Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Fondant Potato

It's cold, it's snowy, it's icy; it must almost be time for...erm, Easter? 

The new-born lambs may need jumpers and the Easter Bunny may be using skis, but yes next week is Easter Sunday; a day to feast on chocolate eggs and gorgeous, seasonal British lamb.  

So why not try having your lamb like this; tender cutlets with a flavourful duvet of fresh herbs, served with a soft, buttery fondant potato. It'll warm you right up. It's also quick to prepare so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time chocolate eating. 

Ingredients to serve 2: 

One 6-cutlet rack of British lamb, trimmed

2 tbsp of thyme leaves

2 tbsp of finely chopped rosemary

50g of fresh soft white breadcrumbs

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

3 tbsp of olive oil

Sea salt

For the fondant potatoes: 

4 medium Desiree potatoes

400ml of vegetable stock

100g of unsalted butter

2 fat garlic cloves

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Firstly prepare the potatoes; peel and then use a 48mm cookie cutter to cut out a small cylinder from the middle of the potato, making sure it's even in thickness. You may need to use a mallet to bash down the cutter, but be careful because the edges of the cutter may be sharp. When the cylinder is cut out trim the ends to straighten and, if you want to be extra-cheffy, round off the edges. Alternatively you can use a small paring knife to cut out the cylinder, but it won't be as consistent in thickness and may cook unevenly. Put the potatoes in a bowl of cold water until you're ready to cook. 

For the herb crust put the breadcrumbs, herbs, and lemon zest into a bowl with a pinch of sea salt, then stir in 2 tbsps of the olive oil until the mixture is moist and sticks together when you press it with the back of the spoon. 

Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan until hot, then add the rack of lamb and sear all over. Remove the rack from the pan when browned and set aside. Brush the top, fatty side of the rack with the Dijon mustard and then pack the herb crust down on top. Place the rack into a roasting tin and put in the oven; cook for 15 minutes for rare (as in the photo below), 20 for medium-rare  or 25 for medium. 

While the lamb is in the oven cook the fondant potatoes. In a heavy-based sauté pan (that has an accompanying lid) melt the butter over a low heat, then turn the heat up to high so that the butter is sizzling. Add the potatoes and fry until the bottoms are golden. At this point add the garlic, thyme, and stock. Bring the stock to the boil and then reduce to a simmer, put the lid on the pan, and cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are soft. 

Remove the lamb from the oven and rest for 5 minutes in a warm place, then carve into individual cutlets. Remove the potatoes from the pan and serve them golden side-up with the cutlets and the vegetable of your choice (I had this with buttered leeks). 

I like my lamb almost bleating. 

A Clichéd Christmas: Festive Party Nibbles

Onto another Christmas food cliché; the party nibble. For parties too drunken for them to be called 'canapés' and too aspirational to be called mere 'snacks', the 'nibble' is in all your faces at this time of year.  

The rules of party nibbles are such: they have to be small enough to eat in one bite or two, they're much cuter if they are in fact 'mini' versions of big food (OMGZ LOOK, IT'S MINI!), and the more bling the better. My party nibbles tick every box.

Throughout December you will be bombarded with glitzy TV adverts for supermarket party foods and, no doubt, be blinded with a vast array of foodie blog posts about them. But in this post taste is paramount, and relative ease for maximum nibble-osity is key.

(I say this post is about party nibbles, but frankly you can stuff your face with them all sat in front of the TV with your pyjamas for all I care.)

Mini Muffalettas

Full-size muffalettas are an iconic sandwich with it's origins in the Italian community of New Orleans. This nibble doesn't even need cooking; it's all in the assembly. See how good I am to you? 

Ingredients to make roughly 24:

1 square loaf of focaccia (you can use plain or any flavour, but I think slow-roasted tomato works best) 

3 slices of Emmenthal cheese

9 slices of salami Milano

8 slices of montadella

Baby spinach leaves

Roasted red pepper chutney (I use Tesco Finest)

Firstly to get the best shape trim the crusts off all four edges of the focaccia, and then slice in half through the centre to create one giant sandwich. 

Smother 3-4 of tablespoons of chutney over the soft side of each slice of focaccia, then cover the bottom slice with the baby spinach leaves. Then add two layers of the montadella (4 slices should completely cover the bread), followed by one layer of the Emmenthal, and finally one layer of the salami Milano. Top with the other slice of focaccia. 

