Lamb Rogan Josh Recipe

Delicious rich lamb curry made with onions and tomatoes, perfect with naan or rice and a Cobra beer.

Ingredients

• 3 tbls butter
• 1 kg cubed lamb steak
• 1 tbls ground cumin
• 1 tbls ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2-3 large onions, finely sliced
• 1 tin chopped tomatos
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, in quarters
• 1 tbls tomato puree
• 1/4 pint water
• 1/4 pint low-fat natural bio yoghurt
• 2 tsp of garam masala
• 2 tbsl of chopped coriander

Instructions
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and fry the meat on a medium heat in 2 to 3 batches until it browns, then put each batch to one side after frying.

Lower the heat and add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, ginger and garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Put the heat back up and the meat along with any juices. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes then add the onions. Fry for another 5 to 6 minutes stirring frequently.

Now add the tomatoes and tomato puree - stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the water and salt, bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the meat is tender (around 60 minutes).

Stir in the yoghurt and remove from the heat. In a separate pan melt 1 tablespoon of butter over a medium heat and add the garam masala, stir then add to the meat. Transfer a little meat gravy to the pan in which the garam masala was fried - stir thoroughly to ensure that any remaining garam masala and butter mixture is fully incorporated into the gravy and add this to the meat. Mix well. Stir in the coriander leaves.

Chicken and Chorizo Stew Recipe

This flavourful dish is a real Mediterranean mix - French-style cassoulet with Italian beans and Spanish sausage, slow cooked to let the full flavours develop. The chorizo melts to add a paprika punch to the rich red-wine, tomato and garlic sauce and the hint of lemon cuts right through the richness. Serve with plenty of crusty bread - you won’t want to leave a drop, and it’s easier to mop it up with the bread than trying to lick your plate clean!

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 2 hours+

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, jointed into 10 pieces
• 150g Chorizo sausage cut into 1cm cubes
• plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 bulb of garlic (about 10-15 cloves), peeled
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 small red chilli, chopped
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ bottle of red wine
• 4 rosemary sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 x 400g tinned plum tomatoes, drained
• 100g brown or green lentils
• 1 tin of borlotti beans
• 1 tin of cannellini beans
• 1 pint of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 10 dashes of Tabasco sauce
• 1 lemon, grated zest and juice
• 2 tsps smoked paprika
• ½ tsp sugar

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and warm a large casserole dish.

Coat the chicken pieces in the flour and seal in a large pan or stock pot with some olive oil. Once brown remove the chicken from the pan and place to one side.

Next, add the onions, carrots, and chilli to the pan and cook gently for 10 minutes until softened. Chuck in the garlic cloves and the balsamic vinegar, followed by the wine, rosemary and bay leaves. Reduce the liquid by half over a moderate heat.

Pour in the drained tomatoes, reduce the liquid again by half, then add the lentils and beans. Stir and add the stock, mustard and Chorizo sausage. Bring to a simmer. Add the lemon juice and zest, the sugar, paprika, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce and a good twist of salt and pepper.

Remove the casserole dish from the oven, add the chicken and cover with the sauce, then return it to the oven for
about 2 hours.

Serve several pieces of chicken and several ladles of the cassoulet per person in a bowl with some crusty bread and a large glass of full bodied red. We recommend d’Arenberg’s Stump Jump Grenache/Shiraz 2005.

Smoked Duck and Orange Salad Recipe

This is an absolutely stunning starter for a dinner party, and is a doddle to make, as there’s barely any preparation needed. We bought our smoked duck fillet from Le Marche du Quartier, in Borough Market, as well as our salad leaves from Paul Crane’s stall. We used blood oranges from our Abel & Cole organic fruit and vegetable delivery box. The dressing is piquant but not overpowering, and your guests will be very impressed with the elegant presentation! For a vegetarian version, I used sliced pears instead of duck, with the dressing adding the savoury twist.

