Lentils – Set my pulse racing!

I bought a pack of puy lentils from France a long time ago and its just been sitting in the cupboard waiting patiently to be chosen for dinner. Eating lentils is a new taste for me, I do like them and often opt for a lentil dish when I am out but when it comes to cooking them it does get me all in a flush. I decided to brave it (only because I ran out of rice and pasta and came home too late to make it to the shops in time) and give cooking lentils a go (albeit slightly reluctantly at first). I boiled as per instructions on the packet which took a while to figure out as French is not my strong point (having learnt it in school a good few years ago – all traces of those lessons conveniently erased from my memory tonight). Boiled the lentils with two bay leaves and thyme with a chicken stock cube.

Once cooked put the lentils into a pan that had some cooked carrots and onions – then put in a splash of port, cinzano and white wine vinegar.

I pan fried the lamb chop with coriander seeds, fennel seeds and rosemary. I had a parsnip left over from a previous dinner so boiled it and pulsed it with creme fraiche to make a puree.

End result was great – lentils I apologize for discriminating you for all these years – never again will you be simply an “emergency” staple dinner time ingredient 🙂

Chick Pea Mash Up

It became a Ottolenghi recipe kind of day – from his Jerusalem cook book he has a recipe with Basic Hummus and Little bits of pan fried lamb on top. I never knew how easy Hummus was to make and after trying out this recipe I will never buy another tub from the super market again, making it from scratch you could really tell the difference.

I got some lamb neck fillet from local butcher and cut it up myself into tiny bitty pieces. Then marinated it in white wine vinegar, mint,parsley,zatar, lemon and garlic – then pan fried it till brown but still a little bit pink. This was then placed ontop of the hummus with some roasted pine nuts, fresh parsley, a sprinkling of sumac and a dash of olive oil.

Simple but so satisfying – dig in with some fresh pide (Turkish Bread) or pitta

Sumac – A Dusting from the Middle East

I love Ottolenghi and wanted a crisp “Light” Salad that was different to the usual Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing. This Fattosh Salad in his Jerusalem cookbook looked amazing – Ottolenghi recipes are notorious for having an endless array of almost unpronounceable ingredients but in this case I found all what was needed at the local supermarket. The dressing was a mix of white wine vinegar, buttermilk and sumac. Sumac a kind of lemony spice gave the salad the edge – great as a extra bit of seasoning on everything!

Salad – Mini Cucumber, tomato, spring onions, radishes, mint, parsely and pide (Turkish bread) croutons

Would go great with meat or fish if you wanted to make it a part of a main meal. It looks pretty and all the colours of the middle east mingling with each other – a great Summer salad for any BBQ. A quick and easy treat!

Chew Down To the Bone

I love walking around the supermarket looking at what bargains they have and how I can incorporate them into the next few days meals.

Today it was Lamb Chops – I love lamb chops especially when done the Turkish way – nice and simple char grilled on the BBQ letting all the fat render and crisp up while the meat stays nice and tender. The lovely summer weather sitting outside eating your lamb chops Fred Flintstone style, not a fork and knife in sight – just using your hands chewing round the bone is bliss to many people – including me

But as the Autumn weather draws in and living in a garden less flat with no BBQ facilities means I will have to improvise. Using a griddle pan has a similar effect with the meat but never quite the same – but I gave it my best shot

I marinated the Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Molasses, Red Wine Vinegar, some olive oil and a sprinkling of sugar – when you taste Pomegranate Molasses on its own has a sharp taste , I will use the term “horrible” – because it is – but when mingling with meat or in a salad with vinegar it does add a sweetness to the dish. I say embrace Pomegranate Molasses whack it in something that would normally just use balsamic vinegar and olive in – you’ll be surprised with the taste and close your eyes a little bit and you can image your somewhere in the Mediterranean

To accompany the lamb chops I roasted off some cherry tomatoes and roasted new potatoes with cloves of garlic with its skin still on. Roasted Carrots with cumin – (who knew this combination really does work!) and scattered Zatar seasoning all over the veg.
Once all roasted sprinkle some sumac on the meat and the veg and dig in

For a mid week dinner it was really easy to do as you just check everything in the oven and griddle the meat – it was all cooked and ready to be devoured pretty much after 30 mins!!!!

Jamie Oliver would be proud