Reader Recipe - Ed's Roast Lamb & Barley Soup - 1 - $ - !

Hurrah for reader recipes! You may remember Ed from such recipes as Ed's Winter Pasta Bake

He's been at it again with the warming dishes and sent this one in to share with the Ed's thumbs up.

Nice one Ed and thanks for sharing!


He writes...

A real winter warmer, and economical/resourceful overall. Ingredients make about 8-10 large serves.

As with all soups, use more or less ingredients if you need to or are poor (after a $60 work lunch here that day, I was definitely confined to "leftovers" for dinner!).
Be sparing with the barley, it goes straight to the bottom of the pot, and takes about 45 minutes to puff up to that wonderful texture, at which point it will take over the soup if you add too much.

Ingredients

Last night's roast lamb leftovers, bones n'all.
6 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled & coarsely chopped
1/2 a butternut pumpkin, peeled and cubed
8 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
150g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into thirds
75g barley
1/2 a large cabbage, shredded
1litre chicken or veggie stock
1 litre water (approx)
salt and pepper to taste (I use heaps)
dash of chilli powder (be sparing)
olive oil


1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Brown onion and garlic. Add potato, pumpkin and carrot and stir frequently for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
2. Add all the stock, bring it to boil, then add approx 300mls water, bring back to boil. Keep it moving as much as you can, cover for 10 minutes on high to continue to soften the veggies.
3. Add barley, stir in vigorously, remembering you won't see it for a while now. Bring back to boil, add cabbage and green beans and stir in, boil on high for 5 minutes, or til the cabbage wilts down and gives you some room (pot should be almost full by now). While this is happening, remove the meat and fat from the lamb bones and shred it roughly into smallish pieces. It's all going in, that's how soup works.
4. Add the bones, give it a few minutes then add the lamb and stir it all vigorously. Bring to boil if not already, and simmer for 20 minutes with lid on. Add more water if needed.
5. At this point use a masher to coarsely break up the veggies if required (not too much though)..time will do most of the work after that. Stir, stir, stir, then simmer for another 40-60 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

It is ready when the barley is soft and puffy, the soup is opaque and the lamb bones are mostly bare - don't eat them but! This soup is so filling on its own, bread is not required.

Enjoy!

The Cookbook Challenge Week 31 - French - Roast Lamb with Beans - 2 - $

Bonjour!

Before my stove blew up I was already shamefully lagging in The Cookbook Challenge and now I'm even more behind - mon dieu! However my new appliance has finally been installed, so I thought it best to just plunge on with the current week and cook a French inspired dish.

I've had my eye on this Roast Lamb With Beans ever since I was gifted Jamie Oliver's new book Jamie Does Spain, Italy, Morocco, Sweden, Greece and France and what better way to christen my oven than by cooking something directly on the racks!

Jamie gives the option of doing either a slow cooked version or a regular one. As I had the afternoon at home today I opted for the three hour cooking time and the pull-apart meat. And boy am I glad I did! This dish was sublime. The creamy beans as so full of flavour after soaking up the juices from the lamb it's almost obscene.
My first whirl with the new oven was impressive - and now I have a quality appliance it's time to start trying all those dishes I've been putting off!

My new oven and my new Wagons tea towel

It's really simple prep for this dish and if you don't have the luxury of a lazy arvo of cooking you can still get it done in the usual 1 1/4 hours that you would need for a regular roast.
The recipe calls for canned flageolet beans but if you can't get these any other tinned white beans are fine to use.

Ingredients - Serves 6 (As it was just Mr Tea and me for dinner I used about half the amounts below and a smaller lamb leg.)

1 leg of lamb on the bone (approx 2kg)
olive oil
10 cloves of garlic
small bunch of fresh thyme
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 medium leeks, peeled and sliced diagonally 2cm thick
2 onions peeled and finely sliced
1 fresh bay leaf (I didn't have these so just used a couple of little dried ones)
large bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
4 x 400gm tins of beans
1.5 litres chicken, lamb or vegetable stock (I used chicken)
salt and pepper to season

Preheat the oven on high.
Use a small sharp knife to stab the lamb leg all over. Season it with salt and pepper and rub in some olive oil. Slice 4 of the garlic cloves and stuff them into the incisions you made in the lamb. Poke in some thyme and rosemary too.
Meanwhile, put the leeks, onions and remaining whole garlic cloves in the baking dish you're going to roast them in and place on the stove over a medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and add a splash of olive oil. Cook stirring occassionally for 15 minutes or until they are soft.

Tie the thyme and half the parsley and bay leaf (if using a fresh one) together with cooking string and add it to the tray. Pour in the beans and stock and stir well to combine everything.
Place the lamb directly on the oven rack (I put mine on a wire rack and then on the oven one just so it was easier to get it in and out) and place the tray of veg underneath so all the juices from the lamb can drip down on top of it.
If you're doing the quick version, reduce heat to 180C degrees and cook for about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 hours depending on how pink you like the meat. Rest the lamb for 15 minutes and put the beans back on the stove on a high heat to reduce the liquid (leave a little bit for when you add the mashed ones: see below).

If you're doing the slow cooked version, reduce the heat to 160C degrees and cook for about 3 hours. There will be no need to reduce the beans after cooking this long but leave them in the oven covered, to stay warm while you rest the meat for around half an hour (cover the meat in foil too).
Before serving put about a third of the cooked beans in a bowl and mash them. Stir them back in the tray of veg to make it nice and creamy. Finely chop the rest of the parsley and stir it through the veg too.
Serve the lamb on top of the beans.

Bon appetit!

Greek Style BBQ Lamb Chops & Salad - 2 - $/$$ - !

I have decided to boycott winter, and as such fired up the BBQ last night in an attempt to channel summer.
You could cook these marinated lamb chops inside; but like a rain dance, perhaps if we all start BBQ-ing the weather will get better, sooner - shall we give it a try?



Ingredients - Lamp Chop Marinade (!)

Lamb chops (I used loin chops this time around because I scored a whole tray for $10 at the market, but if you use cutlets, it's perfection)
Olive oil
Lemon juice (1 lemon per 4 chops)
2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
Oregano - fresh is best, but dried will do
Salt and pepper to season

In a big bowl pour in a generous amount of olive oil, squeeze in the lemon juice, add the herbs, garlic and season. Whisk together and have a taste. Add extra amounts as required, to your taste.
Lay the chops out in a shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over the top, turning the chops to ensure they are coated both sides. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, turning once at the halfway point.
BBQ or grill the chops just the way you like 'em.

Ingredients - Greek Salad

1 Lebanese cucumber, skin left on and sliced into chunks
1/2 Punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 Red onion, finely sliced
1/3 Cup Kalamata Olives
Medium size chunk of good Greek feta (I favour Dodoni)

Place the cucumber and tomato in the same bowl you used to mix the marinade above, and stir to coat them with the leftover mix. Season with some salt and place in the fridge until it's time to cook the lamb.
Just before serving add the olives, onion and crumble the feta over the top of the ingredients and toss well. Taste a piece of cucumber and add some more dressing of oil and lemon juice if required.
Serve with the chops above (mini roast potatoes also go well with this dish).

Enjoy!