Place the entire focaccia onto a solid board and cover with a length of clingfilm. Then put another board on top of the focaccia and weight down with a couple of tins. Leave this for at least 2 hours, or overnight if you have time, in order to squash the fillings together and prevent the muffalettas falling apart when cut up. 

When it's been sufficiently squished together remove the weights, board, and clingfilm and use a large knife to cut into small squares (about an inch square) and finish by piercing with a cocktail stick (for both practical and pretty reasons). 

Quail Scotch Eggs with smoked bacon

More OMGZ mini food now, but with a smoky bacon-y twist. 

Ingredients to make 12: 

12 quail's eggs (to make this even easier use ready-hard boiled and peeled eggs, available at Waitrose)
400g of sausage-meat
4 rashers of smoked back bacon
Oregano
Salt and pepper
120g panko breadcrumbs (they're crispier than normal)
2 eggs, beaten 
4 tablespoons of plain flour
Vegetable oil, for deep frying

If you haven't taken my excellent advice or can't source the ready-prepped quail's eggs, start by boiling the eggs in water for 3 minutes, then plunge into iced water immediately. When they're cool carefully peel them, remembering to gently rinse off any leftover shell, and set aside. 

Fry the bacon in a tablespoon of oil until it's cooked, but not crispy, then remove the bacon from the pan and drain on a couple of sheets of kitchen roll. When it's cooled dice the slices reasonably finely. At this point you should also preheat the oil to 190c - it's safer and quicker to do this in a deep-fat fryer, but if you don't have one use a deep, heavy pan. Also preheat the oven to 200c (180c fan). 

Mix the sausage-meat with the oregano, seasoning, and diced bacon - I prefer to do this with my hands so that the ingredients are well and truly mixed together (and it's delightfully messy). 

Now set out the flour on a plate, the eggs in one bowl and the breadcrumbs in another. Take a small handful of the meat mixture (about twice the size of the egg) and roll into a ball using your hands. Then flatten the ball, place the egg in the middle, and fold the meat around it. When the egg is entirely covered roll in your hands again to regain the ball shape. 

Roll the egg in the flour and pat off any excess, then coat completely in the beaten egg, and then drop into the breadcrumbs and roll it around until it's covered. Fry the egg for 3-4 minutes until it's golden and crispy, then remove from the fryer and place on a couple of sheets of kitchen roll to drain. 

When all your eggs are fried put them on a baking tray and finish in the oven for 5 minutes. When they're done, allow to cool and then serve cut into halves. 

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tartlets

What am I forgetting? Oh yes - BLING. There are lots of ways to introduce the bling factor into your nibbles, but none as oozey or glam as these tartlets. 

Ingredients to make 12: 

320g of shortcrust pastry, ready-rolled (hey, it's Xmas, who wants to mess about with a rolling pin?)
200g of dark chocolate
175 of golden caster sugar
120ml of double cream
120g of butter, cubed (plus a little extra for greasing)
1/2 tsp of sea salt flakes
Gold leaf (for tarting up...) 

First preheat the oven to 200c (180c fan) and grease a 12-hole tartlet tray (the same you'd use for mince pies) with butter. Cut out circles of pastry with a pastry cutter that's slightly bigger than the diameter of the hole of the tray - this will ensure that the tartlet is the right shape and size. Place the pastry into the holes, prick the bottoms a few times with a fork, place a circle of greaseproof paper into each one, and finish with a few baking beans. Cook in the oven for 12 minutes, until crispy and cooked through. When they're done, remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. 

In a heavy-bottomed pan gently heat the sugar with 3 tablespoons of water until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and then simmer for a couple of minutes until the syrup turns an amber, caramel colour (but don't stir!). Then carefully (it will spit) stir in the cream and salt, and then the butter. Leave aside to cool for a few minutes. While the caramel is cooling melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. 

When the caramel has cooled, but is still liquid, spoon into the tartlet cases. Fill them about 3/4 full. Then set aside to cool and firm up for about 10 minutes.  

When the caramel has firmed pour over a small amount of the melted chocolate, making sure the surface is level and shiny. While the chocolate is still liquid use a cocktail stick to carefully place a couple of flakes of gold leaf into the centre. Then place the tartlets into the fridge so that the chocolate cools and solidifies. 

The finished tartlets will be oozey in the centre and crisp on top. 

