Last year we got very little fruit from our apple and crab apple trees; this year the crop is bountiful but seems to be dropping early because of the warm and dry conditions here. Making jelly is time consuming and experience helps – but it’s like putting summer sunshine in a jar. Apple or crab apple jelly is the finest companion to peanut butter ever invented. Get away with your grape jelly or marshmallow Fluff.

If you’re new to preserving, do your homework first. Youtube is full of ‘jelly for beginners’ and there is a legion of blogs. My recommendation is to identify your ‘method’ and stick to it. I was making jam, jelly and preserves from a young age – my sisters and I were our mother’s kitchen slaves. And I remember making (and eating) lots of crab apple jelly because my grandparents had a big and bountiful crab apple tree. So I come to this with a fair amount of experience but a friend gave me a copy of her favourite preserving book by Thane Prince. I have found it a helpful guide and reference tool and I stick with it as a method.

Making preserves reminds me that all cooking is basically conducting chemistry experiments and then feeding the results to people.

Jelly is made by cooking and straining fruit to make juice, then adding sugar and cooking the juice into jelly that will ‘set’, putting it in sterilised jars, topping with paraffin and then sealing up. It keeps well for six to nine months. Making jelly means the fruit can be roughly handled, does not need to be ‘pretty’ (keep the pretty apples to eat) and is suitable for fruit from your own trees.

Ingredients to make approximately 5 x 330 ml jars:

• 3 kilos of apples or crab apples
• 2.5 litres of water (roughly 830 mls per kilo of fruit)
• 500 grams of sugar for every 600 mls of fruit juice
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every 600 mls of fruit juice
• fresh rosemary if you’re feeling fancy; 1 sprig for every jar plus the rest for cooking with the fruit

Steps in the process:

• assemble equipment
• prep and cook fruit
• drain the juice from the cooked fruit (overnight)
• measure the juice, add sugar, lemon juice (and pectin depending type of fruit and degree of ripeness)
• cook until set
• put in sterilised jars, top and seal
• offer a sacrifice to the kitchen gods that your jelly ‘sets’ well but not too tight

If you’re still reading, it’s time to go on to the recipe.

Method

1. Assemble your equipment
   – preserving pan, heavy, wider than it is deep. I use a 30 cm cast iron enamel le Creuset pan
   – a jelly bag stand (see photo below) and several jelly bags
   – a scale and a couple of big Pyrex glass measuring jugs (see photo below)
   – a jar funnel (see photo below)
   – spoons; wooden, metal and a slotted spoon for removing scum (trust me)
   – jars, lids and if needed either wax or cellophane covers to seal (lids with rubber or plastic sealing rings mean no need for waxed paper circles, cellophane or paraffin wax). I use paraffin wax on jelly.
   
2. Prep and cook fruit
   – rinse apples, rough chop, cut out any visible rot or insect incursions
   – place in pan, cover with water, add rosemary if using
   – bring to a boil, turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the apples are pulpy
   – spoon into a jelly bag, hang to drain overnight or for at least six hours DO NOT SQUISH THE FRUIT TO GET MORE JUICE QUICKLY. It will make your jelly cloudy. No, I don’t know why but I have experiential learning that says this bit of jelly wisdom is true.
   
3. Measure your juice into the preserving pan, add sugar and lemon juice. Bring it slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve all the sugar. I do add a drop or two of food colouring if I don’t like the colour of the juice. Err on the side of caution – it impacts your chemistry experiment.
   
4. Multi-task and get your jars and lids sterilised and covers ready. I put my clean jars in a cool oven and turn it up to 150C. I put the paraffin wax in a metal jug at the same time. Finally I put the lids, the jelly funnel, the ladle and the tongs in a pan of boiling water on the stove. It works for me.
   
