Thursday 7th of March 2013

The weather dropped much colder again today, so we were all in need of something warm and soothing for supper tonight.  This lamb and barley soup is one of those nourishing bowlfuls that are not-quite-a-broth, but not-quite-a-stew either.  The soup is straightforward,  but it does take a little while to make.  Nothing taxing, though...

1 onion,  chopped
4 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced
2 sticks of celery,  sliced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1.5 litres lamb stock
350g diced stewing lamb
75g pearl barley, rinsed and drained

Put the chunks of lamb in a small roasting tin and pour over about 100ml of the lamb stock.  Place in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fry the onion in a little fat until soft,  then add the carrots and celery to the pan. Sprinkle over the dried thyme,  then add the remaining lamb stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer, then tip in the lamb from the roasting tin, along with the stock.  Add the pearl barley and cook for at least half an hour or until the barley and lamb are tender and cooked through.

This herby cheese that I like to serve with this soup, among others, can be scattered over the top or stirred through as those at the table see fit, is one of those last-preparations that takes hardly any effort yet lifts the meal to a different level, somehow. I like a  big handful of herbs, and a really good mixture; tonight I used lots of mint and parsley and just a few leaves of basil and thyme

200g block feta cheese
chopped fresh herbs (and see above)

Crumble the feta into a nice bowl and stir in the herbs.   Set aside until you're ready to serve it. Yes, that's it; the trick is finding the best combination of herbs for you and your family.  Try it, too, with lamb steaks still sizzling from the grill, or my Lamb Stew with Summer Flavours.

Cath xx

Saturday 2nd of March 2013

The weekend started well when we woke up to sunshine and a beautiful blue sky. After bacon butties and coffee (yum), we got on with our latest project,  which has been laying new flooring in our bathroom (rock 'n' roll, eh?!).

We stopped for a lunch of bruschette with pesto and tomatoes, topped with parmesan. I scattered some lightly toasted pine nuts over them and served them on a pile of pea shoots, my boys' latest food craze...

The afternoon saw me take my JD for a walk along the pebbly beach in our village.  I feel very lucky to have the beach so close, anyway, but as we passed sun-dappled clusters of daffodils in the lane that leads to the beach, clear blue sky overhead, we realised that Spring may just have sprung (at last).

Supper tonight was a simple affair;  grilled lamb chops, boiled potatoes (an eleventh-hour request from Husband), a dish of bulghar wheat salad and a bowl of mixed leaves.

I soak the bulghar wheat for the salad, rather than cooking it.  I do this by putting it in a large bowl and covering it with water.  When it has absorbed all the water, taste a grain and repeat the process if it hasn't softened enough for your liking.  Drain the bulghar when you like the texture.   I do this in a muslin, squeezing out as much water as possible,  but you can easily use a fine sieve. Fork through chunks of (both peeled and deseeded) cucumber and tomatoes, finely chopped spring onions, pomegranate seeds and masses of herbs. I usually use parsley and mint, though today I only had parsley,  so I used that and added a good squidge of squeezy mint sauce (one of my favourite 'secret ingredient' kitchen helpers).  I also chucked in some more, scissored-up, pea shoots tonight

This salad also makes a lovely, sunny-day lunch (do I dare to hope in the garden?) if you also fork through some crumbled feta or some leftover roast lamb, if you are lucky enough to have some.  I particularly love roast lamb (hot or cold) lately, and am always thinking of things I need (want) to do with it.  This is how my mind works...

Cath xx

In the Mood

So, what do you think of the new look?  Freshened things up a little, hasn't it?  I've been in that sort of mood today and , after redesigning the page this afternoon, I was entirely ready for some serious kitchen action.  I say serious, but, despite the loooong list of ingredients below, please know that I put this meal together tonight in little over half an hour.  All the ingredients, bar the meat, are standard storecupboard and 'fridge stock in my home, and I usually have some minced lamb in the freezer.

Frankly, I think that this dish is perfectly flavoursome without the lamb, but the males of the household prefer it with, so there we are.  Rice and lentils are a great combination anyhow and adding just a handful or so when cooking 'plain' rice gives a new dimension of texture and taste to an ordinary side dish. Lentils are a great, inexpensive source of protein and the children have loved them since they were very small.  One of their favourite weaning foods was this Cheesy Lentil Savoury.  Type 'lentils' into the search bar above to see more of my recipes using this often-underappreciated (in the West, at least) ingredient.



