My special rosemary potatoes

These are my only fried attempt at potatoes and I picked up the recipe in part from my old flatmate Calum and through figuring out one day what to do with some left over rosemary. Now they are my 'posh' alternative to usual boiled potatoes.

New potatoes
Rosemary
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and black pepper

Cut the potatoes into four - or small pieces - not bigger than 2-3 cms.
Par boil and then drain.
Put the rosemary,peeled garlic, salt, pepper and a slug of oil and crush it all together using a pestle and mortar. Do not food process! You want to bruise rather than mince it up.
Heat enough oil to cover a frying pan by 1 cm.
Add the drained potatoes and then spoon over the rosemary mixture, turning the potatoes so they get covered in oil and the mixture. Fry for about 20-30 mins turning 2-3 times.

I make the mixture as the potatoes are draining because I think that potatoes left to cool before hitting hot oil fry better and get a crispier coating.

If you make enough to have some left over, they are great cold, or reheated, and dipped in sour cream as a wee lunchtime snack or accompaniement to salad.

Roast Veggies

I have posted before about roast veggies where I have cut them up into 1-2 inch pieces. This time around I went for chunky!

Carrots
Parsnips
Baby onions or shallots
Peppers
Courgettes



Peel, top and tail carrots. Cut in half then cut in half lengthways. You should have four equal length pieces per carrot.
Do the same to the courgettes.
Parsnips are almost the same but if like me your parsnips are much thicker at one end than the other you should cut up into six rather than four.
Peppers - cut off the tops and slice the pepper using the white lines inside as a guide. You usually don't have to cut more but if you get a really big piece slice it in two.

Peel, top and tail onions and don't slice up.

Chuck all of the veggies in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix and then spread on a roasting tin. Roast, turning occasionally, for 30-40 minutes. You will get the nice roastie outside but with lots of soft and tasty flesh of veggies inside - and the onions will be almost sweet with roasting. Yum!

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.