5. Your jars are ready and your juice is starting to boil. Now, it’s time to be brave. Bring it to a rolling boil (boiling sugar is a hazard and this step can be scary – be careful) and boil it for at least five minutes. Back it down and skim off the scum. I use a big spoon with lots of holes in it and it dip it in a bowl of hot water to clean it. DO NOT STIR THE SCUM BACK IN. Or it will make your jelly cloudy.
   
6. Do your first test for a set – I use the flake test. Scoop up a small amount of jelly in a wooden spoon. Count to 10. Tilt the spoon to pour the jelly back into the pot. If the final part forms a flake and not a stream, it’s ready. Google is your friend – find a method that works for you.
   
7. My jelly never seems to be ready at the first test. I do a second rolling boil for 2 minutes, then skim and test again. Repeat until your jelly is ready. Best advice I was ever given – if you pot up your jelly and it does not set, you can always empty the jars into a clean pan and give it another boil. (This is a statement of genius from my friend who makes amazing preserves). So don’t sweat this one.
   
8. Your jelly is ready! Carefully fill your jars: I take the pan of jars from the oven, use the sterilised tongs to move the funnel and the jars around (keep the water boiling and dip them), fill the jars with a ladle, then top with liquid paraffin wax and gently put the lids on with the tongs.
   
9. You cannot judge the ‘set’ until the jelly is completely cool. Control your anxiety and give it overnight.

And enjoy your jelly. Thank you for reading the blog, subscribing, cooking the recipes. Tag me on Twitter and Instagram if you post photos @mamadolson on both.

We have been having a fabulous summer in England. One of those warm dry summers that appears about once every 20 years. The last like this was in 2003. It’s a little warm for some but it’s better than that August that I remember wearing a coat to the office or even last summer when I never bothered to put my cashmere sweaters away.

One consequence of such a glorious summer is, of course, still more courgettes (zucchini). Here is yet another courgette recipe. This one involves a lot of herbs to form a basis for pilau (pilaf you Americans) and then making it into a main course by breaking in some eggs. There is a lot of prep; you will be chopping and grating, but it does cook up in one pot. Some faff with ‘in and out’ of the oven to finish off but it was worth the work.

Here’s link to all my courgette recipes: 50 Ways to Use your Squash

A couple of very useful tools for this recipe: a handheld mandolin, a mezzaluna and a large shallow enamelled cast iron skillet with a lid – le Creuset or similar. This recipe makes a nice lunch for four, maybe not enough protein for some. I make it and do the eggs separately so that the leftovers keep nicely. Easy to make a vegan version of this recipe with a couple of little tweaks and substitutions.

Let’s get cooking.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 80 grams (3 ounces) mixed green leaves by preference sharper such as watercress, rocket and spinach
• 1 green chilli, sliced with seeds left inside(handle with care, see below)
• 2 medium courgettes, coarsely grated
• 3 tablespoons of chopped coriander (cilantro) (1 tablespoon dried)
• 50 grams (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch of spring onions (scallions), trimmed, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon dried coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons nigella seeds
• 40 grams (1/3 cup) raisins
• 300 grams (1 1/4 cup) basmati rice
• 650 mls (2 3/4) vegetable stock (watch out here if you’re doing a vegan version, not all stock cubes are suitable)
• 4 eggs
• 10 grams flaked almonds
• greek yoghurt (full fat) and extra coriander to serve