 Spiced Rice & Lentils with Lamb

2 tbsp oil (I use rapeseed)
2 x 1” pieces of cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3 cloves
5 cardamom pods
1 large onion, quartered and sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
5cm piece ginger, minced
1 tbsp cumin seeds
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper,
250g minced lamb (optional!)
175g red lentils
200g basmati rice
750ml  water
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp  melted ghee or butter
1 tbsp lime juice (bottled, in my case)
Chopped parsley


Heat the oil in a heavy pan and briefly fry the cinnamon, cloves, bay and cardamom.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, then mix in the garlic, the ginger and the other spices.  Add the lamb, if using, to the pan and brown it well, then tip in the rice and lentils and add the water.  Bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for15 minutes, until  the rice and lentils are tender.  Using a fork, stir in the garam masala, the melted ghee (or butter), the lime juice and plenty of parsley.  Serve with some sort of flatbreads (pitta, naan, chapati...) and some raita or natural yoghurt.

Cath xx

Homemade (Burger) Heaven

 Oh man, how I love the taste of a homemade burger!  Burgers are one of those wonderful things to cook that (almost) everyone - and especially children - loves, plus they are quick and easy to prepare, in fact those same children can help you with the whole shebang.  You know exactly what has gone into them - no nasties - and can vary the recipe however you like, according to your mood/the weather/what's in the cupboard/the day of the week.  While beef burgers are the mainstay of any summer barbecue with us, a midweek special treat for us is these lovely lamb burgers.  They take next to no time to knock up when I get in from the school run with the children feeling somewhat fractious in the heat.

As for the shaping, you can either do it with your own, wetted, hands, or gadgets are available for the purpose.  I have an old, much loved burger press from Lakeland, which I would not like to be without at this time of year (or ever, frankly).  They don't seem to sell the one I have anymore, but still stock a similar product.

Lamb Burgers


500g lamb mince
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp mint sauce (from a jar)
1 tsp olive oil


Rolls, salad and chips or crisps, to serve

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and squidge them together, with your hands, to mix thoroughly.  Divide the mixture equally and shape into burgers (and see above).    Cook on the barbecue. or grill under a moderate heat, turning once, until cooked through and just browning nicely on the surface.  I love them in a toasted bun with spinach leaves and a blob of natural yoghurt.

Cath xx

Here comes the sun?

This is one of my little 'Ha! Summer's on the way' suppers that needs a little bit of easy kitchen action; just right to prepare, glass of wine in hand, with the back door open while the children play in the garden.  Turn the music up to drown out the sound of them arguing and pretend that la-la-la you can't hear them... Chin chin!

Cheesy Stuffed Aubergines

2 aubergines

250g minced lamb

50g couscous

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground  turmeric

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

150ml lamb (or vegetable) stock

50g Brazil nuts, chopped (optional,  v. yummy!)

50g Parmesan cheese, grated

Cut aubergines in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh, leaving about a half-centimetre's border around.  Dice the flesh and set aside.  Put the 'shells' in an ovenproof dish and season the inside surfaces with salt and pepper.

Fry the lamb and onion for five minutes, until the lamb is browned and the onion softened.  Turn the couscous in the pan to coat the grains in fat.  Mix in the diced aubergine and the remaining ingredients, bar the  cheese.  Use the mixture to fil the aubergine shells, then top with the cheese.  Cover the dish with foil and bake at 180c for 30 minutes; uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes.

This meal needs very little in the way of accompaniment, as it has a little of everything therein; some warm bread rolls are just right.  Happy weekend!

Cath xx

Taking It Easy

Those after-school dinner decisions are tough, Aren't they?  Even if you make meal plans, sometimes life kicks you to the kerb and you have to come up with something fast and filling for the family.  Something you can cook easily while dealing with the aftermath of the school run and children tired and fractious after a busy day.  Not for nothing do I (only half-jokingly, sometimes) refer to this time of day as 'the suicide hour'.

