Roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary

My lovely butcher took out the socket and bone and tied up the meat with string. But whether boned or not the method is roughly the same.



Leg of lamb
Garlic
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Sea salt
Lemons

Squeeze two lemons and reserve juice.
In a pestle and mortar pound together a small handful of fresh rosemary, 3 garlic cloves, sea salt, lemon juice and a tablespoon of olive oil.
Take a sharp knife and make quite deep slices all over the lamb.

Tomatoe and basil salad

Ingredients

Tomatoes - mixed
Basil
Garlic
Olive Oil

I got a selection of tomatoes - red cherry, yellow cherry and red plum - to give a bit of variety.

Slice the tomatoes up thinly and spread out on a plate. Chop up the basil and add to a spoonful of olice oil. Some folks like to leave the dressing like that - I like to add a crushed clove of garlic. Pound in pestle and mortar for a minute or so. Drizzle over the tomatoes, cover, and let it stand for 30 mins before serving so that the flavours develop. Season with salt and pepper if you like. And soak up any lovely juices left over with bread.

Easter Sunday Dinner (2)

The menu is as follows:

Starter



Matzo
Tomatoe and basil salad
Boiled egg slices
Houmous



Main
Roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary
Roast potatoes
Roast veggies (carrot, parsnip, shallots)
Broccoli
Gravy

Pudding
Strawberries in balsamic vinegar

You can link to the recipes!!!

Easter Sunday Dinner (1)

Today I kicked off not by stuffing my face full of chocolate but by having a wee morning bike ride - so that when the chocolate eating commences I can feel I have earned it!

This years Easter Sunday Dinner I am trying out roasting a leg of lamb. I am also fusing passover and Easter Sunday traditions by having a starter that uses matzo alongside a tomatoe basil salad and houmous and, if I get the time, boiled egg slices. Not quite a scorched egg but it will do. For pudding I am doing strawberries in balsamic vinegar served with cream fraiche and, because you can't have too much chocolate, a chocolate cake (Granny McCall's recipe) decorated with chocolate buttons.

The chocolate buttons themselves are pretty special as they are chocolate copies of vintage buttons produced by Hotel Chocolat a company that makes gourmet chocolate.




Anyway - I will post up the recipes separately else this will turn into a very long post.

A Day of Healthy Eating

I have been indulging a lot on the food front recently - what with work being so busy and visits to my sister food has been something of a 'reward' mechanism! So with a couple of days off I decided to get myself sorted with some balanced fuel and get back on the straight and narrow food-wise. So today I had a yoghurt for breakfast, crudites and dip and a pear for lunch, and a large baked potatoe with my special tuna recipe. I also had a banana after going to the gym! So I feel extra chuffed with myself. And, apart from that mid-afternoon wobble I always get, when chocolate seems to be crucial to my survival, I haven't felt hungry or craved. I reckon if I can manage to do this over the next few days I will be able to manage my cake and chocolate cravings better next week at work. I like to treat myself on weekends but lately that has crept into the working week - not good! And as it affects my health - and I don't want sore joints and muscles and wierded out skin for spring - I have a powerful incentive! I love my food and baking and cooking make me really happy - but balance is a good thing too.

The Kitchen Table and the First Lady's biceps

The Kitchen Table isn't a blog about food exactly - food for thought yes though - it is a blog run by two feminist profs in the USA and they talk about racial and feminist issues by writing letters to each other through the blog.

I found the site through a really cool blog called First Guns where the writer(s)blog as Michelle Obama's biceps, Thunder and Lightening - it is a fantastic satirical take on the whole 'scandal' that the First Lady has arms that sometimes are on show (which is obviously the most shocking thing ever - flashing upper arm flesh - whatever next!).

Morph Lives!

Except apparently he is living on!