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
2. Rough tear the green leaves into a bowl.
3. Put on gloves or coat your hands in olive oil, then carefully remove the top of the green chilli, cut in half and then slice as thin as you can. Add to the bowl of green leaves. Wash your hands. Be very careful not to touch your face.
4. Grate the courgettes, add to the vegetable bowl.
5. Chop the coriander with the mezzaluna (I find it very therapeutic, back and forth, back and forth, etc) Here’s a very short video on ‘how to mezzaluna’. Throw the chopped coriander in with the greens.
6. Get your large shallow oven proof skillet on the hob. Melt the butter, add the olive oil. If you’re doing a vegan version omit the butter. Why combine butter and olive oil? Partly for taste but also because the butter keeps the oil from splattering. Using a knife or your hand held mandolin, finely slice your spring onions into the butter & oil.
7. Soften the spring onions for just a minute or so, then throw in the raisins, nigella seeds and the dried herbs (coriander, cumin, cardamom). Cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
8. Add the bowl of green leaves and vegetables. Cook over medium heat, up to ten minutes, allowing the vegetables to shed some water and reduce in volume. Grind over some salt and pepper.
9. Add the rice, stirring to coat and incorporate with the vegetables. Add the vegetable stock (I use Knorr jelly bouillon but then I make a lot of soup and stew). Stock cubes or stock pots are good. Check for ‘vegan friendly’ if you’re trying for a vegan version.
10. Bring the mixture to a bubble, put the lid on and slide it in to the oven. Leave undisturbed for 25 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven, take the lid off. Make four spaces for the eggs in the mixture. Break in the eggs, sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. Leave for longer depending on how firm you like your eggs.
12. Serve with greek yoghurt and extra chopped coriander. Enjoy!

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. I promise the next recipe will be on something other than courgettes!

I stumbled across this ‘recipe’ the other day and it’s so simple and so good that you wonder where has it been all your life. Let me sum up – baste slices of courgette (zucchini you Americans) or aubergine (eggplant again for los Americanos) with olive oil and herbs and spices of your choice, throw on a hot grill, turn over, remove and eat.

I had tried different ways to cook courgettes on the grill as we (well the Davinator) often cooks over naked flame in the summer time. We have actually had a summer this year, some warm dry weather, rising to high 30s (38 = 100C) for two days. I tried courgette kebabs, making courgettes into ribbons and threading on kebabs – producing okay outcomes but nothing as lovely and simple grilling them.

We served these to some family members (2 of our grown children and their partners) and they gobbled them up so I’m claiming universal appeal. Five minutes of prep, 10 minutes on the grill and you’re ready to eat. Surprisingly – these did not stick to the grill either. ‘Cook until soft’ says the Davinator.

Recipe – generous for two people

Ingredients

• Olive oil (use the good stuff)
• salt
• pepper
• a small bunch fresh parsley or coriander (cilantro)
• substitute any herbs that you like, fresh or dried
• one large or two medium courgettes

Method

1. Find a flat bottomed dish, coat the bottom generously with oil, add salt, pepper and your choice of fresh or dried herbs and stir in.
2. Top and tail the courgettes. Slice lengthwise, about 1/2 to 1 cm thick. As you slice them, lay them in the dish, turn over and stack to one side. When all sliced and in, turn them all over a couple of times, cover the dish with cling film and carry it out to the grill.
3. Place on a hot barbecue, give them approximately 5 minutes per side on the high heat. You might want to pick them up and move them to keep them from burning. When they are soft and golden, they are ready to eat.

You can do the same with aubergine and if you have some beefy tomatoes, slice those and try them alongside.

Thank you for reading the blog and cooking the recipes. Leave comments and tag me if you’re cooking them, @mamadolson on Instagram & Twitter.

I came across a version of this recipe in the Silver Palate ‘New Basics’ Cookbook. The Silver Palate was a gourmet take out food store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, opened in 1977 by two women, Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins. It was a novel concept for its time and they eventually wrote 3 cookbooks. They are all good cookbooks and mine have fallen apart over the years from usage. Their ethos; great ingredients cooked with care make good food. Good food shared with friends makes great meals.

I’ve adapted this recipe over time, eliminating garlic, adding more vegetables and a mustard coating for the lamb. This is a great meal, with reasonably quick prep and not much fuss. One big dish to wash up. Eight generous servings. It’s a family style food with gourmet level taste. I recently cooked this dish in a self catering holiday let – notoriously short on speciality cooking implements. The only thing I really missed was my handheld mandolin but I had a great sous chef in my friend Lisa. She’s an artist (see her work here) and her nimble fingers made short work of the repeated ‘slice thin’ instructions below. Sharp knives and a sous chef or a mandolin highly recommended. You’ll also need a little rack or some skewers to hold the lamb slightly above the level of the vegetable gratin.