Now, baked beans are not something that I would ever choose to eat in the normal run of things, but they can occasionally be a useful ingredient in cooking and this is one of those times.  Likewise with stock cubes; I only rarely use them but when you are cooking with minced meat from the supermarket, rather than the butcher, they can add an extra boost of flavour.

Easy Home-From School Hotpot


Obviously switch the lamb mince and stock cube for their beef equivalents if you'd rather...


3 or 4 large potatoes, sliced thickly
1 onion, sliced
500g lamb mince
1 lamb stock cube
420g can baked beans

Put the sliced potatoes into boiling, salted water, return to the boil and cook for 10 minutes until just tender in the centre.  Drain carefully (i.e. don't break them up!). Meanwhile, heat a littl oil in a casserole pan and fry the onion until softened.  Add the mince and brown it, then crumble in the stock cube.  Cook for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the baked beans.  Lay the slices of potato on top in a spiral fashion (see picture), drizzle with a little melted butter and transfer to a 200°c oven for 15-20 minutes to brown the top.

Cath xx

Changing Lanes

Sometimes, no matter how much I think about, and organise, my weekly menus in advance, when the time comes to cook I just don't feel like the cooking, or the eating, or indeed both and so I change my plans. Tonight I was going to make some lamb kofte to eat with salad and pitta, using up some Mint Raita I made at the weekend to go alongside. However, it became this filling and very moreish rice dish instead, which borrows heavily from my Vaguely Middle Eastern Coucous. I have a horrible, sneaking suspicion that this went down better than the originally intended, more labour-intensive dinner. Never mind, if nothing else, it provides proof indeed that the very best meals are often little more than happy accidents brought about by my fickleness.

Lamb Pilaf with Fruit & Spices

Lamb stock is more useful than you might initially think and I make it easily with whatever bones we happen to have from chops, shanks or other joints. It's really worth having in the freezer, but if not, I should substitute vegetable stock.

1 onion, sliced
500g minced lamb
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
500g basmati rice
handful sultanas
handful dried apricots, chopped
1 litre lamb stock
plenty of chopped fresh parsley

Heat some oil or butter, or indeed both, in a large pan and fry the onions until soft and beginning to colour. Add the lamb and brown it, then tip in the spices and stir well to mix. Stir in the rice and the dried fruits, then pour the stock into the pan. Bring up to boiling point, then clamp on a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and without removing the lid (no peeking at all, trust me), leave to stand for 5 minutes. Fork through some chopped parsley; I would have loved to put some fresh mint in too, but I didn't have any, then take it to the table and serve straight from the pan. Yum!

Cath xx

Summer Lovin'

This is an ideal basis for supper on one of those days when it's hot and you want supper to be summery and perhaps a little Mediterranean, but have minimal access to shopping or exotic storecupboard paraphernalia.

Quick Lamb Stew with Summer Flavours

olive oil
1 aubergine
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
500g minced lamb
1 glass rosé wine
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin

Slice the aubergine and brush the slices with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once. Meanwhile, heat a very little oil in a largish casserole and fry the onions until soft, then add the garlic and cook until its fragrance wafts up enticingly. Brown the lamb mince, then pour in the wine. Cook briefly to sizzle off the alcohol, then add the tomatoes, oregano, cumin and plenty of freshly-ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Roughly chop the baked aubergine slices and add to the pan, then cook for a further 10 minutes.

You can, of course use this stew in the same ways that you might use any meat ragú; with pasta, with baked potatoes, to form the basis of a pie - but for this sort of meal you can really go to town on the whole 'taverna' idea and serve flatbread, chunky salad, olives and a dish of crumbled feta cheese with fresh oregano stirred through. I have fresh oregano in the garden at this time of year, so this is not out-of-the-ordinary for us, but if you don't have any (please do consider the idea, though) just season the cheese with a little pepper. The dried stuff will just about do, but only if you combine it with some other fresh herbs (mint, parsley, basil are all good, severally and together).

Siarad Cymraeg?

I've finally bitten the proverbial bullet and decided that after 10 years living in Wales, I need to try to learn to speak Welsh properly, at least conversationally. Largely because Christopher will be starting nursery school in January and will be taught, in part, bilingually. I don't think children should be encouraged to have a secret language that Mummy can't understand, do you? I have picked up bits and bobs over the years, mainly numbers and hello, how are you?-type things (sut mae?), and I can sing along to Welsh hymns yn Gymraeg when we go to church (though I don't understand them at all), but none to use 'properly'.