A Clichéd Christmas: Cherry Tomato and Sweet Chilli Jam

I don't want to get all 'Kirstie's Homemade Christmas' on you but every year I make food hampers as gifts. Partly because I'm eternally poor and partly because I really like sharing my recipes with people and making them food which makes them smile. I'm such a cliché. 

As someone who is allergic to trends, I realise this may seem a bit faddy of me. But, in all honesty, I GOT THERE FIRST. I've been doing food hampers for ions, before it all got twee and fashionable and everyone from Nigella to Kirstie Bloody Allsopp was doing them. Every year I include staple items, which year on year everyone loves, and also new recipes and things I just fancy trying out. 

My cherry tomato and sweet chilli jam is one of the staples; it's perfect with crackers and cheese on Boxing Day or as a burger relish on NYE. It's a tingling combination of sweet, sour, and hot. I made my first batch this very morning, proving that it's the perfect thing to make as a last minute gift. 

Because I'm making this recipe at Christmas I've used tinned cherry tomatoes; in the summer please feel free to use an equal quantity of fresh British cherry tomatoes but in the winter you won't get the same flavour so use tinned instead. 

Ingredients to make 3 medium (8oz) jars: 

800g of tinned cherry tomatoes in natural juice (2 cans)

2 tsps of coriander seeds

2 tsps of cumin seeds

3 cloves of garlic

2 white onions

5cm lump of ginger

2 red chillies

300g of soft light brown sugar

250ml of white wine vinegar

2 tsps of dark soy sauce (for GF use a gluten-free soy sauce or you can leave it out completely and use a teaspoon of sea salt instead)

Olive oil

Firstly you need to make sure you sterilise your jars so that they're ready to use straight away when the jam is done. You can do this by putting them in the dishwasher, or a quick way is to put a drop of antibacterial washing liquid in each jar, fill to the brim with boiling water, and then leave the water to cool in the jar. 

Next you need to toast the coriander and cumin seeds so that they develop their full flavour and fragrance. I do this by using a specialist Indian tadka pan over an open flame, but it's just as good to use a small frying pan on the hob. Toast the seeds dry, without oil, on a medium heat for a few minutes until you hear the coriander seeds start to pop. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool before bashing them into a powder using a pestle and mortar. 

The jam uses a paste, sort of like a curry, for the base of it's flavour. To make this you need the onions, garlic, ginger, and chillies. I find it best to peel then chop all the ingredients and then pulse them to a smooth paste using a small food processor. If you don't have one and you possess ninja knife skills you can just dice the onion and chillies really finely, crush the garlic cloves, and grate the ginger. Whatever method you use leave the seeds in one of the chillies, for heat, and discard from the other, for flavour. When you've made the paste fry it off for a couple of minutes in a large saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Next add the tomatoes and their juices to the paste in the saucepan and simmer over a medium heat. After a couple of minutes the tomatoes will become soft and you can squash them against the side of the pan with a spoon to release the juices. If you're using fresh cherry tomatoes it's best to halve them before adding them to the pan. 

Next add the spice powder to the pan, which will immediately turn the tomatoes a darker colour. Then add the sugar and vinegar and stir altogether. Bring the pan up to the boil for a couple of minutes then reduce so that the mixture simmers. You need to leave the pan simmering so that the mixture reduces until it's a jam-like consistency; this will take about 30-35 minutes. When the mixture is reduced you can remove it from the heat and stir in the soy sauce (or salt, if using). 

To help preserve the jam and keep it sterilised you need to fill the jars immediately, whilst the jam is still piping hot. But remember to pour the water out of them first! If you're messy like me it's easiest to use a jar funnel to do this so that the jam doesn't get everywhere, but if you have a steady hand you can do it without. Use a ladle to spoon the hot jam into the jars, right to the brim, and immediately seal with the lid. 

Leave the jam to cool inside the jars before you label them or put the jars into additional packaging. 

Food Porn: Cherry Bakewell Squares

I really love food that looks jolly; forget Michelin-style presentation.

Take the cherry bakewell square: 

Doesn't it just make you smile? I think it's the shiny, patent cherry on top of the white icing; it reminds me of a clown's nose (Apologies to those terrified of clowns). 


I might even rename them 'Cheery Bakewells'. 

WARNING: This is not a nut-free recipe; it is truly packed to the gills with almonds. 

Ingredients to make one batch in a 20cm square tin: 

300g of shortcrust pastry; either ready-made or you can make your own using a gluten-free recipe like this.