Time to get cooking.

Ingredients

• 1 kilo of good quality potatoes, well scrubbed, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper
• 2 large onions thinly sliced
• 2 medium courgettes, thinly sliced
• 5 medium tomatoes cored and thinly sliced
• 100 mls dry white wine
• 100 mls olive oil
• 1 leg of lamb, with bone in (approximately 2 – 3 kilos)
• 3 tablespoons of grainy mustard
• Several sprigs of fresh rosemary

Method

• Strip the leaves of the rosemary and chop small. Reserve half for the mustard coating.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (180C if fan)
• Pour a slug of olive oil in a gratin pan or roasting tin.
• Arrange potato slices in bottom of pan.
• Season with salt, pepper, some of the rosemary.
• Add a layer of courgettes and seasoning.
• Add a layer of onions and seasoning.
• Add a layer of tomatoes and seasoning on top.
• Drizzle with wine and oil.
• Trim the thicker portions of fat from the leg of lamb.
• Mix the remaining rosemary with the mustard and just enough olive oil to make a thick paste.
• Cut several shallow cuts in the lamb fat.
• Place lamb on a sturdy rack directly on top of gratin pan so the lovely fat and juices run into the vegetables.
• Season the lamb with salt & pepper, then cover well with mustard paste.
• Roast, uncovered, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes for rare lamb (1 hour and 45 minutes for well-done); no need to turn the lamb or baste.
• Remove from oven and allow to sit for 20 minutes before carving.

If you’re feeling the need, you can include a green vegetable or a salad with the lamb and gratin. (We didn’t). The Davinator suggests a Grignan-Les Adehemar as the perfect wine accompaniment. Or, another mid-Rhone syrah based red wine.

Thank you for reading the blog and cooking the recipes. Find me on Twitter and Instagram ‘@mamadolson’ on both.

Easy, healthy & cheap – unbeatable

I’ve been making my own muesli for so long I couldn’t remember or find the recipe I used to make it the first time. A friend asked for the recipe and my mind was completely blank. So, I went into the baking kitchen and made muesli and wrote down what I put in the bowl. This may be the easiest ‘recipe’ I’ve published on the blog; the most challenging thing you do is chop a few nuts. I do this recipe by ‘volume’ – cups, not by weight but I’ve approximated the weights by gram in case you want to include that.

No added sugar in this recipe, plenty of sweetness from the dried fruits. The ingredients are very flexible – 3 parts grains, 2 parts fruit, 2 parts nuts and seeds. I add some unsweetened desiccated coconut but wholly optional.

This recipe is economical and healthy if you have a good supplier of ingredients. None of the ingredients are super specialised or unique but if you’re buying these ingredients in Waitrose it will be a) annoying because of the tiny packets; b) frustrating because of the limited availability and c) the price per gram will be surprising. I use Whole Foods Online. Nothing to do with the poshest posh supermarket (nicknamed ‘whole paycheck’ in the USA) but good quality, in quantity, reliable, reasonable prices.

Recipe

• 2 cups of rolled oats (180 grams)
• 1 cup of toasted malted wheat flakes (90 grams)
• 1 cup of dried cranberries (130 grams)
• 1 cup of dried raisins (130 grams)
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (65 grams)
• 1/2 cup flaked almonds (40 grams)
• 1 cup mixed chopped nuts (walnut, pecan, macadamia, more almonds, pistachios) (150 grams)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut (45 grams)

Method

Throw it all in an airtight plastic container. Shake the container. Serve with milk and Greek yoghurt.

Nothing could be easier. Thank you for reading the blog, cooking the recipes, subscribing and sharing.

Cookies make you popular everywhere you go. These chocolate sourdough treats are almost cookie shaped brownies. Do not despair if you’re not a sourdough baker – there is a substitute in the recipe below. There are a couple of nifty tricks to make these cookies Instagram worthy as well as delicious. The recipe is quick but requires some time to chill the dough.