A lovely girl from Twf came to start us off on 'Using Welsh with your children' at playgroup yesterday and, all fired up by her enthusiasm, I came home and began to put the ideas into practice with the boys. Yesterday evening I had a look at the BBC Welsh learners' site and learnt quite a bit in just a little while from the in-site, free, Colin and Cumberland course.

Today I made Bara Brith ,which I make regularly anyway but which seems particularly apposite at the moment, and cooked a dinner of cig oen, tatws a pys (lamb chops, potatoes and peas). I was far too excited by writing what was for dinner tonight on the blackboard in Welsh, but there you go.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We've had an incredibly busy week with one thing and another, and it shows no sign of letting up over the weekend or beyond. I'm taking the boys to see my parents next Friday, so I'm definitely hoping for a bit of a rest! It's times like these when I'm really glad to have a pretty extensive back catalogue of basic, no-fuss meals, because sometimes, as Nigella Lawson once wrote you really do "have to hit the kitchen running".

On Wednesday night, a friend who I hadn't seen since before I was married (over six years ago - eek!) came to supper. We only recently found out that we both live in the area (!). Hubby was at work, so we had dinner with Christopher and James; I cooked a big dish of my Vaguely Middle-Eastern Couscous, accompanied by pitta bread, yoghurt and a minted tomato and cucumber salad I followed this with a plate of Fabulous Chocolate Brownies. After the boys were safely tucked up, we settled down to a great evening of gossiping and poring over photographs. It's been so long since I had a girly night in with a friend!

I needed more brownies for Thursday, when thay were my contribution to a serious play-fest with the children at another friend's house, followed by lots of errand-running all over town on my part. For dinner I cobbled together a Potato and Bacon Layer, always popular and very straightforward, thank goodness.

Now that Christopher has reached the milestone of a - drum roll please - china plate at dinnertime, rather than his plastic ones, I wanted to cook him a favourite meal to celebrate, and to relax after the hectic last few days. He's always loved sausages (as, I think, do all children) and these Sweetcorn Pancakes go very nicely alongside some oven-cooked bangers. Liberally lubricated with ketchup (for Christopher), with fruit to follow, they made for a balanced meal that the boys could both eat without any assistance. After I get them off to bed tonight, I'm going to collapse with my knitting and enjoy some time off my feet before it all starts again tomorrow. Still, can't complain - I'd much rather be busy than bored, wouldn't you?

Bite this Chump!

Lamb for dinner tonight - some big, fat chump chops from the butcher in the next village. I much prefer chump chops to the ubiquitous cutlet chops - more meat, more crisp fat and, ultimately, more flavour. I roasted them, on a rack, over some big sprigs of rosemary and squashed cloves of garlic for 20 minutes at 200°c, then served them up with mashed potatoes, broccoli, cabbage and a rosemary and redcurrant sauce. This easy sauce dresses up a meal like tonight's no end, and makes the most of well-flavoured, good-quality lamb without overpowering it.

Rosemary & Redcurrant Sauce

100g redcurrant jelly
200ml lamb stock
large sprig fresh rosemary

Melt the redcurrant jelly in a small pan and pour in the lamb stock. Add the sprig of rosemary, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Cover the pan if the sauce reduces too much; it should be slightly syrupy, but still liquid. Leave the sauce to cool, then strain out the rosemary and reheat gently. Season to taste and transfer to a sauce boat.

To follow a simple Sunday dinner, what could be better than cake? Chocolate cake at that. I did the chocolate version of my usual Victoria sponge and filled it with a vanilla-laced buttercream. Don't worry, we didn't eat the whole thing - there's plenty left for tomorrow!

Chocolate Sponge

200g soft butter
200g vanilla sugar
4 large eggs
160g self-raising flour
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the beaten eggs, one at a time, interspresing them with spoonfuls of flour. Sift in the rest of the flour, the cocoa and baking powder, then beat well until you have smooth batter. Divide the mixture equally between two greased and base-lined 20cm sandwich tins, smooth the surface and bake at 180°c for 20 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool on a rack before removing the base paper.

