Corn Chowder

Monday is never a great day (being the first day back at work) and it was a cold, wet and windy one here in Wellington too. After getting the shopping done and hanging around 30 minutes for my lift, I felt like something to warm me up, so decided on corn chowder with a bit of bite to it. Best of all it takes almost no effort or time.

Beans the magical "fruit"

Now get your mind out of the gutter, I always make sure I have a can or 3 of cannellini or butter beans in the pantry, and a good stash of dried for when I actually plan ahead. They're a great staple and can be put to so many uses, all of them tasty (i hope).

Brined Chicken

Chicken tonight, but not content with my usual roast chook, I decided to try something different, brining it. And I have to say after tasting the results, this will be my roasting method of choice from now on.

Mustard beef with minted potatoes and mushy peas

Friday and the last thing I felt like was cooking, but also really wanted a good hunk of meat to eat, luckily I had a nice piece of topside in the fridge, so pulled that out and got to work on a nice bit of roast beef. Topside isn't the most tender of cuts but it's very tasty (a good way to counter the toughness of the cut is to slice it very thinly)

Pork Loin Chops with Cauliflower

Ingredients
Juniper berries
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sage
Lemon
Pork loin chops
Cauliflower
Crème fraîche
Horseradish
Butter
Brussel sprouts
Nutmeg

Mise en place
Juice a lemon
Crush juniper berries
Slice Sage in to strips
Floret cauliflower
De-Stem brussel sprouts (and halve)

Method

Place into a bowl/dish apple cider, lemon juice, crushed juniper berries, sage, salt, pepper and pork chops.

Mix, making sure the meat is coated in the liquid, let sit for 30 minutes and give it a good mix up again, let it sit a final 30 minutes.

10-15 minutes before the meat is finished marinating, put a couple of inches of water in a pot with a good dose of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Once boiling add the cauliflower and cook until tender.
Blend the cauliflower with a little of the liquid until smooth.
Add back to the empty pot, and on a low heat, cook off the liquid in the puree until it thickens up (about 30% reduction).
Set aside.
In a bowl, mix a good tablespoon or two of crème fraîche with a dollop of horseradish puree, set aside until the cauliflower has had a chance to cool a little.

Get a steamer on the go ready to cook the brussel sprouts while the chops are cooking.

In a frying pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil until smoking hot, and place chops in the hot oil and leave to cook about 4 minutes per side (time will vary on thickness).
DO NOT discard the marinade.
Once cooked, let the chops rest in a warm place.

Tip oil out of the pan, and place back on heat, tip the marinade in to deglaze the pan, add a knob of butter and nutmeg, then when butter is almost melted add the brussel sprouts and coat.

Just before serving, mix the crème fraîche mixture with the cauliflower, and heat through.

Done!

The Crap Kitchen - Behold!

Well this is where I cook, this is the entire workspace I have, and I can't comfortably use the left hand elements as there is a nice shelf in the way, oh well.

The slow – quick lamb roast

Lamb roast with roast potatoes

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Ingredients
A bag you can seal
Butterflied leg of lamb
Duck fat
Garlic
Lemons (2–3)
Mint
Parsley
Potatoes (enough)
Yogurt (Natural, thick Greek style)

The Night Before

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Mise en place
Juice a lemon (keep rinds)
Peel and crush garlic
Blend (finely chop) parsley and mint

Method
Place in to the bag yogurt, mint, parsley, lemon juice, lemon rind, garlic, salt and pepper.
Shake bag to mix.
Place lamb in bag and knead to work the liquid into the meat.
Leave overnight in the fridge

The yogurt mixture helps flavour and tenderise the meat.

When you're ready to cook

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Mise en place
Remove lamb from fridge and bring to room temperature
Quarter potatoes (if small new potatoes, other wise 8ths)
Slice lemons (season with salt) and place on the bottom of a roasting dish, then place rack over the top
In another Roasting pan add a good 2–3 tablespoons of duck fat and set aside.
Heat oven to 180˚C

Method
Place the lamb in the roasting dish (with the rack and lemons) and poor over excess yogurt mix, and place in oven (cook approx 15–20 minutes per 500 gram for medium).
When lamb is done, remove from oven, place on board and cover to rest.
Then put temperature up to 220˚C place the roasting pan with the duck fat into the oven and let heat until almost smoking.
Boil a pot full of salted water, when up to the boil, add potatoes, cook for 3 minutes.
Drain potatoes and pat dry.
Quickly remove the roasting pan from the oven (place on a wooden board so less heat is lost from the pan) and tip in potatoes, careful not to splash hot fat on yourself, give a quick shake and return to the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown then season with salt.
When there is about 5 minutes left on the potatoes, thinly slice the lamb leg ready to serve.

Serve with caramelised lemons (from roasting dish), salad, a simple yogurt dressing (lemon, mint & yogurt + seasoning) for the potatoes and lamb and enjoy.

Note: as the duck fat is so hot when you add the potatoes not much fat is absorbed by them, so it is not as unhealthy as it sounds, but damn tasty!

1st post - Cannellini & Chorizo Soup

Welcome, as a renter of property rather than an owner, I often (read always) end up with a crap tiny kitchen to work in, much to my dismay (usually, number of bedrooms, sun, size of lounge & price override the want of a nice kitchen), but in hardship comes inspiration and the need to not let my surroundings get the better of me!

I do promise in future posts to include images of the process and final product of recipes but not in this one sorry.

A major staple in my pantry is always canned beans, they are so versatile and can be used to create great dishes.

Cannellini & Chorizo Soup

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Ingredients
Celery
Chorizo
Potatoes (Nadine or similar)
Shallots
Butter
Olive Oil
Garlic
Cannellini beans
Stock (chicken)
Thyme

Mise en place
Finely dice - Celery, Chorizo, Shallots & Garlic
Very thinly slice - Potatoes
Warm - Stock

Method
In a pot, warm olive oil till very hot and add shallots, garlic, thyme and half the celery saute till soft & transparent. Remove thyme. Season well with salt (sea) and pepper. Add beans and stock and let simmer gently while you work on the rest.

In a saute pan, add oil and when very hot add the rest of the celery and saute till soft then add diced chorizo and cook until nicely caramelised. Set aside on a plate or in a bowl.

In the same pan, add a good knob of butter & thyme and just before it browns lay out the potatos in the pan and let them sit, basting now and then with the butter (they will cook quickly).

While the potatoes are cooking, take the simmering beans and blend until silky smooth, (add back to the pot) add in chorizo and celery and let simmer very gently, add the potatoes (minus the thyme) to the pot and let simmer for a minute or two.

Season to taste.

Serve in bowls, finish with a swirl of olive oil and cracked pepper.

A good hunk of crusty bread and butter is a perfect way to sop this soup up.