If you don’t have sourdough starter – there is a substitute below.

The cocoa powder and the chocolate chips are the stars here, use the best quality you can.

Let’s get straight to the recipe. As written, it makes 60 moderate cookies, 40 plus sized cookies.

Ingredients

• 240 grams plain white flour ( 2 cups)
• 80 grams cocoa powder (1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 150 grams of unsalted butter (2/3 cup)
• 75 grams milk chocolate or white chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
• 75 grams dark chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
• 200 grams granulated sugar (1 cup)
• 400 grams light brown sugar (2 cups)
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 170 grams of sourdough starter discard (or 85 grams of lukewarm water, 85 grams of plain flour = beaten well together). (2/3 cup)

Method

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the sugars. Mix well.
2. Place the butter and about 1/4 of the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Return to microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring after each until the chocolate chips are dissolved.
3. Start the stand mixer with the dry ingredients in the bowl. Pour in the melted butter and chocolate. Beat until creamy.
4. Break the eggs into a separate bowl. Add vanilla and beat lightly.
5. Pour into the stand mixer and mix well. Do not over beat from this point because you’ll beat the eggs to death. Well combined but no more.
6. Add the sourdough discard or flour/water mixture.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
9. Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan). Prep baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment. You must line the baking sheets or you’ll end up with a sticky mess. I use parchment for this recipe because I lift the sheets off the baking trays (intact) to help the cookies cool.
10. Scoop batter onto prepared baking sheets. I use my smaller trigger scoop ( size of a cake pop) to get moderate sized cookies. Use the golf ball sized scoop to get larger cookies. Adjust the spacing on the baking sheets accordingly. The cookies will spread – no need to flatten.
11. Keep an eye on the cookies, 8 to 10 minutes depending on your oven.
12. If I’m doing ‘Instagram worthy’ cookies, I put the batter back in the fridge in between prepping baking trays. Otherwise, just get them all ready and cycle through the oven.
13. Remove the cookies from the oven – cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then lift the liner off the baking sheets with the cookies on it to cool altogether.
14. These cookies benefit from a longer cooling period. They do tend to stick to the parchment so I flip the sheet over and peel it off the bottom of the cookies.

I find these keep well for a week or more (if there are any left) in a airtight container but make sure they are well cooled first.

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. Feedback much appreciated and tag me @mamadolson on Instagram and Twitter if you’re posting photos.

We live next door to the local church and like to attend the ‘Christingle’ service. What’s not to love about a church service that combines live animals, children and fire? The adults do the Christmas story (with animals) but every child is given an orange with sweets on toothpicks and a candle. Then all the candles are lit…..we’ve never seen any accidents but there are usually some near misses and once or twice the smell of singed hair has floated through the church.

We stroll home and have soup and my world famous toasted cheese sandwiches after which we play a board game (preferably a new one), put on our Christmas pyjamas and work on the Christmas jigsaw. One of my sisters sends us a jigsaw puzzle every year – some of them so fiendishly difficult that I wonder if she really likes us or the puzzle is very sophisticated trolling.

Everyone puts out their Christmas stocking and then looks the other way while family members stuff things in them. This is still relatively new for me: I used to buy things for my own stocking, wrap them and then open them the next morning. (My period as a single mom).

Oh, rule in our house – you can have your stocking when you get up but no ‘big’ gifts until after breakfast. As we are all adults now, at least in chronological age, it can be 11 am before this condition is achieved. My youngest (23) still remembers the ‘old days’ when he had a giant Christmas stocking, designed to keep him occupied until at least 8 am. This was seldom achieved but good for him anyway.

Suggested menu below!