Vanilla Buttercream

75g soft butter
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
milk

Beat everything together, adding a splash of milk as needed to get a soft, 'dropping' consistency. Select the cake layer for the base and place it, upturned, on a serving plate. Spread over the buttercream over the surface of the upturned cake, top with the remaining cake layer and dust with icing sugar to serve.

Surprisingly Successful

Today I cooked one of the best things I've done for ages and I'm so proud of it! We had 500g of cubed lamb in the freezer, which I defrosted overnight before realising I had no idea what I was going to do with it. This casserole-type dish took hardly any time to put together, and looked after itself in the oven while we took the boys out into the garden to play. I served it with some of my homemade bread and, honestly, I could hardly believe how much we all enjoyed it. Clean plates all round, with considerable jostling for seconds.

Spiced Lamb with Butter Beans

1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
few sprigs thyme
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
500g cubed lamb
500ml lamb stock
2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained and rinsed
Heat some olive oil in a large casserole and fry the onion and celery until softened. Add the thyme leaves and spices, stirring well. Brown the lamb and season with black pepper, before pouring in the lamb stock. Add water if you need to, to just barely cover everything with liquid. Bring to the boil, then transfer the pan to the oven. Cover the pan and cook for 1 hour at 180°c, then stir in the beans. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°c and cook, uncovered this time, for a further 45 minutes.

I always like a pudding of some sort to round off a meal. Most evenings we have fruit, either a mixed plate to share or something special like a pineapple. Last Thursday we got a coconut in the organic box, which provided a couple of nights' worth of post-prandial nibbling. Our other 'everyday' pudding option is to raid the tins in the kitchen for cake or biscuits of one sort or another, whatever I've been baking recently. Tonight we cut into the bara brith I made on Sunday. This is a lovely cake to have around the house; one of those fruity cakes that is just right with a cup of tea and very simple to make. I made this one because I had some tea left in the pot after a friend had been over on Friday, it was a tad stewed but perfect to soak the fruit for this cake. I actually ended up leaving the fruit soaking for two days, as I forgot about it on Saturday, but it was none the worse for that. If you don't have 'leftover' tea, just make a fresh mug and use that. Use whatever mixture of dried fruit you like. I keep bags of 'mixed dried fruit with peel' in my baking cupboard, so I tend to use some of that.

Bara Brith Hawdd

You can, if you like, add some orange or lemon zest to this very basic recipe.

300ml tea
250g dried fruit (see above)
250g self-raising flour
125g sugar
1 egg

Soak the fruit in the hot  tea until it is cold (and see above). Stir the finely chopped zest into the fruit-and-tea mixture, then beat the flour, sugar and egg. Turn the batter uinto a greased and floured 1lb loaf tin. Bake at 160°c for 50 minutes.  Cover with foil durig cooking if it is browning too much. Cool the cake in the tin. For the best result, wrap the cake in foil when it has cooled and leave it in an airtight tin for a couple of days before eating it, spread with salted butter in the true Welsh way...

Saddle Up!

I roasted a saddle of lamb for tonight's dinner. This was from the half lamb I bought for the freezer a few weeks back. I am definitely of the opinion that the saddle is an underrated cut. Ours was just under a kilo and took less than an hour to cook. It was nice and pink in the middle still, and the flavour was brilliant. It had some nice crisp skin on the surface and was tender and juicy to boot.

The Sunday roast is a great British institution, but some weeks the full works is just too much to cope with. Tonight we had some simple steamed vegetables; carrots and runner beans from the organic box, and what are known in my family as 'Nanny Potatoes'. This is one of my late Nan's genius dishes; along with her fabulous meat pies (my favourite) and her crunchy-topped pork chops, which are also much-loved family classics. The whole dish is far, far greater than the sum of its parts would suggest. You can make this with whatever quantities you like, and add a little garlic to the layers if you want. I use 750g potatoes to 1 large onion to feed four as a side dish.