Serves 4

Salad

1 smoked duck fillet
2 - 3 oranges
mixed salad leaves - rocket, spinach etc.

Dressing

Juice of one orange (approx 4 tbsp)
Juice of 2 lemons (approx 4 tbsp)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch Maldon salt
pinch freshly ground pepper

To prepare the salad, wash the salad leaves and pat dry. Arrange a handful of leaves on each plate.

Thinly slice the smoked duck fillet on a diagonal, leave the layer of fat on.

Peel the oranges with a knife, so there isn’t any white pith left on the flesh. Slice into segments. Arrange on top of the salad leaves.

Then, make the dressing. If you have an empty jam jar, combine all ingredients in, screw the lid on tightly and shake vigorously.

Just before serving, heat a frying pan or griddle pan, and gently warm the duck slices, 1 minute on each side is sufficient.

Arrange duck slices on top of the salad leaves and orange segments, and drizzle the dressing over it all.

Sarah’s Pescetarian Pasta Sauce Recipe

This is a basic non-meat pasta sauce which I just whipped up for my dinner after work, not much chopping involved, and it’s easily adapted - throw in whatever kind of veg you have on hand, courgette, aubergine, carrots, onions, olives etc. I’ve added anchovies and sardines for protein, but you could easily leave these out for a purely vegetarian pasta sauce, or, add meat. I sometimes throw in a tablespoon of capers as well. I tend to use spray olive oil to keep calories and fat low, but you could use normal olive oil as well. Basically, this is a guide, play with it.

Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 20 min

Serves 4

1 medium carrot
1 red onion
2 large shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 red chilli
100 g mushrooms, closed cup
2 x 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin anchovies (1 tin normally 35 g)
1 tin sardines in brine, drained
olive oil
Maldon salt
pepper
dried basil
dried oregano

First, chop the onion and shallots and chilli. You can de-seed the chilli if you don’t like a kick, otherwise leave them in.

Spray some olive oil into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. If not using spray, use 1 tsp oil. Add the onions, shallots and chilli to the pan and gently sautee. If sticking, add a spoonful of water to the pan to soften the onion mixture. Then crush the garlic and add. Cook until mixture is soft and translucent, but it shouldn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. In the meantime, slice the mushrooms and finely dice the carrot. Add the mushrooms and carrot to the mixture and cook for 10 minutes, til soft. The mushrooms will add some liquid to the mixture. Sprinkle in the dried oregano and basil, about 1/2 tsp each. If you have fresh, then use, as the flavour will be much nicer.

Add the chopped tomatoes, anchovies, a pinch of Maldon, and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. You can simmer for longer if you like to reduce the liquid a bit and make the sauce thicker. Just before serving, drain the sardines and add to the sauce, stir to break into chunks. Serve with hot pasta of your choice and freshly grated Parmesan.

152 calories per serving
15 g carbohydrate
11.9 g protein
5.3 g fat
2.7 g fibre

Anchor & Hope Restaurant Review

The Anchor & Hope is a gastropub run by the same people at St John, The Fox, and The Eagle - all known for their offally good food. Great food, great service - and the best chips we’ve ever had - but you might have to wait for a table, especially if you visit at peak hours. Bearing in mind we only arrived at 10pm and still had to wait, on a Tuesday night, that gives you a rough idea of how popular the Anchor & Hope is. Definitely one of South London’s gems.

We paid a visit on Tuesday, 27th February, around 10pm, after a few post-work drinks. We hadn’t booked, and in fact I think there is a no-booking policy, however the waiting staff were extremely helpful, even offering to serve us in the bar area. However we wanted to eat in the non-smoking restaurant area, (yes, rejoice those of you who prefer to enjoy your food unsullied by the rude w*nker next to you who decides to light their cancer stick) so decided to wait with our bottle of Rioja.

