Favourite Recipe Friday - Roast Lamb Shoulder with Caper & Mint Gravy

I have gone on about this several times, I love lamb it is so flavoursome and I very rarely have a bad piece of it.

If cooked slowly it should fall apart and taste divine, perfect for children as well as it is melt in the mouth and easy to eat.

I have cooked this recipe so many times now I know it off by heart and it is probably my most favourite roast.

The recipe is simple and I haven't needed to change it so am just going to link to it today it is by one of my favourite chefs Mr Jamie Oliver, I love how enthusiastic he is about food.

The great thing about this dish is it looks as good when it goes in the oven...

as when it comes out of the oven...

I normally serve as a roast dinner but the smashed veg that Jamie serves it with sounds lovely too.

The gravy without a doubt is the best I have ever tasted, I don't normally drink gravy but if there was ever any left over I think I could with this.

Favourite Recipe Friday - Chilli Con Turkey

I mentioned this in a recent blog post and I just had to share it again in case anyone has any left over turkey still hidden in the freezer or in case you spot any on offer.

Turkey goes a long way, especially if there is only a few of you! You can make a roast dinner, pie, have it in sandwiches and then this frankly splendiferous and most yummy of dishes.

From the culinary talents of Jamie Oliver this is one of the brightest and tastiest meals ever and was loved by my three year old and 11 month old too.

 Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 leek, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• a bunch of fresh coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves picked
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
• optional: 1 heaped teaspoon runny honey
• optional: 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 600g leftover turkey, shredded
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin butter beans or chickpeas, drained ( I use butter beans as personally prefer them)
• juice of 2 limes
soured cream, to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large casserole-type pan on a medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, leek, peppers and chillies, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the coriander stalks, cumin and paprika, and cook for another 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently until soft and delicious. Sometimes I like to add some honey and white wine vinegar at this point and let it cook for a couple of minutes. I find this adds a wonderful sheen and enhances the natural sweetness of the vegetables. 

While that’s happening, shred the turkey meat off your carcass and roughly chop it. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper to the pan of vegetables, then add the turkey and take the pan off the heat. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas or butter beans and stir everything together. Pop it in the hot oven to blip away for 2 hours. Check on it after an hour, and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry.

Take the chilli out of the oven and scrape all the gnarly bits from the edge of the pan back into the chilli for added flavour. Squeeze in some lime juice, and stir through most of the coriander leaves. Have a taste to check the seasoning then serve with steamed basmati rice or tortillas, and a good dollop of sour cream and guacamole on top. Scatter over your remaining coriander leaves and some finely sliced fresh chilli if you fancy then get everyone to tuck in. 

I love this recipe because you can use whatever you have in the fridge/cupboard really and flavour it however you want. The colours are amazing with all of the fresh vegetables, we had this for three days running and it never got boring. 

The fact that my children like it just goes to show how nice it really is and that it doesn't have to be too spicy.

Food glorious food!

So my posts have been mainly Christmas related this week, sorry but you know how it is.

I've been doing a lot of baking and making, here are just a few of my festive offerings.

Me and my son made some Christmas cupcakes on Christmas eve for visiting relatives, he seems just to want them to eat the sweet off the top though!

Some festive cupcakes me and my son made together!

I hadn't made these before but it seemed cheaper to make some tarts than buy them, they were delicious and surprisingly easy. I have never used Filo before but had a stab and they worked out well. Will put the recipe or at least how I did them on the blog at some point.

Some Brie & Cranberry and Goats Cheese and Red Onion Tarts

For the last few years I have bought reduced turkeys after Christmas just to make this dish it is devine, even my three year old loved it! Turkey is so versatile, you can have a roast dinner, and do so much with the left overs. This is from one of my favourite chef's the fabulous Jamie Oliver, it is Chilli Con Turkey and you can use up so much with it :)

Chilli Con Turkey with left over turkey

And finally, fudge! As seen on Favourite Recipe Friday! I was giving to children so left out the pistachios but instead added some cranberries on the top for a festive look.

Some chocolate fudge, see recipe on Favourite Recipe Friday

I have a few other things that I haven't managed to get off the camera yet so will put them on another post but they include trifle and maybe depending on how it turns out a cake I have been feeding and nursing for the last two weeks! Don't ask, but it tastes lovely :)