'Nanny Potatoes'

potatoes
onion
butter

Butter an ovenproof dish. Peel and thickly slice the potatoes and put them in a pan. Cover them with cold water and bring to the boil. Drain. Meanwhile, halve and slice the onion and cook in a little butter until soft. I do this in the microwave so they don't colour at all. Layer the potatoes and onion in the prepared dish, seasoning as you go. Pour boiling water into the dish to just below the top of the potatoes. Bake at 200°c for about 45 minutes.

Max en Pap

Today I did something I've been meaning to do for ages; I went to Farmyard Lamb & Beef in Llanon and bought half a lamb to put in the freezer. For an incredible £20, the butcher prepared a small leg, a shoulder and a saddle of lamb, plus a breast, some cutlets and a few chump chops. There's just something about having a well-stocked freezer that makes me feel (quite paradoxically) warm inside. By my reckoning, the four of us will get ten meals out of that little lot, which works out at a couple of quid per lamb-based meal. As an added bonus, there'll be plenty of bones for a good batch of lamb stock. I'm not sure yet what I shall do with it all, barring the obvious stuff, but inspiration will come along. River Cottage Meat Book here I come!

While we were out we went a little further down the coast to Aberaeron and visited our usual butcher, Owain's. I picked up a big piece of belly pork for Sunday, plus some bacon, sausages and black pudding. No visit to the butcher is, as far as Christopher is concerned, complete without a trip to the park, so we walked along the riverbank to get to the swings and slide.

Before coming home we went to the little fish stall near the marina and bought a couple of locally-caught mackerel for supper. The fishmonger filleted them for me, I struggle enough with bigger fish, never mind fiddly little max! We had bread and salad at home, already prepared and left over from lunch, so I just did something simple that I could knock up quickly after wrestling the assorted bits of sheep into the deep-freeze.

Mackerel 'en Papillote'

mackerel fillets
rosemary
lemon
black pepper

Cut or tear off a large sheet of baking parchment and scrunch it up under the tap to dampen it. Smooth it out, then lay the mackerel fillets on the paper. Arrange a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and some thin slices of lemon on top of the fish, then grind over some black pepper. Wrap the paper up into a parcel, then slide the parcel onto a baking sheet. Bake at 180°c for 10-12 minutes.

Work on one mackerel per person, though the boys shared one between them. Four fillets to a parcel is the maximum I can deal with, so if you have more mouths to feed, make more parcels. If you want to, one parcel per person, served still wrapped on the plate looks very appealing. As I had to cut the children's food up for them anyway, I didn't bother.

Cooking by the seat of my pants...

This afternoon I took the boys to a friend's house to celebrate her birthday by eating chocolate cake while the children played in the garden/ran around shouting. We nipped to the shops beforehand as I needed some shoes. I have rather large feet (size 10 until recently, but they seem to have shrunk a size after having the children and losing quite a lot of weight), so shoe shopping has always been a nightmare for me, but today was the first day of the rest of my life! I walked into Brantano and found a substantial display of shoes in my size, not only suitable for my needs, but which I actually liked! This could be the start of a horrible problem...

We were quite late back from town, so dinner needed to be a fairly quick production. I had some minced lamb in the fridge, which I originally bought with the intention of making burgers, but instead I used it to make this rather snappy couscous dish. It was inspired by the growing selection of Middle-Eastern titles in my burgeoning library of cookery books. I shan't pretend that it's even remotely authentic, but it does taste good.

Vaguely Middle-Eastern Couscous

250g minced lamb
large pinch each of ground cumin, ground coriander, ginger and cinnamon
200g couscous
400ml hot stock (I used some lamb stock, but vegetable stock would be fine)
3 fat spring onions, chopped
handful of sultanas
handful of flaked almonds, toasted in a dry pan
small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Put the couscous into a large bowl and pour over the hot stock. Cover the bowl with a plate or something and put it to one side for 10 minutes while you get on with the rest. Fry the lamb, with the spices, in a non-stick frying pan (no need to add extra fat) until brown. Add the sprimg onions and sultanas. Fluff the couscous up with a fork, then stir in the lamb mixture and the chopped parsley. Turn into a serving dish and scatter over the toasted almonds.

Very good, even if I did make it up as I went along. I served it with some toasted pitta bread and a salad of tomatoes and cucumber. Some natural yoghurt to dollop on top would have been lovely, but we had none. Eschewing the idea of Petit Filous, we made do with some sour cream, which worked just fine.

