Rack of Lamb - with a herb crust

Bought a nice rack on Friday, then when she went hom I went to the farmers' market and picked up a nice rack of lamb. There are lots of recipes for this dish, i used all of them and none of them. I had parsley and mint in with my bread crumbs, that were then mixed with melted butter and packed in on top on the "fatty" side.

And just because Catesa was likely to read this I threw in some veg... can't have a roast without roast potatoes! They were banged about a bit in the pot after boiling so that when they came out of the oven they were deliciously crisp. And a few garden peas were balanced on the plate full of nice pink lamb and roast taters.

Pitta pockety things

Last night was a warm salad in pitta, tonight a cool salad.

Warm:
Fried onions, mushrooms, garlic and peppered salami. mixed with packets salad leaves (one of the posh ones), a little cheddar, mayo and chopped tomato.

Cold:
Salad leaves, finest yorkshire ham, cheddar and a few anchovy stuffed olives.
Not many ingredients, I'm hoping the quality shows through :-)

Lamb koftas and pitta

Garlic, chilli, onions and lamb mince all nicely mixed with fresh coriander (maybe a few breadcrumbs if it needs it, no egg, never see the need, they never break up in the frying pan).

Break the koftas up, stuff them in a nicely toasted pitta bread, put a little more coriander on, with a few chopped tomatoes.

Should be good :-)

Stir fried Tiger prawns

Mmm garlic, chilli and ginger frying in a wok, just gets the juices flowing doesn't it? :-)

Add to that chestnut mushrooms, give them a minute then add the raw Tiger prawns (yum). The 30 seconds after add (unsalted) cashew nuts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoot, wait 30 seconds... then in goes the lemon juice (1/2), soy sauce and nam plah (or fish sauce). Stir in fresh coriander and then add the noodles. Stir in, then them get warmed through (I had them in cold water to prevent stodging), then serve.

Sweet.

Disappearing pizza

First of I made a sauce for the base (Ciabbatta sliced in half). The usual stuff, onion, garlic, chilli, white wine vinegar, can of tomatoes, dried oregano and basil, seasoning and a little paprika to thicken it a little.

I toasted the ciabatta, spread some of the sauce on and covered with buffalo mozzerella, cheddar and parmegianno regianno. Then put a few slices of pepperred salami on top and grilled them. unfortunately they disappeared within minutes, never to be seen again :-)

Sauce for stuffed pasta

Fry "cubitos di pancetta" and extract from the pan, leaving the fat behind. Then fry the garlic, chilli, and chestnut mushrooms in the juices and olive oil. Add a little white wine vinegar and sun dried tomato paste, and season. Mmm lovely jubbly

Taters

I cooked some new potatoes yesterday to go with my steak. With those that didn't make it to my stomac... plate! I chilled them in the fridge. Tonight I dusted them in flour, patted off the excess, and deep fried them (which as we know is healthier than shallow frying).

They were glorious. Full of that new potatoey taste with added crunch :-)

[And before you think I'm starving myself, I had a little of my brother's sheperds' pie and a few anchovy stuffed olives :-)]

Steak again

Crushed black pepper corns and sea salt flakes went on my nice thick juicy sirloin... and nothing else. Got my griddle pan nice and hot, and 5 minutes later I had a meal to die for (oh, I had some new potatoes with it too - but who cares about veg!?)

Sausage?! Sausage?!

First, I must doff my cap to Blackadder.

Second, I must doff my cap to the butchers in the North West (of England), I had Cumberland sausage for tonight's meal. It's coiled into a spiral, so to pan fry it you have to use two skewers, in a "+" shape horizontally through the sausage (otherwise it'll just flop all over the place, which is quite annoying!)

I had that on it's own with a little gravy made from the pan juices, beef stock and white wine vinegar.

Sumptuously good.

23/5

Hmm... I've chosen my first post and lat line which read "Of course fresh basil and parmegiano regiano to top." Catesa ofcourse picked on my spelling mistakes :-P

Basically I'm explaining the reasons why my girlfriend stopped letting me decide how we spiced up our sex life. Only kidding! I don't have a girlfriend, but if you're single and female and open to experimenation...

OK OK basically i just love these two ingredients, i always have some in the fridge. I'll use dried basil but stay very clear of boxed parmesan.

See, not a filthy comment in sight :-D

Fishy pasta

I mized together garlic, anchovies, chilli, lemon juice and olive oil for about two hours. Then cooked some spaghetti, al dente, S&P etc etc, and mixed in the warmed through mixture, then flaked on some sardines.

Very nice :-)