, garlic and olive oil on a medium heat, covered, for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat, and add the minced lamb, stock cube, cinnamon and mint. Cook for ten minutes, or until browned.
3. Add tomato puree, and cook for a couple of minutes. If there is a lot of fat, drain some of it away from the pan. Add chopped tomatoes, and cook covered, on a low/medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Whilst the lamb/tomato is slowly simmering, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add milk, and once thickened, add the parmesan and feta and stir in. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the egg yolk. Don’t worry if the sauce is ‘lumpy’, once the dish has cooked in the oven it will even out.
5. Preheat the oven dish to 180C. Pour the lamb mixture into an oven proof dish. Evenly layer the aubergine slices on top of the lamb. Pour the white sauce over the aubergine, and smooth over with a spoon. Put in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with some freshly chopped parsley, and serve!