This wasn't really suitable for James; for him, I soaked a little couscous in some stock I'd made earlier in the day from pea-pods and a chunk of onion. I then whizzed it briefly in the mini-blender with a bit of cooked broccoli and a small spoonful of fried lamb held back from our meal. After some initial uncertainty, he cleared the bowl, then howled for pudding. He ended up on his Dad's lap again, this time chewing a bit of pitta bread, while I ate my (by now cold) supper.

Easter Holiday (Phew!)

Well, we've really enjoyed the Easter holiday weekend. I love having family or friends to visit at any time, but especially when we can enjoy some really great festive food together. On Thursday we had a fairly ordinary family meal; our great favourite, Savoury Mince Crumble. On Thursday evening, before we all went to bed, I made some hot cross bun dough (for the first time ever) and left it to prove overnight.

On Good Friday, I finished off the hot cross buns and we ate them for breakfast, still warm from the oven, with butter and a little cheese. They were so good that I was convinced to make a second batch of dough that evening for Saturday's breakfast.

The weather was not as good as had been forecast, and very misty, so we decided to spend part of the day shopping in Aberystwyth and went for lunch at 'Le Figaro', a restaurant which Hubby and I used to go to quite often when we were first married.

For supper that evening I cooked a Fish Pie, with smoked and unsmoked coley, sweetcorn, wilted spinach and wedges of hard-boiled eggs, all coated in bechamel sauce and topped with mashed potato. I served it with some broccoli. James had a small portion, whizzed in the blender and seemed to absolutely love it; opening his mouth, kicking his little legs and shouting for more.

On Easter Saturday, the weather was glorious, so I took my parents and the children to one of our favourite spots for a picnic of rolls, salad, cold meats, eggs, fruit and some homemade bara brith.

We had a fairly simple supper on Saturday night, a casserole of chicken thighs, with sausages and butter beans. I cooked it last week and put it in the freezer so that I could simply defrost and then reheat it , topped with a thick layer of breadcrumbs. A few vegetables were the only accompaniment necessary and then we had Jane's Grapes for pudding, which I had prepared the night before

Jane's Grapes

Small Seedless White Grapes

Whipped Double Cream

Granulated Sugar

Fold the grapes into enough whipped cream to just coat them. Pack into a serving bowl (about two-thirds full) and smooth the surface as much as you can. Cover the top with a thick layer of granulated sugar and chill overnight (don't cover the dish). Just try it...

For breakfast on Easter Sunday, we all had boiled eggs, even Hubby, who didn't have to go to work (hooray!). Christopher and I had made Easter baskets for everyone, which I filled with a selection of small chocolate eggs. We all exchanged eggs and some other gifts, and later spent some time in the garden, before having a lunch of Leek and Potato Soup, homemade Granary Rolls and some cheese (including Drewi Sant, Perl Las, and some Gorwydd Caerphilly).

Leek and Potato Soup

large lump of butter

5 sliced leeks

2 large potatoes, peeled and roughly cut up

1 litre vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

500ml whole milk

Melt butter in a large pan, turn the prepared leeks and potatoes in the butter until well coated. Pour in the stock, add the bay leaves and bring to the boil. Simmer (with the lid partly on) for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are well cooked. Remove the bay leaves and purée. I use my hand-held stick blender, but use what you like. Stir in the milk and heat through. I topped it with a swirl of cream and some chopped fresh parsley.

This soup freezes very well, but you may need to purée it again when you reheat it after defrosting; sometimes it can get a little lumpy with freezing.

The Easter Sunday dinner was the highlight of the weekend for me. We spent some time in Aberaeron that afternoon, so before we left, I prepared the (2kg) leg of lamb by stabbing it and stuffing the slits with garlic and fresh rosemary. I rested the joint on a couple more large sprigs of rosemary in my Silverwood roasting tin and poured over a glass of red wine.

When we got home, when I put it in the oven and gave it a couple of hours at 200°c, adding about 200ml of water to the tin after an hour. While the meat was resting, for 10 minutes or so, I tipped all the juices from the tin into a small pan and added a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly, Simmered for a few minutes, with the meat juices from the carving dish added just before serving.

