Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb with Sage and Anchovy

Cooked anchovy rules. Hard. I was watching a cooking podcast from Strada and the dude did lamb rump with an anchovy, oil and rosemary sauce which I thought was a great concept so I tweaked it to get this. My wife who does not dig on anchovy loved it (best ever lamb roast apparently) and the kids smashed it too. Anyhow, quick and easy to prepare and could be applied to any cut of lamb I would imagine.

5 or 6 anchovy fillets
1 handful sage leaves
6  garlic cloves
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Pepper
1 leg of lamb (mine was boned out)
1 leek chopped
2 piece celery chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 cup sparkling white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Blitz anchovies, sage leaves, 3 cloves garlic, pepper and olive oil along with some of the oil from the anchovies. Paint the lamb with about half of the flavoured oil. Sear the lamb on all sides in your roasting dish on the stove top then remove. Add in the leek and celery and remaining garlic and soften a little in the flavoured oil then deglaze with the wine, cook out the alcohol for a minute then add in the chicken stock. Add a lid then place into a pre-heated 140C oven for 2 hours. Remove the lid, paint with some more of the oil then return to the oven for another 45 mins. Rest the meat and strain the sauce. I served this with fresh beans and mash and if you want an extra hit of anchovy, spoon some more oil over your meat.

Calamari Balls

This recipe (though slightly bastardised) came from a student of mine. Good bloke with a real love of food. This is as simple as it is cheap. Squid tubes are very economical and as the mixture is combined with milk, you effectively cannot over cook it! Hooray! Thanks Josh.

500 gms squid tubes
1 chilli de-seeded
Zest of 1 lime
1 coriander root (or leaves)
1 tsp garam marsala
Milk
Bread crumbs
2 eggs beaten
Flour
Oil for frying


Rough chop the squid tubes then blitz with the chilli, lime zest, coriander, a little salt and 1 tbs of milk until it forms a paste. If it is too dry, add a little more milk. If you've added too much you can drain it later. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Heat the oil to a high temperature. Make 1 tbs sized balls of the squid goo. Season the flour with salt and the curry paste (garam marsala). Dust the balls in the flour, pass through the beaten egg then crumb. Deep fry in batches until they rise to the surface and have great colour. Drain and season with a little more salt while hot. Serve with whatever takes your fancy - I had lime wedges, teriyaki sauce and some home-made chilli jam.

Crispy Spanish Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

This was outstanding. Do it. Only bummer is I didn't take a photo of the cous cous I made to go with it, it was brilliant.

6 chicken thighs skin on
2 chorizo
3 potato in wedges
2 small sweet potato in chunks
1/2 a fennel bulb sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced
2 tsp paprika
1 bunch coriander
1 tbs coriander seeds crushed
1 tbs red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup cider
1 cup water
1 handful cherry tomatoes chopped
Natural yoghurt
1 cup cous cous

Remove the stalks from the coriander and chop. Combine the paprika, coriander stalks, garlic, coriander seed, salt and pepper and the red wine vinegar. Pass the chicken through the paprika oil then set aside. Pass the veg though the paprika oil and set aside. Fry the chorizo in a large frying pan then remove. Fry the chicken in batches skin side down first  in the same pan then remove when it has nice colour. Arrange the veg in a roasting dish along with most of the coriander leaves (reserve some) then place the chicken on top, slice the chorizo and place around the chicken. Deglaze the frying pan with the cider. Pour the cider into the roasting dish along with the water. Pour any remain paprika oil over the top then roast for about 30 minutes at 180C with
the last 10 at 220C for a blast.
Remove from the oven, set the meat aside to rest, set the veg aside. Place the cous cous into a large bowl, pour in the water/cider, mix through the remaining coriander and the chopped tomato. If necessary place it in the microwave oven for 1 minute to cook if the liquid has cooled too much.
Slice the meat. Spoon some cous cous into bowls, add some veg, top with some chicken and chorizo and blob on some yoghurt.
Very very nice.

Chorizo Fish and Prawn Chowder

This was how I intended to start soup season and would have if those pesky leftover vegies hadn't gotten in the way. This was absolutely delicious although a little labour intensive. My understanding of chowder is that it is meant to be a complex, full flavoured, thick soup with a little kick. To help achieve this I made my own fish stock using some fish wings, prawn shells, garlic, chicken stock, lemon rind, carrot, 1 roughly chopped chilli, onion, coriander stems and roots, silverbeet stem, bare corn cobs and 3 start anise. After that I strained the stock and built me some tasty soup with bits. Unreal.

3 litres fish stock
1 kg chopped peeled potato
1 handful mushrooms in fine dice
2 carrots in fine dice
1 onion fine dice
1 leek in fine dice
2 cobs corn striped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp harrisa
Leaves from 1 bunch coriander chopped
300 gms green prawns shelled in big chunks
2 pieces reef fish in big chunks
1 chorizo
2 slices prosciutto, grilled and crispy
1 handful cherry tomatoes
2 tbs sour cream
Extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender then blitz till smooth. While this happens, cook the chorizo in a frying pan then remove, throw in mushrooms and cook those, remove to a clean bowl. Saute the carrot, onion, leek and garlic with the harrisa in some extra virgin olive oil. Chop the chorizo into small chunks. Add the onion mixture to the potato soup along with the mushroom and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse. Add in the corn, fish, chorizo and prawns and turn off the heat. The fish/prawns should take about 5 minutes to cook. Mince the coriander with the cherry tomatoes and prosciutto. Add the lemon juice to the chowder then test for seasoning and mix through the sour cream. Spoon into bowls, top with some coriander/prosciutto gear, serve with some great toasted  bread.

Roast Pork Brined in Pear Juice

Another concept I have been toying with, brining in pear juice. I watched Heston brine a chicken a while ago and it looked great, I have also heard of brining as 'marinading with water'. Great result very next to no work. Pear and pork work very well and I thought I would see if this process worked. The information I read on-line recommended that I do so for between 2 and 4 days, Heston said overnight (it was for chicken) but I only had time for about 8 hours. The result? More moist, sweet flavour, more colour than I would have aimed for though on the crackle. Absolutely doing this again.


150 gms salt
1 litre pear juice
1.5 litres water
Pepper corns
Fresh bay leaves
Joint of roasting pork



Cover the meat in the water/juice in a large saucepan - you may need more (use 60 gms salt per litre liquid), bung in the bay leaf and pepper corns. Refrigerate until required, roast as usual (20 mins at 220C, cover then roast at 20 mins per 450 gms, finishing with the last 20 at 220C).