Sharing tables
We waited about 30 minutes to be shown to our table that we shared with a couple of sapphic lovers. Due to the demand at this gastropub I think sharing tables is fairly common, so if you go, don’t be surprised if you do have to share. However this didn’t impact on our enjoyment of the victuals which were about to arrive at our table.

To start I ordered the brandade with salad, although I had to enquire what brandade actually is. It turned out to be a mixture of pureed potato with salt cod and some herbs - delicious with a rich creamy texture and a not overpowering flavour. Being a potato fan I thought it was delicious, and substantial as a starter. Paul ordered beef consomme accompanied by a slice of artisanal toast with duck pate, which he enjoyed.

To follow we ordered the beef fore ribs for two - accompanied by fresh, hot, crispy chips, and a green salad lightly dressed. The beef was cooked to perfection - medium rare, a fresh rosy colour and had all the fat round the edges to give extra flavour. Tender and juicy, it was heavenly to a couple of hungry carnivores.

The chips
Ah, the chips - the best I have ever had in my life. They were thick cut, double-fried and seasoned to perfection, salty, without being over salted, and it would have been an insult to even wave the ketchup bottle in their direction. Crispy on the outside, steaming hot on the inside with rich fluffy goodness filling our senses. If you go even only for their chips, it will have been a trip worth making.

We polished off our mains in good order, and followed those by a creme caramel which was light and delicate, though a bit small. To be fair that was probably a good call as Paul had ordered a deliciously creamy coffee ice-cream, which we also shared. It tasted like real home-made ice-cream, without a hint of chemicals or that tacky gooiness you tend to see in commercial varieties.

Reassuringly expensive
The three course meal totalled £30 per person, the bottle of wine being extra which was £18.50. Most mains aren’t too expensive, ranging from £13-£17 but we did splurge on the beef for two which was £40.00.

Our waiter was very attentive and obliging, even though some dishes had been sold out, he came back with alternatives and was very helpful - well worth a tip!

Order by the bottle
The only discordant note we saw struck was by a couple in front of us in the bar area who had chosen to have their meal there instead of waiting to be seated in the restaurant area. As they had ordered wine by the glass, it arrived in a little juice tumbler, and they were envious of our wine glasses - we had purchased by the bottle. And why not - let the customer who buys the bottle have a better glass, for they are spending more money. It’s all in the benefits of the upgrade - upgrade to a bottle from a glass, and you’ll get the wine glasses. I understand some may only want a glass, but really, who in their sane mind over a lovely meal will want only one glass? If it’s a dinner outing, splurge a bit. You only live once.

Anchor & Hope
36 The Cut, London, SE1 8LE
Tel: 0871 0757279

Garlic Roast Chicken With Lemon & Thyme Recipe

Give your Sunday a bit of an edge with this fantastic roast chicken recipe - the flavours of the lemon, garlic and thyme are amazing but don’t overpower the chicken. Wrapping the dish in foil is a bit fiddly but well worth it -the wine and juices are sealed in whilst cooking which practically steams the bird, keeping it tender and juicy. It may sound like a lot of garlic, but with the roasting time the cloves become delicate and sweet - delicious served up to be squished and eaten with the meat.

Serves: 6-8

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5- 2 hours

Nutritional information, average per serving (est.)

Calories:585.7 kcal
Protein: 53.4 g
Carbohydrate: 38.7 g
Fat: 38.7 g
Fibre: 0.3 g

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, approx 2kg - at least free-range, preferably also organic
• 2 whole lemons
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 2 garlic bulbs (20-25 cloves)
• 250ml dry white wine, eg sauvignon blanc
• 2 large onions
• Glug of olive oil
• Pinch of Maldon sea salt
• Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch), for the gravy

You will also need a large roasting dish and enough wide aluminium foil (aka tinfoil) to double wrap it.

Note: Cooking time will depend on the size of the chicken - allow 45 minutes per kilogram. To ensure the meat is cooked, push a roasting fork into the thigh to see if the juices run clear. The temperature of the leg meat should be at least 80ºC.

Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. Pat the chicken with paper towel until dry and then drizzle with a glug of olive oil. Using your hands (wash them first!), massage the oil all over the chicken until coated. Sprinkle with the sea salt and black pepper and pat down so it sticks. Don’t forget to wash your hands again.

Take the garlic bulbs and place them under a large knife, pressing down until the cloves are separated - don’t worry about the skin. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and add the chicken and garlic cloves. Brown the chicken on the top, bottom and sides until golden. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

Cut the onions in half and position in a large roasting dish. Place the chicken on top. Cut the lemons into quarters and stuff inside the cavity of the chicken. If they don’t all fit, just place them in the dish with the chicken. Try and squeeze a few of the garlic cloves inside with the lemons, scattering the rest around the chicken in the dish. Pour the glass of wine over the chicken, then shake the thyme sprigs over the chicken to sprinkle it with some leaves. Stuff a few of the leaves in the cavity so they stick out a bit then toss the rest around the chicken.

Now take a length of the foil and unroll onto the counter, enough to wrap around the roasting dish. Place the roasting dish on top in the middle and bring the two ends of the foil together above the turkey. Fold one end over the over, then again, to create a seal. Take each open side and fold it over itself twice to seal the sides. Take another length of foil and repeat, but rotating the dish 90 degrees. This will seal the chicken in with the wine and juices to steam it.

Place the foil sealed roasting dish in the preheated oven for 1.5 hours. 15 minutes before the end, remove the foil and baste with the juices from the pan. Return to the over to allow the skin to crisp up. Check the meat is cooked, then remove from the oven and allow it to rest for another 15-20 minutes before carving and serving.

To make the gravy, strain the juices from the roasting dish into a jug and skim the fat off the top. Pour into a small pan and bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a little of the liquid to make a paste, removing all lumps, then add to the gravy. Stir until it starts to thicken.

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We bought our organic chicken from Furness Fish, Poultry & Game Supplies at Borough Market for £3.80/kg.

Made this recipe? Let us know what you thought!

Chianti Mutton Recipe

A robust and authentic Italian dish that can be made with either lamb or mutton - but we really recommend the mutton if you can afford the extra cooking time. It’s really simple to make but with fantastic flavours - pretty much a case of sticking everything in a pan and leaving it for a few hours. Just don’t skimp on the quality of the Chianti - if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it!

Serves: 6-8

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2-3 hours

Nutritional information, average per serving (est.)

Calories: 418.2 kcal
Protein: 40.2 g
Carbohydrate: 7.1 g
Fat: 16.2 g
Fibre: 2.4 g

Ingredients

• 1 kg diced mutton or lamb
• 3-4 large carrots, diced (300g)
• 1-2 large onions, chopped (450g)
• 3-4 celery stalks, chopped (200g)
• 4-5 sprigs of thyme, washed
• 6 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
• 1L Chianti
• 50ml olive oil
• Maldon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to season

Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat and fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic until soft and the onions are translucent. This should take 15-20 minutes. Ensure the mutton or lamb is cut into bite-sized pieces and then add it to the pan, and fry for another 5-10 minutes until browned and the meat is sealed. Pour in enough wine to cover, which should be about one litre. Since a bottle is only 750ml this will cunningly leave you with an open bottle of Chianti to finish off later…

Shake the thyme sprigs over the pan so some leaves fall in, then drop the sprigs in whole. Don’t worry about the twigs, you can pick them out before you serve it. Season well with sea salt and black pepper then bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 2-3 hours. If you’re using lamb rather than mutton it will melt in the mouth after 2 hours, whereas mutton will benefit from any extra time you can afford.

Serve with polenta, pasta or crusty bread - and a glass of Chianti. It’s that simple… but bloody good!

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We used Farmer Sharp’s mutton from Borough Market which was around £8.50/kg and the wine was Piccini Chianti Reserva 2003 which was £5.99 from Tesco.

Tried this recipe? Let us know what you thought!