I served Hasselback potatoes and plenty of vegetables with the lamb and gravy, then we followed it with a lemon cheesecake. This recipe works really well and everyone always likes it. My brother, in particular, is very partial to it and in the past has phoned me from the supermarket to ask what ingredients he needs to make it.

Really Easy Lemon Cheesecake 

200g digestive biscuits, crushed

60g butter

405g tin condensed milk

200g cream cheese

142ml carton double cream

zest and juice of 3 unwaxed lemons

Melt the butter and mix in the biscuit crumbs. Press into the base of a 20cm springform cake tin to form a crust and chill (not you, the tin) while you make the filling. Whisk the condensed milk and cream cheese together until smooth. Mix in the cream and then add the lemon zest and juice. Stir well, but quickly as it will start to thicken immediately. Pour the filling over the base and cover the tin. Leave it in the fridge overnight. Leftovers will keep for a couple of days, unless Graeme's around.

There was enough lamb and gravy left over to make a superlative Shepherd's Pie for our supper tonight, after my parents had embarked on the long drive home.

Shepherd's Pie

1-2 tbsp leftover lamb dripping

1 onion, chopped finely

leftover gravy

300g leftover roast lamb, minced

6 medium potatoes, peeled and halved

butter and milk, to make mash

Cook the potatoes (I prefer to steam them). Meanwhile, melt the dripping in a deep frying pan and gently fry the onion until cooked, but not coloured. Add the gravy, and a splash of water if needed, and bubble for a moment. Tip in the minced meat and mix well, then turn into an ovenproof dish. Mash the cooked potatoes, with butter and milk as you like. Use the mash to top the pie. Rough up the surface a little with a fork and then bake at 180°c for 30 minutes until browned and bubbling hot. Serve with peas.

James had a spoonful of pie whizzed in the mini-blender with a few peas and wolfed it down. It hardly touched the sides. He's turning into a right little greedy guts, that one, can't think where he gets it from...

Grappling with Breasts

Of lamb, that is. Hubby's day off, and a fairly relaxed one for all of us. We got up and had porridge for breakfast - Christopher's current favourite. It's a real treat to all sit down to breakfast together and we try to do it as often as possible.


We mooched around the house for most of the day - we had a load of the boys' outgrown clothes to pack away, so we had a go at that. Christopher and I also played with his Early Learning Centre 'Three Little Pigs' set, a Christmas present from his godfather. He got a bit scared after listening to the story at bedtime last night and I thought it would probably set his mind at rest. Dinnerwise, I went for a slow-cooked stew option today; a breast of lamb (which I bought last week and froze), cooked with the remaining half of a bottle of wine that Karl opened last night to go with the pizza I'd left him for when he got home from work.


Breast of Lamb with Tomatoes and Red Wine


150g smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 stick celery. diced
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, sliced
few cloves of garlic
1 bouquet garni (I used bay, rosemary, thyme and parsley stalks, tied with string)
1 breast of lamb
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 bottle of red wine
chopped fresh parsley, to finish


Preheat the oven to 150°c. Heat a large casserole on the hob, then add the bacon and fry a little before adding the vegetables. Cook until soft, but not browned, then add the bouquet garni. Put the breast of lamb into the pan, which will probably be a pretty tight fit. Pour over the wine, then tip in the tomatoes, smearing them over the surface of the lamb and pushing them down into the pan. Cover and cook for 3 hours. Skim off as much of the surface oil as you can - breast of lamb is very fatty. Scatter with a handful of chopped fresh parsley and serve, from the pan, at the table.

I cooked a dish of cauliflower cheese and some honey-roasted parsnips to go with it. Chris was initially a little reluctant about the lamb, but after trying it was rather more keen. The vegetables went down a storm, as always.


We popped out for a quick walk in the dusk after dinner. Living where we do (immediately on a very busy main road with no pavement) does, unfortunately, mean getting in the car first if we want a walk, but it's a very minor bother really. We went down to a little lane we've walked down and liked before. Christopher took great delight in using a torch, James was fascinated by the twilight sky and the trees, in silhouette against it. The sheep in the adjoining field followed us along by the wall, hoping for a meal. They obviously didn't know what we'd just had for supper!