Christmas Eve Menu

Simple crudité – carrots, celery, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, bell pepper strips, radishes

Corn chips

Hummus

Optional for the adults: oysters (on the shell if you like them) don’t eat ’em raw – try this recipe for simple baked oysters

Potato & carrot soup with grated cheddar cheese on top

World famous toasted cheese sandwiches (grilled cheese for you Americans)

This is an interesting menu to pair with wine. Personally, I’ll drink champagne with anything except Oreo cookies (don’t ask) and it’s highest and best use may well be with oysters. However, beer is also a good choice or a light red wine.

Prep Ahead Tips & Timing

1. Buy good quality sliced white bread and sliced cheese of your choice for the toasted cheese. It’s Christmas, everyone is busy, even I buy (some) bread this time of year. Look for good quality sliced cheese; cheddar, Swiss, Emmental are all good choices. Put the butter out to soften well ahead.
   
2. Prep your crudité the day before. Store in tightly sealed plastic bags with a damp piece of kitchen towel to keep them moist but crunchy.
   
3. Make the soup up to three days before. Grate your cheese for topping on the day.
   
4. Prep your oysters (either on crushed ice or pop them in the oven.
   
5. Get your soup warming, put out the crudité, chips and hummus.
   
6. Do your sandwiches up and serve everything.

Thanks for reading the blog, cooking the recipes and commenting. I hope your holidays are spent with people you love.

Toasted cheese sandwiches are part of our traditional Christmas Eve supper. Kids love them and served warm, adults can’t say no either. Two secrets to these world famous (just kidding) sandwiches; butter both sides of the bread and use a flat crepe pan or griddle for cooking.

Ingredients for this recipe are fairly obvious – bread, butter and sliced cheese. I serve these with soup and one sandwich each seems to be enough.

It’s okay to use good quality store bought white bread for this recipe. Might seem like heresy from someone who makes all her own bread but home made bread is denser and it’s difficult to get even slices. You want good quality white bread because it needs to carry a fair amount of butter without tearing.

Put good quality salted butter out to soften well before you’re planning to make the sandwiches. It’s Christmas so I like to use butter from Normandy ‘Isigny Ste Mere’; but any good quality salted makes a difference. Do not use margarine or ‘spread’. It’s a crime against sandwiches and you’re reading the wrong blog if you’re afraid of butter.

The eternal question for toasted cheese sandwiches: what type of cheese? If you’re feeding a crowd, then I recommend aged medium cheddar but most cheeses will do. If you’re feeding a few close friends (grown ups) it might be worth investing in some Comté or Jarlsberg. You can use hard or crumbly cheese if you want; grate it in advance and apply to the bottom half of the sandwiches once they’re on the pan.

Ingredients: sliced white bread, sliced or grated cheese of your choice and room temperature butter.

1. Put your pan on the heat to warm up. No need to apply butter or oil.
2. Put your oven on to warm, say 100C, prep an oven proof plate with a clean tea towel.
3. Butter both sides of each piece of bread. It’s a bit messy but absolutely worth it.
4. When the pan is hot, carefully place pre-buttered bread slices on the griddle and apply cheese to each slice. Place another pre-buttered bread slice on top of each. When the bottom is golden brown and toasted (3 to 4 minutes), flip each sandwich. The second side takes about half the time so keep an eye on it. The cheese might not be completely melted but don’t worry.
5. Transfer the sandwiches to the plate in the oven and cover them with the tea towel and leave them in gentle oven. They’ll be perfect by the time you’ve finished making all the sandwiches and are ready to serve up.

Get busy toasting! Thank you for reading the blog, cooking the recipes, sharing and commenting. Tag me @mamadolson on Instagram and Twitter if you’re posting photos.

Merry Christmas.

This is one of our favourite winter soups; traditionally we have this on Christmas Eve with the world’s greatest toasted cheese sandwiches. This recipe is based on one from the original Silver Palate cookbook. I’ve adjusted the seasoning and changed how the cheese is incorporated. The soup keeps much better when the cheese is added as a topping when serving it. Also – cheese can curdle unpredictably. Nothing like making a big vat of soup and then ruining it at the list minute.

