ROASTED LAMB SHANKS WITH MUSHROOMS
Serves 6
1 litre lamb or beef stock
250ml red wine
45ml wholegrain Dijon mustard
5ml salt
3ml pepper
15ml chopped fresh rosemary
20ml chopped parsley
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
30ml olive oil
6 lamb shanks
14 small pickling onions, peeled
250g mushrooms, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
300g baby leeks, sliced
3 carrots, diced
In a large jug, mix the stock, wine, mustard, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, and garlic.
In a large oven-proof pot or casserole, over a medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Remove from pot, and add the pickling onions, mushrooms, celery, leeks and carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Return the lamb shanks to the pot with the wine mixture and bring to a simmer. Cover with the pot lid and roast in the oven for 2 hours, stirring twice.
l To peel the onions, soak in boiling water for a few minutes. Cut off root end and slip off skins.
ROASTED HARISSA CHICKEN WITH BABY POTATOES
Serves 4 - 6
1 x 330ml can of Appletiser
1.5kg whole chicken
15ml olive oil
10ml crushed garlic
50ml harissa paste
10ml fresh thyme, leaves picked
Salt and pepper to season
750g baby potatoes
Pour a third of the Appletiser into a jug, then place the open Appletiser can on a foil-lined roasting dish.
Wash the chicken and pat dry. Fit the chicken over the can with the drumsticks facing down, let the chicken rest on the ends of the legs and the can, forming a tripod to prevent it from tipping.
Mix together the olive oil, garlic, harissa paste, thyme and seasoning. Rub this mixture all over the chicken. Roast for about 1 hour.
Prick the baby potatoes a few times with a sharp knife, then add them to the roasting pan together with the remaining Appletiser and roast a further 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
lTo make your own harissa paste, soak 3 dried red chillies in warm water until soft. Remove them from the water, de-seed if desired, and add them to a food processor with 3 cloves of garlic, 3ml salt, 30ml olive oil and 5ml each of ground coriander, cumin and caraway.
ROAST PORK WITH QUINCES IN WINE
Serves 8
2kg leg of pork
10ml olive oil
10ml sea salt
250g streaky bacon, diced
3 quinces, washed, peeled and quartered
80ml honey
3 fresh bay leaves
400ml dry red wine
250ml hot water
Preheat oven to 200°C. Trim any excess fat from underside of pork, leaving skin intact. Use a sharp knife to score pork rind. Rub rind with oil and salt.
Place bacon and quartered quinces in a large roasting pan or casserole. Add honey, bay leaves, wine and water, give a good stir and then top with pork. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 180°C and cook for a further hour, stirring the quinces once or twice.
ORANGE MARMALADE ROASTED DUCK
Serves 4-6
1 x 2.5kg whole duck
2 oranges
125ml orange marmalade
60ml soy sauce
200ml chicken stock
10ml cornflour
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large roasting pan with foil.
Remove both wingtips at the top joint, reserving them for later use. Reserve neck (discard the rest of the giblets). Trim the excess skin and fat around the neck and cavity opening.
Grate the zest from an orange and set aside. Cut both oranges into quarters. Stuff as many orange quarters as can fit into the duck’s cavity.
Put the remaining orange wedges into a saucepan together with the wing tips, neck, excess fat and chicken stock.
Tie duck drumsticks together with string. With a skewer or fork, prick holes in the skin without piercing the flesh.
Whisk marmalade and soy sauce in a small bowl. Loosen the skin over the breast and thigh meat and stuff the marmalade mix under the skin.
Place breast-side down on a rack in the prepared roasting pan and smear with some of the marmalade mixture. Roast the duck for 1 hour. Turn the duck over, breast-side up, and roast for a further 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring the saucepan with chicken stock and oranges to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half. Strain off the extra oil and discard the solids.
Squeeze the juice from the boiled orange sections into a small bowl; add cornflour and whisk until smooth.
Stir orange juice, the reserved zest and any remaining marmalade and soy sauce mixture into the sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the duck to a cutting board and allow to rest for 15 minutes before removing the string and carving.
Serve with the sauce.
GARLIC AND HERB ROAST BEEF WITH YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS
Serves 6-8
1.5kg beef roast
15ml olive oil
salt and pepper to season
4 cloves of garlic, quartered lengthways
25ml Dijon mustard
5ml salt
250ml chopped mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley)
For the Yorkshire puddings:
300ml milk
275ml flour
2ml salt
3 eggs
180ml oil
Rub the olive oil over the cut of beef, season with salt and pepper and rub again. Make small, evenly-distributed incisions in the meat and insert a sliver of garlic into each one. In a very hot pan, brown the meat on all sides.
Working on a large piece of tin foil, smear the mustard all over the meat, then roll in the chopped herbs. Wrap up in the foil and roast at 180°C for 40-45 minutes for medium.
Rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving with the Yorkshire puddings.
YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS: Preheat oven to 220°C. hisk the milk, flour, salt and eggs together until smooth. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.
Add 15ml of oil to each hole in a 12-hole muffin pan. Place in the oven to get smoking hot. Working quickly, pour a little Yorkshire pudding batter, a third of the way up, into each hole.
Return to the hot oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and puffed up. - The Star