1 jar of morello cherry jam

100g of ground almonds

100g of self-raising flour; for gluten-free substitute for GF self-raising flour

4 large eggs

200g of golden caster sugar

200g of unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp of French almond extract

200g of icing sugar

20 glacé cherries

Cold water

Firstly line the baking tin with greaseproof paper, leaving an inch around the top to make it easier to lift out the cherry bakewell afterwards. Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan. 

Roll out the pastry to around 1/4cm thick and cut it to the size of the tin; you can do this either by placing the tin on top of the pastry and trimming round it or making a template out of greaseproof paper. Then place the pastry in the bottom of the tin and press down gently round the sides. Spread the jam all over the pastry, making sure every bit is covered evenly. 

Beat together the sugar and butter in a large bowl until smooth, then beat in one egg at a time with 1 tbsp of the ground almonds. When you've beaten in all 4 eggs add the remaining almonds, the flour, and the almond extract and fold in with a spatula until the mixture is smooth and resembles a thick batter. Spoon the mixture over the jammy pastry and spread evenly with the spatula. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the sponge is risen and golden brown. 

When the sponge is cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin. In a small bowl mix together the icing sugar with around 4 tbsps of cold water until it resembles a thick, gloopy paste; make sure there aren't any lumps of icing sugar! When the sponge is cooled spread the icing all over the top with a spatula, making sure that every bit of sponge is covered evenly and none of the sponge is showing through the icing. Place the glacé cherries on top and evenly space them out to be in the middle of where you'll cut the squares later. Then put the entire cherry bakewell in the fridge for at least 2 hours for the icing to set. 

When the icing is set remove the cherry bakewell from the tin and cut into squares, then consume the joy!

Review: The Dining Room, Derngate, Northampton

All week I've been hankering for a good restaurant to review; somewhere I'd never been before, somewhere a little chic, and somewhere which does pretty excellent British food. Well, I couldn't exactly Google all that. 

I'd already planned to take the lovely Mother to 78 Derngate right here in Northampton; the interiors of which were designed by her favourite, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Out of ease and sheer laziness we decided to try out lunch in the adjoining restaurant, The Dining Room. 

Now I wasn't expecting to review The Dining Room; we were going to have a pedestrian sandwich or salad of some kind before sauntering off around a museum. I was planning to go there for convenience, not pleasure. 

But it was an unexpected gem. And unwillingly was everything I'd been looking for. 

The restaurant itself is adorably boutique (for boutique read 'small'); I think there was seating for just over 20 people who have no sense of personal space. The interior was simplistic with white walls and a few choice photographs of the museum next door, but at one end of the room were beautiful bay windows overlooking Becket's Park. And on a warm sunny day, as we had, it was light and airy, and didn't feel in the least bit crowded. 

What made the space a little bit more special was the attention to detail. On every table were fresh (real) flowers, crisp linen napkins, and a menu bound in soft leather; it gave you an extra warm feeling of *Oooh*. You could tell that someone really cared about the space, and in turn this gave me a good feeling that they must also really care about the food. 

It was undeniably busy; every single table was full (although admittedly not difficult for a room of this size). Booking in advance is my top tip; if we were 10 minutes later I doubt we would have got in. The restaurant is only open to the public for breakfast and lunch (private parties are catered for in the evenings), but those are the kind of limitations that go with being attached to a historic building. 

The Dining Room is a two person affair; Rachel in front-of house, and Daniel in the kitchen. And that's it; just the two of them. Now this did slow down the service time, but knowing that it's just the two of them and it is so obviously their labour of love means that you find yourself not caring. The service made up for the delays by being extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Although at one point the front of house looked so frantic I was tempted to jump up and help her. 

The menu had a fine selection of teas, coffees, and scrumptious soft drinks by Luscombe's (another top tip: try the Raspberry Lemonade, it was lipsmackingly refreshing). They serve a range of breakfasts up until 11.45am and then a few light bites, ciabatta sandwiches (all £5-£7.50), and a choice of 3 main courses for lunch (all around £8-£10). If you pre-booked you could also have an afternoon tea; all home-made, with one stand of savouries and one of sweets for £16.25 per person. The menu was pleasingly concise and simple, and the main courses were all seasonal and seemed to change regularly. I love a chef who goes with the produce, not against it. Now there was no allergen labelling on the menu, but the front of house knew everything I asked and I trusted her implicitly. 