Making this soup is easy, especially if you have a quality stick blender. I have a commercial standard one that could double as an outboard motor – if I could only find someplace to plug it in.

Another useful gadget is a handheld mandolin slicer; I slice the onions and the carrots straight into the pot with mine. Be careful – until you get used to the mandolin, you may lose the skin on the ends of your fingers. Several times in my case.

Easy to make a vegan version of this soup – substitute a light vegetable or nut oil for the butter and be careful with your vegetable stock. Remember that many commercial stock cubes are not vegan or even vegetarian (even vegetable stock).

Let’s get straight to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 85 grams unsalted butter
• 150 grams chopped or sliced onions
• 350 grams chopped or sliced carrots
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 litres vegetable stock, divided
• 900 grams of potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• Cheddar cheese for grating to serve.

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a deep stock pot.
2. Add the onions and the carrots, cook over a low heat until these are tender and lightly coloured, about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t scorch on the bottom.
3. Add the parsley, 1.5 litres of the stock and the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Puree the soup; easiest in the pot using a stick blender. Also can be done in a blender or a food processor. Separate the stock and the vegetables, retaining the stock. Put the softened vegetables in the blender or food processor, add enough stock to moisten (300 mls) and puree. Return the pureed soup to the pot.
5. Adjust the consistency using the extra stock if necessary. It will thicken as it cools. Taste for salt and pepper and season as necessary.
6. The soup will keep at this point for 3 days in the refrigerator; remove and heat up to serve.
7. Grate enough cheddar cheese to allow for a generous topping for everyone’s soup.
   
   

I’m trying to post all of my festive period menus and recipes. More coming soon.

The weather here in London is turning towards autumn after a summer that we hardly noticed. It’s time for some easy to cook comfort food. One of our family favourites is slow cooked lamb with prunes and pearl barley. It’s a classic one pot meal – well it’s two unless your slow cooker has a sauté function. Put it on in the morning and it’s perfect for dinner plus leftovers.

I have an amazing slow cooker that will brown and also make the sauce. If yours doesn’t have that function then make the sauce separately in a deep fry pan and add to the lamb in the slow cooker.

I use lamb shanks then strip the meat off them. It will also work well with a lamb shoulder or lamb neck. The recipe is for 6 lamb shanks, a generous two kilos with the weight of the bone or approximately 1 kilos if just using stewing lamb chunks. Ginger, saffron and the sweetness of the prunes gives this dish a Middle Eastern vibe. Adding the pearl barley a couple of hours before the end allows the barley to soak up all the juices. The recipe feeds 8 people with leftovers.

Recipe

Ingredients

6 lamb shanks

300 grams prunes

4 large shallots or an onion, chopped very fine

2 carrots, chopped very fine

45 mls (3 tablespoons olive oil)

Pat of butter

250 mls dry white wine

30 grams minced ginger (I use the jarred stuff for ease)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 litre (4 cups) lamb stock or chicken stock

250 grams of pearl barley or long grain rice.

Preparation

1. Put the saffron in a small amount of hot water. Sauté the onions, carrots and ginger in the olive oil with butter, until well softened. Add the white wine, cook at high temperature until all the alcohol in the wine has evaporated. Add the spices including the saffron and its liquid. Add the stock and bring to a simmer.
2. Pit the prunes and rough chop into halves. Put the lamb and the prunes in the slow cooker. If lamb shanks, stand them upright in the slow cooker with the bone ends up. Pour the sauce over the lamb. Cook on a low setting for six hours. Add the pearl barley or the rice about two hours before the cooking time is up. The barley will absorb most of the cooking liquid. Remove the lamb, bone it and return it to the slow cooker.
3. Allow the stew to cool for 20 to 30 minutes. You could add some mashed potatoes or Yorkshire puddings but I usually serve with a green salad or cooked green beans and a nice côte du Rhone.

Thanks for reading the blog, sharing, cooking the recipes and your comments.