The food was the star of the show; exactly how it should be. 

We shared main courses of roast chicken breast in a peppercorn sauce served with cubed potatoes and a mix of savoy cabbage and carrots, and a Mediterranean vegetable and sun-dried tomato frittata served with home-made coleslaw and a side salad. To a larger lady like myself the portion sizes were pleasingly generous; the side salad in particular contained half a cottage garden's worth of lettuce. 

For a main course worth £9.95 the presentation was excellent; going with the theme of the entire restaurant there was a real attention to detail. The plates were unfussy but classy and tempting. For one man to do this on his own in a busy peak-time kitchen is really impressive; kudos. 

The frittata had been cooked perfectly; the middle was moist and bouncy without the usual problem of dryness, and the crunchy coleslaw complimented it really well. The chicken was also moist and well-cooked on the whole (one end of the breast was a bit dry but it didn't dampen my enjoyment of it one bit), and the peppercorn sauce was so yummy I actually craved for a bit more of it on the side to mop up. The vegetables were cooked on the good side of al dente and the potatoes had delightful crispy edges. Basically I could have happily eaten both dishes every day. 

For dessert we were salivating over specials of choux pastry filled with vanilla cream and caramel sauce, and a meringue roulade with fresh strawberries and coulis (both amazing value at £4.95). The front of house told us it could be done, but unfortunately with a delay because of the busy kitchen. It was admittedly disappointing, but not for long because then there was the alternative option of immediate cake...

Home-made lemon with lavender and raspberry and almond with white chocolate icing; and boy were they good. Again the portions were generous but there is no sight more exciting than a slab of cake set down in front of you. I obviously couldn't partake in the raspberry and almond because of my allergy but I was reliably informed that it was light, moist, and had the subtle taste of marzipan. I was really pleased that the lavender in the lemon cake was actually the flowers and not an extract; it made for little bursts of flavour rather than tasting like soap. My only (tiny) criticism was that there could have been more lemon icing on top. 

Two courses of excellent quality food and soft drinks in an individual, chic restaurant; yours for the brilliant price of £29. It's not your every day lunch but it is worth every little penny. 

And they do say the best things come in small packages. 

The Dining Room at 82 Derngate, Northampton, NN1 1UH. 

www.thediningroom.org 

01604 230166 (Booking recommended) 

Food Porn: Salted Caramel Millionaire's Shortbread

I have this terrible habit of cooking food that I don't actually like eating myself. For example I once made T some peanut butter cookies, when I'm allergic to peanuts. I could feel the peanut butter on my hands despite having washed them about 42 times; very Lady Macbeth. 


That probably doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement but y'see I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Hardly any in fact, I'd much rather have some broccoli. 


But I did eat one of these salted caramel millionaire's shortbread (I know the name is a mouthful, but then so is the cake) and it was actually utterly moorish. The addition of the sea salt in the caramel takes the edge off that cloying sweetness and gives the flavour a bit more of an oomph. 


Ingredients for one batch made in a 20cm square tin: 


375g of unsalted butter
225g of plain flour (for gluten free substitute with GF plain flour)
75g of golden caster sugar
1 x 397g can of condensed milk
4 tbsps of golden syrup
1 tsp of sea salt
350g of good quality milk chocolate
1tsp of vanilla extract


First preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan for the shortbread. Line the 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper, leaving around 1cm of paper sticking up around the edge to make it easy to lift out the cake afterwards. 


In a food processor pulse together the flour, sugar, vanilla, and 175g of the butter, cut up into cubes, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and the butter is mixed fully with the flour. Tip the crumbs into the tin and press down firmly and evenly to compact them into a flat dough, making sure to get right into the corners. Prick all over with a fork and place in the oven for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes turn the oven down to 150c/130c fan and bake for a further 35 minutes. When done remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. 


For the caramel melt together the remaining 200g of butter, condensed milk, golden syrup, and sea salt in a medium saucepan. Then bring to the boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the caramel doesn't burn. Turn the heat off and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes to make sure the caramel is smooth, then pour over the cooled shortbread. Place in the fridge to cool and so that the caramel sets firmly, this should take about an hour. 


Break the chocolate into chunks and melt in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and return to the fridge for the chocolate to cool and set firm; this will take at least 2 hours or ideally overnight. 


When the shortbread is all set cut into slices with a heavy sharp knife, heated slightly in a bowl of hot water. This will prevent the chocolate from cracking.